The CPAWS Yukon Board of Directors plays a very important role. We appreciate the great people who volunteer their time and contribute to our important work. Our board is a governance board and provides strategic direction to our organization while the day-to-day campaign work is done by our team of employees. The board of directors meet monthly and are involved in policy development, which often happens by committee, as well as strategic planning exercises. Our organization made a Commitment to Reconciliation and wrote the document How we Work—both can be found on our website (cpawsyukon.org) and give you good insight in our values.
We welcome individuals with a broad range of personal and professional experience. There are no requirements for a certain educational background, nor do you need to have previous experience as a board member. The most important qualities are passion for the work, an interest in non-profit leadership, and the ability and willingness to work with our dedicated team of volunteers and employees on Yukon’s conservation issues. CPAWS Yukon is invested in providing learning opportunities to less experienced individuals who express a strong interest and are willing to learn ‘on the job’.
Although not every board member must bring all skills listed below, we aim to create an effective board by ensuring a diverse group of people bring the following experience to our organization:
– Understanding how effective boards operate
– Awareness of and ability to fulfill a society’s governance obligations
– The ability to understand and dissect financial statements
– Ability to question your executive officers and to identify problems before they become serious
– Set high-level strategic direction, in collaboration with the staff team
– Able and willing to devote time for meetings, strategic planning, annual performance reviews, and other governance matters that require work between regular meetings. Approximately 5-6 hours per month, excluding Strategic Planning sessions.
Board members:
– Provide financial oversight of the organization
– Make informed decisions about policies and procedures that require a vote
– Ensure legal and ethical integrity, and maintain accountability
– Help increase the profile of the organization
– Recruit and orient new board members
– Monitor and supervise the Executive Director (ED) and regularly assess their performance
– Participate in and attend local events as appropriate
– Observe local conservation issues and forward them to the ED as appropriate
What is expected of a board member?
The board meets monthly—with a short summer break in July & August. On average, board members spend approximately 5-6 hours per month on meeting attendance and meeting preparations. This excludes the Strategic Planning sessions which happen once every 3-5 years.
What’s in it for you?
There are many personal rewards to be gained from serving on the CPAWS Yukon Board of Directors:
– Sharing with a team the accomplishment of doing something important for the Yukon’s land and waters, and the future generations that rely on them.
– An opportunity for you to work with an organization which is guided by principles that you are passionate about and help that organization accomplish its mission, goals and objectives.
– Developing new skills and networks.
– Using existing skills in new ways to address interesting and challenging issues.
– Learning more about CPAWS Yukon, its mission and operations.
