Nonprofit Board Crisis

3 Kinds of Boards/Board Members #NonprofitBoards

I cannot in good faith applaud the following Forbes framework about boards but what it does say can certainly stimulate a generative conversation at a board meeting.  I've inserted my own thoughts at some points in the article.

MONEY

Three Kinds Of Boards: What You Need To Know As A CEO

 

Aaron Spool

Forbes Councils Member

Forbes Finance Council

COUNCIL POST| Membership (Fee-Based)

Oct 25, 2022,07:15am EDT

 

As a founder or as a C-suite corporate executive, you will interact with boards. This is a fact of entrepreneurial and business life. Boards serve a variety of roles depending on the nature of the organization and the makeup of the members of the board. Your interaction with your board is critical to the success of your organization, so it’s important to understand the different kinds of boards and different styles of board members.

The Traditional Board Of Directors

Typically serving publicly traded companies, boards of directors are the fiduciarily responsible group overseeing the corporation on behalf of all the shareholders. The buck literally stops with the board. Further, the CEO reports to the board—even if he or she is a member of it. Ultimately, the board bears risks related to the performance of the company and can be held liable if sued.  UH - this is true for Nonprofits and for-profit boards - why labeled "traditional" I can't say.

The Advisory Board

An advisory board should be seen as the CEO’s older mentor at the table. It is there to advise the CEO and executive team on how they should run and grow the business. Sometimes, these board members are shareholders or investors, but not always. And usually, they do not hold a controlling interest in ownership.

Venture capital funders will often take advisory board roles hoping to maximize the potential that their investment will ultimately pay off. Board advisors often have specific expertise in the field of business where the company operates as the board’s role is to help the executives run the business. The CEO does not report to the board but can utilize the expertise of the board.  Uh, yes, but obviously the big mistake here is to even refer to these advisors collectively as a board.  There's only one of these no matter the tax status.  Not to say that an advisory body can't provide some added value.

 

Amy Danise

Editor

The Nonprofit Board

Somewhat like (really?) a traditional board of directors, the nonprofit board is set up explicitly to ensure that the mission of the organization is carried out. Every nonprofit typically has a set of goals and objectives—sometimes its philanthropic benefactor has codified this (hm, where does this come from?), sometimes it’s more of a legacy thing huh?—either way, the nonprofit board is established to make sure the organization sticks to its goals and mission and does so ethically and within compliance of nonprofit law and accounting rules. How is this different from the so-called "traditional board"?

Nonprofit executives are subordinate to them and the CEO answers to the board. It’s a hybrid of the traditional board and the advisory board where members can be any individual who can move the nonprofit’s mission forward, from large donors to political figures to community leaders.  Really, no difference in terms of responsibilities than the corporate board - yup! although not so sure about this composition description.

The Three Types Of Board Members

Regardless of the kind of board, there are three kinds of members of those boards.

Passive: These board participants engage only when asked. They typically attend quarterly meetings (I'm thinking true for corporate but not so true for nonprofit - monthly more so) but are rarely involved beyond that. There are reasons to have such members on the board but realize their involvement in your organization will be limited. I'm pretty sure this "type" wasn't recruited for this purpose.

Active: Active board members see their role on the board as enabling the mission of the entity and assisting and empowering the executive team via their skills, connections and/or capital. These participants seek to serve the organization and its stakeholders broadly. Active board members get involved in the business and they take their role seriously. Their job is to advise and review, but not to create excessive work. For example, the active board member will want its executive team to find solutions to major issues like risk, ID theft, growth, etc., and they want such work to add value to the firm.  This description mixes levels of engagement and excluding the understanding of stages of development - equally important factors contributing to what is meant by "active".

Activist: The activist deviates from the other board member categories in that they put their needs or interests (or that of a minority shareholder or subgroup of stakeholders) first, as opposed to a more encompassing group. These board members are often focused on changing the direction of the entity—financially or along other aspects, such as environmental, social or governance. Often the role of the activist board member is to agitate for change.  Uh, maybe this is a core distinction in corporate boards/shareholders but in nonprofits, this is also part of the job - not necessarily changing the direction but deciding on it, collectively.  Again, mixing apples with oranges.

