The Canadian 4-H Council has voted unanimously to make governance changes that will help the board become more proactive and less reactive.
Mike Nowosad, who becomes the council’s chief executive officer, said the switch to a “policy board governance” model will help the council anticipate what’s coming down the road.
“It makes the board a visionary board, so they will deal with items in a future thinking process and the staff are responsible for all operations items,” he said.
The board creates the overall vision and the office staff sets a workplan to accomplish it and reports back to the board.
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It’s a working model that has proven to be efficient and effective for other national and provincial groups, Nowosad said.
“We want to ensure we deliver the best programming possible for 4-H members without getting mucked up in bureaucratese,” he said.
At a special general meeting Sept. 11, member representatives also agreed to extend board members’ terms of office by one year.
In addition, they formed a nominating committee, comprising past-presidents Marie Logan and Brian Little and Saskatchewan 4-H Council member Jeff Rothwell.
The council’s member representatives include corporate, government, associate and individual members.
The revised bylaws will now be forwarded to Industry Canada for official approval, expected by mid-October.
In November, the board will meet to discuss membership enrolment, long-term funding and the 4-H vision.
