[foundation-board] PROPOSAL: Laura James joining the board

[paula le dieu]

Becky has captured my reservations and my experience on this issue.

We have an anomalis situation as we have a founder that is engaged on the
board and management but I do not think we should be carrying this through
to other management roles. I would be comfortable with Laura's role having
a non-voting role on the board but I question the need for this given that
the role already has a standing invitation to the Board?

I am sorry I missed the discussion surrounding this call for vote. I am
sure that we have good reasons to consider this but it is outside my own
experience as both an MD and (separately) a Board member of non-profits. I
would like to hear more about the rationale?

Apologies for the delayed response

Regards
Paula



On 3 April 2013 15:51, Becky Hogge <becky.hogge at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Rufus
>
> Sorry it's taken me a while to respond.
>
> I'm talking from personal experience. As ED of ORG, I was a non-voting
> Board Member. It's hard to articulate, but I think that the fact that
> as an executive I had to advocate for a particular course in the
> absence of any final power to approve it led to a more consensual
> process. Also, and perhaps more importantly, in light of the fact that
> as a non-profit non-executives received no remuneration, it provided a
> more reassuring level of oversight to supporters - each voting member
> was as disinterested as the next, if you like, on any particular
> issue.
>
> I realise both those reasons are a bit woolly, and not enough to sway
> anyone on their own. To be honest, I'd just assumed all non-profits
> were run this way, and the problem was that you had voting rights, not
> that Laura didn't.
>
> I'd like to take a look at how other non-profits do it, or what, for
> instance, the NCVO says on the matter. I've just ordered the NCVO Good
> Governance: A Practical Guide, so I'll let you know if it says
> anything useful.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Becky
>
> On 25 March 2013 11:07, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> > Dear Becky,
> >
> > The proposal, as it stood, was as a normal board member with full voting
> rights.
> >
> > My assumption is that Laura (and I) would recuse ourselves on any
> > issues such as remuneration where there was any tension between
> > executive roles and board roles.
> >
> > What are your thoughts here?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Rufus
> >
> > On 25 March 2013 10:45, Becky Hogge <becky.hogge at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Can I ask, is the proposal to appoint Laura as a non-voting member? My
> >> understanding is that would be the normal set up for an Executive,
> though I
> >> appreciate the situation with Rufus doesn't conform to that template...
> >>
> >> On Mar 25, 2013 10:35 AM, "Ben Laurie" <ben at links.org> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> On 13 March 2013 11:02, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> >>> > Hi everyone,
> >>> >
> >>> > As we have discussed previously, and again at last night's board
> >>> > meeting,
> >>> > with Laura becoming a full-time "co-director" she should join the
> board.
> >>> >
> >>> > Due to time constraints last night we didn't get to this item with
> >>> > everyone
> >>> > present so I would like to propose this formally here on list:
> >>> >
> >>> > PROPOSAL: Nomination of Laura James to the board
> >>> >
> >>> > Please respond in the usual manner on list to indicate your views on
> the
> >>> > proposal.
> >>>
> >>> I am in favour.
> >>>
> >>> >
> >>> > Regards,
> >>> >
> >>> > Rufus
> >>> >
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