The CEO’s Role

The advisory board and nonprofit board members should be chosen based on the needs of the organization. Does the prospective member add potential network, skill, expertise or other talents that can help the running of the organization?  Not the corporate board?

With nonprofits, the decision to join can be very personal and driven because of what they believe they can do for the institution. Traditional boards of directors are voted on by shareholders upon proposals by the executives or the board itself. A resume, board experience, specific skills and a willingness to take on the risk and responsibility of overseeing a public company are all required to serve as a corporate director.  I'm not seeing the difference between traditional and nonprofit as spelled here.

The board at a private company, public company or nonprofit holds the executives they oversee accountable. The job of the executives, specifically the CEO, is to set expectations for the board—what they can expect from the CEO and vice versa. There needs to be a clear commitment on both sides that is supportive but not burdensome as most board members hold similar roles at multiple companies or are themselves, senior executives. Deliverables should be outlined when setting out expectations. How this is done depends on the CEO, the type of board and board members.

The board exists for the reasons outlined above, and it is incumbent on the CEO to use them for the skills they bring to the table. It is a waste of money, time and social capital if you choose to ignore them.

Don’t expect the board to lead you. Take the lead. As CEO, tell them what is happening at the organization, what your plans are and ask for their thoughts and guidance. If you keep in mind the kind of board you have and know what kind of board members sit on your board, and engage and utilize them accordingly, your job as CEO (a difficult one with substantial responsibility) will get easier.  Um, ok.

 

Nonprofit Board Members Obligations #NonprofitBoards

If a board member has beliefs and values contradictory to core organizational values (written and developed by a board at some point) I pose that person should be removed.  And, if the by-laws don't speak to a process that can ensure this action, modify the by-laws.

Sadly, when it comes to public school boards in particular, individuals can be elected to serve and despite what might be institutional values and/or the way such values are interpreted, individuals who might stand and speak against these values can actually get a seat.  And, then, it is likely very difficult to remove them.  That said, core values for an institution matter and a board member whose values differ from these should not be allowed to serve, in my opinion.

The Jewish "Independent" has posted a story about a public school where a candidate has declared that "Not all Nazis were bad".  This coincidentally sounds like some other politician we know but let's put that point aside.  

As you can see from the Independent article on the topic, this is not the only place where bias (?not contradictory to school values) drives the candidate and his platform.  But what of citizens?  Has the school board gotten it incorrect in their own statement of core values?  Perhaps.....

 

Nonprofit Board Financial Statements #NonprofitBoards

 

 

The following is a nice little article describing what are the financial statements boards should be looking at and comprehending and possibly even considering decisions.  Yes, this is what boards are supposed to know and not just the treasurer - fiduciary duty means each board member must know and understand and if they don't, ask the exec and/or treasurer.  

4 Basic Financial Statements

The NonProfit Times Thursday | October 20th, 2022

A nonprofit’s main focus is to carry out its mission to the best of its ability yet there’s one thing that cannot be lost in the desire to do good: A fiduciary responsibility to its funding sources and the community to use those resources prudently.

In their book “The Best of Boards,” Marci Thomas and Kim Strom-Gottfried explained that executives and board members must spend time, regardless of how little joy they get from it, to obtain the necessary expertise to implement systems to ensure regulatory compliance and accurate financial reporting, among other things.

All nonprofits have at least three or four financial statements — depending on the type of organization — that must be submitted to ensure compliance. These statements, which must be read together to have a complete picture of the organization, were described by Thomas and Strom-Gottfried:

• Statement of Financial Position: Also known as a balance sheet, this statement reports the organization’s assets, liabilities, and net assets at a specific point in time (usually at the end of the organization’s fiscal year).

• Statement of Activities: This statement reports the results of operations (revenues and expenses) and change in net assets for the year.

• Statement of Cash Flows: This statement provides information about the cash receipts and disbursements of the organization that result from operating activities, financing activities, and investing activities.

• Statement of Functional Expenses: This statement provides information about the organization’s expenses by function and by natural classification.

