Governance Experience

Experience with Models of Governance

The position of UUA Moderator includes responsibilities as the Chief Governance Officer of the Unitarian Universalist Association.  It is important that a candidate for Moderator have experience with governance.

I have worked with and observed many boards, especially volunteer boards and local church boards at the local and district level, that use a management model of governance.  These boards align to operational functions or staff structures and focus primarily on making operational decisions.  The lines between governance and management are blurred if existent.   

Small start up companies and community focused non-profits with which I consulted often had boards acting primarily in an advisory role. Smart, well educated and well connected board members were sometimes recruited for their expertise by the CEO or Executive Directors.  Other boards were put together by venture capitalists to provide expert advise for young entrepreneurial CEOs. 

I worked with Fundraising Boards most often with foundations or non-profits in the art world.  These boards were usually outward (community) facing and often large.  

I first came into contact with Policy Governance while consulting with school boards in the early 90‘s.  The elected membership often had strong affiliation to constituencies along racial, class or ethnic lines and the move toward policy based governance required realignment from a constituency framework to a more holistic stewardship sensibility.  

The UUA Board made the transition toward Policy Based Governance while I was a Trustee.  The Board received many excellent trainings and consultations regarding governance during my tenure.  The transition to the new governance model was often bumpy, but ultimately resulted in the Board having a more intentional, planned and self-reflective process of governance.  There is much governance work for the UUA Board yet to do, especially in regards to understanding what the governance shift means in our relationships to our staff structure, committees and other elected entities.