The Board of Directors (Board)
Our Board of Directors (Board) is made up of members of our company. Anyone can apply to the current Board to be a member and once a member, that person can apply to be a Director at our Annual General Meeting (usually held in March/April). The committee currently has 7 members (January 2012).
The Board operates under the principals of the Carver Governance model. Its job is to ensure the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of childrenfirst achieves the mission and strategic goals of the organisation, and in doing so, meets all the legal and moral responsibilities and requirements accompanying ‘best practice’.
The Board fulfills its role by developing and monitoring governance policies that provide direction and boundaries for both its own and the CEO’s functions.
The Board governs with an emphasis on:
- Strategic leadership rather that administrative detail.
- Encouragement of diversity of opinions and views.
- Collective rather than individual decision making.
- A future rather than present focus.
- A clear distinction between board and CEO roles.
- Being pro-active rather than reactive.
Parent Representation
We are currently planning how this can be best achieved. It has been difficult to attract parents to our General Meetings and AGM and we are looking for a more effective way of engaging parents and community members in the conversation about what services we provide and how we provide provide them. We had thought about a parent council similar to the P&C system in schools, but fear that this would have limited appeal for those who want to get involved. Another idea has been open meetings once a quarter where agenda items could be sent in before hand and an open discussion takes place.
Any feedback or comments would be welcome at jason.cummings@childrenfirst.asn.au.