Policy Governance #NonprofitBoards

Policy Governance is a model developed by John Carver.  The model essentially outlines an approach to governance that has a board largely hands-off but informed based on parameters (aka policies) it sets in-place to let an exec know what is expected and how all will be evaluated/measured.  For many, policy governance model building requires a great deal of sophistication by a board that is basically front-end loading its fiduciary duties.  Policy governance is especially helpful in really big organizations where there a a lot of moving parts and governance effectiveness is measured by governance efficiency.  Bottom line, if you give clear and plentiful enough guidelines, what can go wrong.  And bottom line, policy governance is particularly favored by execs who perceive they are left to do their own will versus a board's bidding.  And yes, this is how I see it.

Now, policy governance is not a new concept.  It rears its head as a model periodically.  In this case, a Caroline Oliver has written, I presume, a translation of the model that appears to be endorsed by the model's originator, John Carver.  Why a new book and not by the originator?  I don't know.  Why the need to even talk about the model - also a mystery.  But if your curious about experimenting with a model that for sure makes an exec's life if not the board's easier, check-it out here.  But here's an overview from the promo:

Caroline Oliver discusses this in her book Getting Started with Policy Governance.  Oliver defines policy governance as a complete system through which boards can conceptualize, organize and fulfill their mandate. The components of policy governance are:

• Define the difference your owners want you to make. It starts from the overall perspective in which the organization is merely a vehicle for delivering the benefit that the owners seek.
• Assign responsibility for making that difference. The board must determine who it is going to make responsible for achieving its ends.
• Limit the authority that goes with the responsibility as minimally as you can. The CEO needs to be free to take the quickest route available at any time, unless doing so would put the organization in legal or ethical jeopardy.
• Put everything in a comprehensive yet concise written policy. 
• Delegate within “Any reasonable interpretation.” This means that delegates must always must be in a position to prove that they are operating within a reasonable interpretation of the board’s policies.
• Be sure you are making the difference your owners want.  Policies must be used, and that can’t be known unless they are monitored.

Board Keeps Firing Its Execs #NonprofitBoards

"Stanley is the third MSU president to be forced from office because of Title IX-related sexual-misconduct issues in the last five years."

Sometimes it's just not possible for the nonprofit President to satisfy the needs of their board.  But nonprofit boards appreciate knowing and understanding what's going-on at a nonprofit - especially the "bad stuff".  And certainly the board of Michigan State University has many reasons to know what's going-on, especially at THE place where Larry Nassar was enabled to do his misdeeds.  But then there's the balance question of just how much a board needs to know to fulfill its fiduciary duty (which it didn't fulfill during the Larry Nassar tenure - my opinion).  And often times this tension of how much knowledge is needed versus how much an exec needs to tell grows wide and leads to other negative reactions like that which the MSU has had with it's last three presidents in five years.  

With MSU I'm thinking this a board that knows it has failed and is attempting to "right" things - a good response.  I'm thinking their informing their execs/presidents about what they need to know has not been fully communicated nor have their performance expectations.  Time to correct this before hiring the next President!

Here's the full story.

 

MSU President Samuel Stanley resigns, citing board meddling

 

Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley Jr. is resigning after weeks of conflict with the Board of Trustees. Stanley started as president in August 2019. (University Communications at Michigan State University)

October 13, 2022

Isabel Lohman (Email)

Talent & Education

Michigan colleges and universities

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Talent & Education

MSU President Samuel Stanley resigns, citing board meddling

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• Stanley and the board have been at odds over the resignation of a business school dean and disputes over Title IX certification reports 
• Stanley said he, like faculty and student government groups, no longer has confidence in the board  
• He is the third MSU president in five years to leave for issues related to the school’s handling of sexual misconduct cases

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Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley Jr. is resigning, saying in a YouTube video posted Thursday that he had “lost confidence” in MSU’s Board of Trustees. He accused trustees of micromanaging his day-to-day leadership of the school. 

Stanley said his resignation was “not an easy decision.”

“But I, like the Michigan State University Faculty Senate, and Associated Students of Michigan State University, have lost confidence in the action of the current Board of Trustees. And I cannot in good conscience continue to serve this board as constituted.”

Stanley and the Board of Trustees have been at odds in recent months over issues related to Title IX compliance and the forced resignation of the business school dean, which Stanley had a role in. 

