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level strategic matters and at the same time attend to some of the day-to-day matters of the organization. For boards with highly dispersed memberships and members who have only limited time to devote to board activities, the administrative board model may exacerbate communication and deci- sion-making problems.


“ As CCPA has grown (from 3000 members in 2007 to over 4,500 in 2012), we have hired more staff and become more complex in terms of


services offered. ” 6


Prior to 2008, when the Governance Hand- book was officially adopted, CCPA’s Board had been a hybrid of the two types of boards. Structurally, there were several standing committees, and decision-making often extended to fine details about pro- grams and services. While this model works well for all-volunteer organizations, it is less suited to organizations that already have professional management (a CEO) and full- time employees. As CCPA has grown (from 3000 members in 2007 to over 4,500 in 2012), we have hired more staff and become more complex in terms of services offered. Therefore, we needed to change our ap- proach to governance to reflect these differ- ences in size, purpose, and stage of growth.


A policy board sets policy and has a CEO to implement the policy. The CEO is respon- sible for carrying out the day-to-day work of the organization, with the assistance of paid staff. The CEO is directly accountable to the board, and is responsible for hiring, super- vising, and releasing paid staff. Even if board members wanted to handle the endless, ongoing tasks of running the organization, how could a group of part-time volunteers squeeze these duties into their schedules? Managing a not-for-profit organization is a full-time job and not something that can be accomplished in the spare time of volunteer board members. Thus, instead of doing the “managing” itself, the board is responsible for ensuring excellent management of the organization. A policy board is designed to ensure that board members always operate in a fashion that maintains strong, strategic focus for the organization. Board members focus on policies that determine the ‘ends’ for the organization to achieve and leaves the ‘means’ up to the CEO/staff to decide


VOL. 44 NO. 4 | FALL 2012


with set limits within which the CEO oper- ates. Therefore, boards operating under the policy board model are characterized by a high level of confidence in the CEO. Board development is a high priority in order to ensure that new members are able to func- tion effectively, and recruitment is an ongo- ing process.


One of the draws for me was the opportu- nity to work with thirteen elected Directors who represent all provinces/territories of Canada and to learn about the state of the profession through different regional lenses. Working on the Executive, comprised of the President, President-Elect, Past President, Treasurer and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), was a way for me to understand the inner workings of the Association –how the National Office functioned, the intricacies of the budget, and potential risks faced by the Association.


I’m fully committed to CCPA because I am committed to what the organization stands for. My motivations for being a member of CCPA have strengthened. I guess the idea of being on the CCPA Board is that I really feel good that I can affect the direction of the organization, have an impact on how things should be done. I’m able to see some further areas where I can contribute; areas that I wasn’t aware of when I first joined. To some degree they’re areas that weren’t identified then. It wasn’t just that I didn’t know about them, they’ve emerged over time.


Because of the roles that I’ve had, I have been able to travel to many provinces, and I have talked to a wide variety of people in our profession. For me, it has been a very powerful experience and it has changed from being an intellectual exercise to one that comes from the heart. It’s a wonderful way to learn while at the same time giving something back. Most of the time, you’re forced into one or the other of those roles. It’s not very often in life that you get the op- portunity to do both.


Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.


- Albert Schweitzer


Blythe Shepard President-elect, CCPA


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