As we've discussed in past posts, the board has committed to improvement in five areas of focus this year. We have promised to:
- Improve accessibility.
- Hear from members.
- Communicate more.
- Increase accountability.
- Evaluate the organization’s structure and activities.
We’d like to share some of the steps we’ve taken in these areas with our members and with the general public.
This week, we’ll look at our successes and our next steps to Increase accountability.
What we’ve accomplished
- Create accountability measures for board members. Board members now have regular, one-on-one, mid-month check-ins to report on individual progress toward our improvement objectives.
- Adopted a Statement of Understanding for board members. Board members now agree to adhere to the documented expectations for fiscal responsibility, legal responsibility, health and well-being of the organization, seeking out new members, seeking feedback, ensuring regular attendance at board meetings and at meetings with the Front Office, active promotion of the 107IST and its activities, adherence to agreed-upon deadlines, and engagement in online communication.
- Survey, evaluate, and formalize current committees. In the past, committees worked in a variety of ways; some did not have clearly defined members, roles, meeting dates/times, minutes, and so on. It also wasn’t clear which committees were open to visitors always, at certain times, or not at all. We’ve now formalized these aspects of committees, improving accountability accessibility for committees and for committee work.
In progress
- Research grievance processes, and then establish a formal grievance process and reporting.
- Create a board member handbook. including expectations for board members, established routines, and procedures. This will assist with onboarding new board members and providing accountability measures for current board members.
Ongoing
- Expect regular mid-month accountability check-ins (see above).
- Update board meeting minutes to include monthly action items.