"The actions of the campus over the past month have shown the world that Michigan State University will not accept micromanagement by board members of the operations of this great institution, and that we will hold individuals, no matter what their rank, accountable for their actions," he said. 

Related:

• Confused about the Michigan State president controversy? Read this.
• A third Michigan State University president is now on the hotseat

Stanley said he delivered the board a 90-day notice of his intent to resign, in keeping with the terms of his contract.

His contract allows him to return to faculty as a tenured member of the College of Human Medicine. School spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant told Bridge Michigan that Stanley is awaiting a response from the board. 

Thursday afternoon, trustees released a short statement saying it “appreciates” Stanley’s service.

“President Stanley arrived at a difficult time and provided steady leadership to guide us forward while the entire world was experiencing severe disruption and uncertainty. The Board of Trustees will work cooperatively with President Stanley during this transition and more details will be shared with the campus community as information is available.”

The statement did not address the president's criticism of trustees. 

Stanley is the third MSU president to be forced from office because of Title IX-related sexual-misconduct issues in the last five years. Tension with a faction of the board had been brewing for weeks, and erupted into public view in September, exposing division among the trustees. 

Some board members accused the president of fumbling the certification process for Title IX reports to the state, an issue of critical importance on the East Lansing campus following its mishandling of the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal. Nassar was sent to prison in 2018

In the aftermath of Nassar’s prosecution, the state began requiring Michigan university presidents or chancellors to sign a form annually certifying that they, along with at least one university board member, reviewed all Title IX reports involving sex-based misconduct allegations. 

One trustee accused Stanley of signing the form without properly confirming a full review was conducted. 

Stanley insists he fulfilled his Title IX obligations but acknowledged he had recently learned someone on the board may not have fully complied with their 2021 requirements.

On Sept. 30, the board released an audit finding the school’s process of reviewing Title IX information had  “weaknesses” and provided several recommendations on how to improve processes. The copy of the audit redacted names of people involved in the Title IX compliance process.

Stanley re-certified to the state that the university had met its requirements for fiscal year 2021 “out of an abundance of caution,” the board said in a statement that accompanied the audit release. 

The board has also questioned how Stanley and Provost Teresa Woodruff handled the sudden departure this summer of business school dean Sanjay Gupta. The university said Gupta resigned, but board Vice Chair Dan Kelly said Gupta was removed, a decision “implemented by the provost of the university with the support of the president.”

Crain’s Detroit Business reported at the time that Gupta’s departure was related to an alleged incident in which a business school faculty leader was intoxicated at a party for MBA students and inappropriately danced and touched some students. The report said Gupta was notified of the incident but did not report it, as required. 

The board has hired an outside firm to investigate how the university handled the issue. Last week, Woodruff, the provost, sent a sharply worded letter criticizing the firm’s handling of the investigation. 

“These aggressive and unparalleled actions are causing harm to individuals and creating a chilling effect over work that is difficult,” the letter said. Woodruff also said the board’s actions were harming the reputation of MSU. 

The Faculty Senate, by a 55-4 vote, stated Tuesday it had “no confidence” in the board of trustees. (Though The Detroit Free Press reported that several business school professors said they support the board’s decision to hire an outside firm to investigate Gupta’s departure.) 

The Associated Students of Michigan State University, the undergraduate student government organization, likewise released a vote of no-confidence against the board. Both the faculty and student organizations have criticized the board for not being more transparent about their oversight of Stanley’s performance. 

Stanley has been MSU president since August 2019. 

Longtime university president Lou Anna K. Simon resigned in January 2018 after mounting criticism of how she handled the Nassar scandal. A year later, former Republican Gov. John Engler resigned from the interim president position at MSU after facing strong criticism for his handling of the Nassar scandal and his treatment of some Nassar victims.

Satish Udpa served as acting president for the university between Engler’s and Stanley’s terms.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a two-time MSU graduate, said Thursday that Stanley has been “wonderful to work with.”

“I'm concerned about it, both as a Spartan and as the governor of the state,” she told reporters at a campaign event. “They're going to need to have great leadership. I thought, I thought they had great leadership. And now, obviously, there will be a change there, but I'll be watching very closely. I'm concerned about it.”

