Building Better Boards: A three-part series for Board Leaders & Executive Directors Session 3

This series is offered in partnership with the Maine Association of Nonprofits.

Increasing Board Engagement: Governance as Leadership
Tuesday, October 6, 2021, 1:00 – 2:30 PM

Fortifying the Board-Executive Director Partnership
Tuesday, October 27, 1:00 – 2:30 PM

Who’s Next: Proactively Navigating Successful Leadership Transitions
Tuesday, November 9, 1:00 – 2:30 PM

Registration Information:
Single Sessions:
$49 Members/$69 Nonmembers, $20 off additional registrations from the same team (applies to both members and nonmembers).  Click HERE to register.

DESCRIPTION:

We’re excited to welcome back international governance consultant Susan Meier to lead this three-part series for board leaders and executive directors as a chance to collectively discuss the various challenges nonprofits face in board development and how to overcome them by fostering a healthy board culture built on trust, candor, and mutual respect. Participants can register for single sessions or the entire series. You will find intended audiences within each session description specific to current and future board leaders and executive directors. Attending as a team is highly encouraged for maximum benefit; discounts on multiple registrations from the same organization.

Session #3: Who’s Next: Proactively Navigating Successful Leadership Transitions

November 9, 1pm-2:30pm EST

Strong leadership is integral to our ability as nonprofits to be adaptive and responsive in advancing our missions. Leadership transitions are inevitable, and yet we rarely prepare for them and we seem surprised when they ‘suddenly’ appear. By avoiding the topic, one challenge is simply traded for a different one and a prime opportunity to strengthen the organization is missed. It’s time we reframed the conversation and shift the mindset about succession planning to one of deeper sustainability planning.

Join us for this interactive session to explore emerging practices in both executive and board leadership transitions. How are these processes different in the nonprofit sector vis a vis the corporate sector? What is the role of the executive director in succession planning? How do we ensure that our practices and procedures are culturally sensitive? Are we intentionally cultivating diverse candidates for leadership opportunities?  

In this session, we will:

• Explore important considerations of nonprofit leadership transitions and change management
• Deepen our understanding of the promising practices and emerging trends regarding executive succession planning
• Identify concrete steps to better cultivate board members for leadership roles
• Discuss lessons learned about what to do and what not do to increase the chances of a healthy, smooth, and positive transition

Who should attend Session #3

This session is for current and future Board Leaders and Executive Directors interested in using succession planning as a strategy to ensure the sustainability of their missions. Discounts on team registrations!

Learn about Session 1.

Learn about Session 2.

Register for Session 3 HERE or for the entire Series HERE.

PRESENTER BIO:

Susan Meier, Principal at Susan Meier and Associates, LLC and Senior Governance Consultant with BoardSource, brings over 30 years of governance and nonprofit experience to her work. From 2004 through 2011, Susan served as the vice president of consulting and training for BoardSource, the nation’s premier governance resource for nonprofit organizations. She works collaboratively with nonprofit executives and board leadership to identify governance challenges and opportunities and to implement proven strategies to address a broad array of governance issues.

Susan works with all types and sizes of nonprofit organizations from charities to associations to foundations who are advancing their missions in the U.S. and around the world.  Much of her work has focused on increasing board engagement, the board/staff partnership, and addressing culture and dynamics in the boardroom. Specifically, she engages boards in a deeper understanding of roles and responsibilities, strategic and generative thinking, governance structures, concrete ways to maximize board meetings, and leadership transitions. 

In addition, Susan has served on a number of boards of directors and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Ripon College Board of Trustees where she graduated cum laude. She has served as guest faculty for the Kellogg School of Management Nonprofit Executive Education program, American University, and George Washington University. And, she is the author of the BoardSource publication The Board-Building Cycle: Finding, Engaging, and Strengthening Nonprofit Board Members, Third Edition.

Testimonials about Susan Meier and her work

“Your workshop was one of the BEST I’ve ever attended. Your presentation was excellent. Frank, honest, to the point, and right on target. It seemed that you were able to look into my head and see all of the concerns and you spoke directly to them! Thank you for this excellent workshop.”
—Executive Director, Winter Harbor, Maine

“In spite of having decades of experience on boards and staffing boards, I learned a TON at Susan’s governance training.”
—Senior executive, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation