“Organizations that have the greatest impact in the community over the long-term almost always have strong and involved boards of directors. You can’t get there without it!”

Bart Hakan
ESC board development specialist

Board development must be collaborative- the process begins with one on one interviews with both board members and staff representatives.

ESC can help strengthen your board of directors by working with its members to:

¨ Define board and individual board member responsibilities
¨ Foster good relations with the executive director and agency staff
¨ Create well functioning board committees
¨ Produce and support meaningful and enjoyable board meetings
¨ Recruit new board members
¨ Generate fundraising efforts by board members
¨ Define legal responsibilities

This is always collaborative work with a strong partnership formed between the ESC consultants, the management and the board leadership. We know what needs to be done and can provide the framework to make it happen, but every agency and board is different.

What Has ESC Accomplished?

ESC conducted board development training and mentored a board chairperson of a major social service agency in the city. During our six month engagement the board developed a strong understanding of their role as fundraisers, and representatives of the agency. The board chairperson became a strong leader for both the board and the agency. Our work empowered an already effective business person to be a strong board chair.

ESC was retained by a large agency after its capital campaign failed and its executive director went on to greener pastures, leaving a large deficit and a completely demoralized board. We started from scratch, defining board roles, recruiting new board members, establishing committees and counseling the chair to achieve better board-management relations. ESC remained in its advisory role for over three years. Today the agency is strong and vibrant. The debt has been paid off, a new capital program has been successful and the board has been restocked with interested, active new directors.

A small human services agency had a strong board of directors that micro-managed the agency, mandating to the Executive Director and managing staff activities. Through ESC board development the agency has clearer definition of board governance and agency management. The board and staff now work closely together, in their own areas of responsibility.