In the nearly five-minute video posted to social media, Stanley listed several accomplishments during his tenure, including managing the COVID-19 crisis on campus, the opening of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, increased donations at the University and the administration’s progress on diversity matters and issues related to sexual misconduct.

Nonprofit Board Pre-Training #NonprofitBoards

I very much like the message and solution offered in the following Burlington Gazette article.  The basic idea: those who want to serve on nonprofit boards should be trained at least with the basic concepts.  An effective and efficient method: a Zoom course.  We know few folks want to read all the materials that are available for prospective and even serving board members.  We also know that for the most part, whether it be time or timing, onboarding is just not generally well done.  So..putting every prospect in the same "room"? Why not?  It's a great first step.

 

Directors of non profit organizations need to be properly trained

burlingtongazette.ca/directors-of-non-profit-organizations-need-to-be-properly-trained/

 

October 11, 2022

By Pepper Parr

October 11th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The number of really bad boards of Non Profit organizations in the city is disturbing.

Far too many of the boards don’t know what Board of Director responsibility are and make foolish mistakes.

Community Development Halton(CDH) has had its share of Board of Director problems where people were really not fit for the job and the responsibility involved.
CDH has taken a step to help resolve the problem.

They are sponsoring a 90 minute Zoom course on being a Director of a Non profit organization.  Roll the cursor over the type to enlarge it for reading

The granting agencies, municipalities, Trillium, Halton Region, United Way – should make it a requirement that every director appointed has taken the course and passed a written exam.

When non profit boards are advertising for volunteers having taken a course should be a prerequisite – and don’t accept that they will take the course later – they seldom do.

Making training a prerequisite is saying that the organization is serious and wants only people that are serious and have been properly trained.

 

Local Board Seats So Important "Dark Money" #NonprofitBoards

Ok I will admit up front that few nonprofit boards are so controversial in their work that they garner the attention of people with big money to support those who want to be on that board.  Would that situation be a dream - I doubt it.  But some school boards where members must campaign to be members are indeed being financially supported to get a seat.  Now, in your everyday nonprofit board, most folks are running the other way from even getting on a board but it appears that folks more dedicated to their own agendas are seeing school boards as the place to be.  Funny enough, every nonprofit is a forum for individuals who have a personal mission to move forward and a seat on a board makes that even more possible.  

Anyway, perhaps an awakening that there is a place to go that can have a broader impact?  Something about the following situation is just not right - oh but wait - it's right wing!

 

POLITICS/ SCHOOLS

School Board Candidate Backed By Dark Money From National Conservative Group

 Kimberly C. Moore Oct 10, 2022 at 2:50 pm

Jill Sessions’ bid to join the Polk County School Board is backed by a national conservative political action committee that funded a video mentioning her and three other Polk County School Board candidates in August ahead of the primary, according to an article in The Daily Caller.

Despite the national support to push education policy locally, Sessions, a candidate for District 7, has not visited a Polk County public school in 2022, according to records on file with the school district. She is also not an approved volunteer with the school district and does not serve on any school district committee or board.

And, records show, she sold her home in School District 5 and rented a house in School District 7 in May when she filed to run for office. District 5 is represented by longtime School Board member Kay Fields and includes central and northwest Lakeland. District 7 is currently represented by Lisa Miller and includes northeast Lakeland and north Polk County to U.S. 27.

Sessions did not respond to a voicemail or an email asking for comment on several questions for this article.

Video

A video posted on Aug. 10 on the YouTube channel of The American Principles Project urges people to vote for Sessions, along with three other conservative Polk County School Board candidates the video labels as backed by “the Parents’ Caucus.”

In the video, a voice intones over dramatic music: “Radical Democrats want to indoctrinate our kids.  They’re teaching trans ideology and anti-American critical race theory to our children. They even think parents shouldn’t have a say in their child’s education. Only the Parents’ Caucus is fighting back. Terry Clark, Jill Sessions, Justin Sharpless and Rick Nolte will protect parents’ rights. Say no to critical race theory. Say no to sexualizing our children. Vote for the Parents’ Caucus on August 23 for Polk County School Board.”

