Creating the Future’s board meeting will happen at the post at this link on Monday, October 13th at 1pm EDT / 10am PT.
Board Packet Materials:
Agenda
Board Minutes: September 2014
This past week I facilitated a workshop for the regional staff of a large health charity. When the workshop was finished at the end of the afternoon, the staff were asked to remain for a few more moments. And the most amazing thing happened.
A gentleman stood up and addressed the staff, someone who was a survivor of the disease they seek to end. He spoke eloquently about his survival experience. And the most beautiful part was his message of thanks, to the people who helped him have a sense of community when he needed it most. Absolutely moving, lots of tears around the room.
At Creating the Future, we’re thankful for the partnership and community that we share with you, as you participate in the movement we are seeking to build. Whether you watch our meetings on-line, use Twitter to join in the conversation, read our blogs or participate in learning experiences along with us, we’re so glad you’re part of our world.
It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada on Monday October 13th. It’s also the day of our October Creating the Future board meeting. So we will blend gratitude with business, as we always do, and start by sharing “Gratitude and Awesomeness”. We hope you will attend and lend your story to the conversation. What has been awesome for you in the past month? What are you grateful for these days?
Two big items on our agenda this month: our unique approach to the IRS 990 return and our conversation about performance indicators and meaningful board reports.
You may recall that we considered the IRS return at our August meeting, and decided that we would illuminate the information ‘behind’ it by embedding an annotation link into the return itself. That way, we satisfy IRS requirements and we create a way to tell the story of the successes behind the numbers.
At some point, every board grapples with the question of what information – research, data, performance indicators, etc. – will result in meaningful deliberation and decisions. We will explore what board reports make possible, examine assumptions behind the reports, consider what it would take to ensure all board members are broadly informed and what process will be involved in creating reports.
In another context, these two topics may be considered uninspiring. But we aim to crack open both topics, expose any ‘sacred cows’ there might be for us, and design tools that can ignite action by those who use them (or who see them as a model). No small expectation for things that may have been seen as truly dull the past.
Won’t you join us for these conversations? We want to “feast” on good ideas and “toast” the creativity of everyone who is at our table. We want to build community around the work of leading the Creating the Future, and you are a big part of this team.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, no matter where you are!