Fall 2002

Community Literacy of Ontario

Joanne Kaattari and Lee Torvi recently presented a training workshop on board roles and responsibilities to the CLO board of directors. Joanne has delivered this workshop many times to a variety of non profit organizations, but since this workshop was being held after a full-day board meeting about revising CLO’s policies and bylaws, Lee and Joanne wanted to add a little humour. Board roles and humour? Yes, it can be done!

Lee served as the television host for the “talk show” Philanthropy Today. She quizzed Joanne with a variety of questions sent in by the “studio audience”. Questions included such gems as:

“I am on the board of a small organization where everyone pitches in to get the work done. Recently, our new Executive Director has been causing a few problems. I often help out in the office. It is a good arrangement because if the E.D. is busy, as a board member I can make decisions that our secretary would normally need to ask the E.D. about. This new E.D. doesn’t seem to appreciate my help. Joanne, what do you think is wrong with her?”.

This workshop covered the following topics:

• Boards – why do they matter?
• Overview of the voluntary sector
• The three fundamental duties of board members
• The Panel on Governance and Accountability in Canada’s Voluntary Sector
• The eight key areas of board responsibility:

CLO board members enjoyed this fun and informative training workshop. Now we at CLO are just waiting with suspense for Lee’s future career as a talk show host!