Images include President Joe Biden with what subtly looks like a red target – with a D in the center – a transvestite reading a book to children (it’s unclear if the event is taking place in Polk County or even Florida), someone in a crowd (it’s unclear where or who the people are) burning an American flag, and Sessions, Sharpless and Nolte all with American flags billowing behind them.

Clark lost his bid, while Nolte and Sharpless won.  Sessions garnered 37.45% of the 99,732 votes cast, while incumbent Lisa Miller won 42.43%, and Dell Quary got 20.12%.  Sessions and Miller are now in a runoff, which will be decided in the general election on Nov. 8.

Kyle Kennedy, a spokesman for Polk County Public Schools, said drag queens have never read to children in PCPS schools, as depicted in the video. Superintendent Frederick Heid has repeatedly said that critical race theory is a college-level course not taught in Polk County Public Schools. He has decided to continue using an opt-out policy for parents to block their children from reading any library materials they find objectionable, including 16 books a local conservative group, County Citizens Defending Freedom, wanted permanently removed.

Advisory Councils Not Boards #NonprofitBoards

Over the years I have regularly discussed the topic of what many nonprofits call Advisory Boards.  One pet peeve: they are not boards - call them anything but boards as they have no fiduciary responsibility or authority.  Just the same, these "add-on" structures can prove helpful to the savvy executive.  What follows is one description from Social Impact Social Impact Architects .

Top Questions on Nonprofit Advisory Councils

I love fall – with it comes so many possibilities. It reminds me of one of my favorite fall quotes by French author Albert Camus: “Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower.” It professes a love for the season of fall but also a season of life where everything beautiful can reemerge in a new and exciting way.

This fall we are contemplating a relatively new trend in the social sector – Advisory Councils – where outgoing board members can experience a new season as Advisory Council members. For nonprofits considering creating Advisory Councils or reimagining their existing ones, we want to share a quick Q&A about the role of an Advisory Council and how to implement one that best serves your organization.

What is the role of an Advisory Council in the social sector? What name should we use? Who should be on an Advisory Council?

Advisory Councils exists outside of the nonprofit’s official Board of Directors to serve as ambassadors for the nonprofit in an unofficial capacity. They do not have any governing authority or fiduciary role. For this reason, we prefer the name Advisory Council over Advisory Committee or Board. It does a better job explaining the group’s purpose (i.e., counsel) and ensures there is no legal confusion. Members often come from two groups: 1) former board members who are term-limited out of service but wish to stay engaged in a different capacity; or 2) policymakers, business executives or subject matter influencers who cannot serve on boards due to time constraints or conflicts of interest. Advisory Councils can also have different formats, such as Auxiliary Groups, Young Professional Groups and Program/Research Expert Panels. Some are permanent while others are temporary and project-based (e.g., Capital Campaign, Social Enterprise).

Should we consider an Advisory Council?

If you have a real role for Advisory Council members AND have time to properly steward them, we highly recommend creating an Advisory Council as a way to engage former board members as well as build a circle of support for your nonprofit’s mission. We also love involving Advisory Councils in strategic planning. While Advisory Council members often have an insider perspective of an organization, they can also give balanced opinions on an optimal strategic course to pursue.

What are the best roles for an Advisory Council? How often should they meet?

Nonprofits need to be clear about the difference between the board and the Advisory Council, especially since board members can “graduate” to an Advisory Council. The board’s chief responsibility is governance. So, an Advisory Council is less about governance and more about advice and ambassadorship. Advisory Councils promote the organization and its mission in the community as well as provide an excellent feedback loop for community insights. Given these roles, they typically need to meet two to four times a year to maintain a close connection to the meeting. 

We have an existing Advisory Council. What can be done to make it even better?

Advisory Councils – if done right – can have a multiplier effect. But, like every volunteer group, they require stewardship. A common complaint I hear from influential community volunteers is that nonprofits are using the volunteers' names as Advisory Council members on their letterhead but haven’t contacted them in over a year.
 

To engage the group, you may want to assign a staff member to shepherd the group and ensure they have the latest information on the organization. In addition, you may want to appoint a chair who is invited to board meetings but not eligible to vote. That individual can relay information back to Advisory Council members.

