Board Governance Training Series 1 offers high quality and accessible governance training for individuals to become more effective board members in areas including: Board Essentials, Legal Roles & Responsibilities, Finance Fundamentals, Commitment to Diversity, Strategic Planning, Risk Management, and Resource Development.

Please note that onBoard Canada’s learning management system will be under construction during a transition period from October 31, 2019 - February 2020, inclusively. During the transition period, the courses and matching system will be unavailable. At this time, you will need to wait until 2020 to begin and complete the course.

Course Overview

Download the course overview

Board Essentials

• The context of the not-for-profit sector
  
• Board life cycles, models and best practices
  
• Board roles and responsibilities
  
• Board meeting process and member participation
  
• Tools and resources to support learners in their board position
  

Legal Roles & Responsibilities

• The legal obligations and issues of being a board member
  
• The rights and powers of a board of directors and individual board members
  
• Board composition
  
• The legal considerations and liabilities of board members
  
• Understanding insurance
  

Finance Fundamentals

• The role of boards, organizations, and board members in relation to finance
  
• Finance related roles and committees
  
• Budget planning and analysis
  
• Interpretation of financial statements and budgets
  
• How to assess the financial health of the organization
  

Commitment to Diversity

• Foundational understanding of the importance of diversity on boards
  
• The dimensions of diversity and inclusion
  
• The business case for diversity
  
• Board member roles in promoting diversity
  
• Understanding of cultural competence, tokenism, generalization, minimization, and the culture of a board
  

Risk Management

• Understanding risk

• The role of the board in managing risk

• Enterprise Risk Management

• Structures and processes for managing risk

• Risk classification and tolerance

Strategic Planning

• Understanding and developing an organization’s purpose and impact
  
• A strategic planning process and the tools to develop a strategic plan
  
• Methods for implementing the strategic plan
  
• Roles of the board and the executives in developing and implement the plan
  

Resource Development

• Context and challenges of resource development
  
• Key principles and concepts of effective resource development
  
• Success through a planning process
  
• Role of the board to support and enhance resource development