July Board Update

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JULY  Board Update

  • written by Maggie Jones, Board Member 

Thank you for reading our Board Update, a synopsis of our most recent board meeting and other board-related information. 

Your board is responsible for overseeing our General Manager (GM), ensuring financial viability, providing governance that is in line with the BC Coops Act and making strategic decisions that benefit our Co-op. We have five board committees that meet monthly and then share reports and recommendations to the board as a whole. These committees are: HR/Hiring, Governance, Finance, Member Engagement, and Nominations. We also hear reports monthly from our GM and one department manager. 

JULY 2023

Your board met on July 25th, 2023.

Business Arising

  • The board was happy to host Genevieve Fowler, who is one of our 2023 board nominees, attending as an observer. 
  • We reviewed member feedback and approved the May board update for publication
  • We welcomed Amanda Verigin, our Marketing manager, and she provided the board with an update on what the marketing department has been working on. Thanks to the Marketing Department ,  we now have an amazing new website for our members to use. Amanda walked us through all the features and I suggest that all members take a moment to visit our website!
  • GM search update–we continue our search for a new General Manager for the co-op, work is ongoing.
  • Strategic planning will take place on August 8th and the board has secured a local professional who will be the facilitator. Our board assistant reached out to 3 local consultant and after review and discussion we chose the person with the most experience with our Co-op and with whom several Directors had worked with before. The board is currently working on mid-term goals and hopes to set the groundwork for further strategic planning. Strategic planning is an important part of the board’s work and will be an ongoing process. 
  • AGM confirmation – Our 2023 Co-op AGM will be held on Wednesday September 27th,  and it will be a hybrid meeting. Member engagement is looking at the best ways to include members and ensure that there is a robust question and answer component.
  • This year voting will take place between August 23rd and September 26th. Our website has information on all candidates that are running for your board. We will have an updated voting platform for our members this year, more information to come. Work on the AGM continues and ways to get members more involved are being explored.
  • We considered minor amendments to the Rules that, when ready, will be brought to the membership for approval. 
  • The board has been working on solidifying the Interim General Manager (IGM) job description and the current version was discussed and approved. This document will be reviewed and updated as needed.

Our IGMs made their report to the board:

  • The Co-op has experienced some vandalism and the situation has been remediated and extra precautions installed. Our Co-op is a member of  the Nelson Chamber of Commerce and one of our IGMs attends both chamber and neighbourhood meetings related to the increased street activity. 

Committee Reports

Governance Committee – Wendy reported that the committee discussed the upcoming Strategic planning session and the proposed change to the rules. They reviewed the new director orientation and were pleased with the process. A board self evaluation will be launched in September. They discussed initial drafts of policy changes concerning the election of the Employee Director (ED) and suggested that the board take a more active role in the ED elections as the ED is firstly a director.

Member Engagement Committee – Nadine shared that committee reviewed the board’s section of the website and gave suggestions to marketing. ME also worked with the marketing department on the format and logistics for the upcoming AGM. 

Nominations Committee–please see business arising.

Question from our observing members:

  • “When did you last do strategic planning ?” The board had a strategic planning session in February, and still more work is needed to update the strategic plan. The current version of the plan is too operational and the goal is to move to a higher-level plan that acts as a living document with an annual review.

See you next time!

 

 

Maggie Jones
Vice President