Based on our best practices, we recommend the following at a minimum to create an Advisory Council:

1)  establish a charter;

2)  vote on a chair as well as a preferred size;

3)  meet with an agreed-upon frequency with strategic agendas;

4)  establish two-way communications, performance goals and expectations through a job description for Council members;

5)  create guidelines for membership and enforce them; and

6)  monitor performance and solicit feedback regularly for continuous improvement.

Advisory Councils can be an effective tool to cultivate ambassadors for your cause and connect with new audiences.        

Social Impact Architects       

What Should Be Board Training Content? #NonprofitBoards

What should be board training content?  This is the question being raised in Texas where a surprisingly unexpected group (traditionally focused on improving the well-being oppressed by systems) has gotten the ok to offer an "alternative" training to school boards.  While on the one hand the new training group cites it will be "training administrators in good governance and fiscal responsibility, free from social issues that are better left to parents for guidance" there are other lines in The Epoch Times article that suggest that this group's training will not itself be without content broader than what is good governance.  That their audience is "conservative" school boards likely hints at their thrust but one must seriously ask, why not just provide training in good governance?  It's not like there isn't a need, in my opinion, apparently.  

But it's clear from the article that school boards in particular would benefit from a balanced understanding of the issues their parents, students and teachers are challenged by and training if not facilitated conversation would be equally beneficial to provide by this new group. But, even training on how to have generative conversations would prove beneficial and likely more safe for all involved.  But, I am afraid however that this is not the plan - clearly another lost opportunity.

Nonprofit Offers Conservative Texas School Boards Alternative Training

By Darlene McCormick Sanchez

 

October 3, 2022 Updated: October 3, 2022

 

Texas conservatives against liberal-based training for school administrators and trustees last week launched an alternative program focusing on education instead of a “woke” agenda.

James Dunn, founding president of the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency (GCCAA) in Angleton, Texas, told The Epoch Times his nonprofit was recently approved to offer training for superintendents and elected school board trustees.

“We’re very excited about that,” Dunn said, adding that Texas’ 1,200 Independent School Districts (ISD) now have a choice regarding training.

The state requires elected school board members to attend continuing education training, which is currently dominated by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA).

Dunn, a former school superintendent, said his organization would focus on training administrators in good governance and fiscal responsibility, free from social issues that are better left to parents for guidance.

“Parents are concerned their rights are being taken away,” Dunn said. “They send their kids to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic—not transgender, not socialization issues, but the basics.”

Dunn said that teacher unions have hijacked the profession and incorporated a left-of-center political agenda into training.

Julie Pickren, who serves on the GCCAA board and is a former Brazoria ISD trustee, said that as a conservative, she often felt uncomfortable at trustee training sessions that went against her principles.

Pickren, also running for the State Board of Education, pointed to the September TASB/TASA conference in San Antonio, where the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas presented transgender student speakers and advocated for LGBT rights in schools.

In general, the training she attended while a school board trustee tended to be “very woke, very radical left,” she said.

Pickren recalls having to attend a training session in 2019 presented by trustees with Houston ISD, which—with an 82 percent graduation rate—she said is one of the lowest performing districts in Texas and operates at a high budget deficit.

She feels the new training service will offer a much-needed alternative for more conservative districts that focus on educational goals and responsible use of taxpayer funds.

Dunn said he set up a training website and has been notifying his network of educators about training options, with the first offered mid-October in South Lake for trustees and superintendents. So far, 15 different districts have expressed interest, he said.

The goal is to provide training once a month at various locations around the state, Dunn said.

Pickren said training should help school districts to be successful in their mission of educating children while guarding against potentially harmful content such as LGBT and “pornography” in libraries.

“You have to protect children mentally and physically,” she said. “What you have now is a breakdown in trust between parents and their school districts.”

US Women's Soccer League Gross Fail #NonprofitBoards

What is it about women's athletics and coaches who have their eye on more than the ball - specifically, the athletes?  That is once again the question to be asked and answered by the board of the US Women's Soccer League which has, following an investigation conducted by a very reputable third party, at minimum looked the other way while multiple coaches throughout the league have seen their role as coaches and strategist to be at least equally about abuse.  I pose that it is unlikely that the governing body was not minimally aware of these fails and could have held a higher standard of accountability while punishing abusers.  But did they, NO!  And will they be at least repentant if not step-up and start redirecting how to avoid these situations in the future.  We can hope but again, governance has failed.  Thank you to the players who stepped forward and made it clear and public that abuse anywhere and in this case, athletics, has no place.  Here's the story as offered by Yahoo! Entertainment.  

 

U.S. Soccer Report Finds 'Systemic' Abuse and Misconduct Within National Women's Soccer League

 

Tommy McArdle

Mon, October 3, 2022 at 4:21 PM·4 min read

 

An independent investigation into allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct across professional women's soccer in the United States "has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct — verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct — had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims," a summary report reads.

On Monday, the U.S. Soccer Federation released its 319-page report, just over one year after it retained former U.S. acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates to conduct a probe into the National Women's Soccer League.

The investigation was prompted after numerous allegations of misconduct by coaches in 2021 were detailed by The Athletic, leading to the resignation of the NSWL's commissioner and general counsel and half of the league's coaches parted ways with their teams due to player complaints, according to the report.

 

"Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women's soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players," the report's executive summary reads. "The verbal and emotional abuse players describe in the NWSL is not merely 'tough' coaching."

The report begins with a previously undisclosed allegation against former Racing Louisville FC head coach Christy Holly, according to The Washington Post, who in April 2021 requested that player Erin Simon attend a game film session with him alone.

Howard Smith/ISI Photos/Getty

"When she arrived, she recalls Holly opened his laptop and began the game film. He told her he was going to touch her 'for every pass [she] f----- up.' He did," the report reads. "Simon reports that he pushed his hands down her pants and up her shirt. She tried to tightly cross her legs and push him away, laughing to avoid angering him. The video ended, and she left. When her teammate picked her up to drive home, Simon broke down crying."

"Holly is not the only coach to have abused an NWSL player, and Erin Simon is not the only NWSL player to have been abused," the report adds.

Yates' investigation included more than 200 interviews with over 100 former and current NWSL and U.S. Women's National Team players, as well as a review of over 89,000 documents "most likely to be relevant," along with reports from a hotline phone number and email address that were set up for anonymous comments.

PEOPLE has reached out to the NWSL for comment.

The report details allegations against Holly and two other coaches, Paul Riley and Rory Dames, though it notes that five of the league's 10 coaches left their jobs or were fired in 2021 after player accusations of misconduct.

 

The report found that Riley "leveraged his position as Head Coach at the Philadelphia Independence" in the 2010s to coerce three players into sexual relationships, and that allegations against Riley were brought to the NSWL and U.S. Soccer "every year from 2015 through 2021," though much of his misconduct was not widely known until The Athletic's article published in Sept. 2021.

Dames, who worked as a coach with the Chicago Red Stars from the NWSL's founding until he resigned in Nov. 2021, never had a background check performed on him, the report states, and that he was "renowned for his tirades" against youth players at his Eclipse Select Soccer Club.

The report cited former youth players who recalled Dames yelling derogatory insults at them and told investigators that his "sexualized team environment — in which he spoke to players about foreplay, oral sex, and their sex lives — crossed the line to sexual relationships in multiple cases, though those relationships may have begun after the age of consent."

In 2021, the Red Stars retained a sports psychologist to interview each of its players anonymously on the team's environment and concluded that Dames "created 'a culture of fear' and was emotionally and verbally abusive."

Despite finding that "verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct were widespread problems in women's soccer" prior to the NWSL's founding in 2012, U.S. Soccer and the NWSL did little to organize the new league with concerns for abuse in mind, the report reads. The league only instituted an anti-harassment policy in 2021 after players insisted upon it, and had only ever conducted two workplace harassment trainings prior to its institution.

Yates' report notes that U.S. Soccer holds only limited authority over the NWSL and its team's operations, but urges teams to "accurately disclose and explain misconduct to prevent other teams from hiring coaches and suggests U.S. Soccer have better engagement with its licensing process," according to The Washington Post.

The report also urges U.S. Soccer to require the NWSL to conduct "timely investigations" into misconduct allegations and to create player safety roles across team, league and federation levels.