10 Board Habits to Kick (Scranton 2024)

10 Board Habits to Kick
Thursday, November 14 | 1:00 PM-4:00 PM | North Pocono Public Library, 1315 Church Street, Moscow, PA 18444

Offered in Partnership by: Northeast Library District | Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)

Facilitators: Debra Thompson, BS, MBA, President & CEO, and Jacqui Catrabone, MA, Director of Nonprofit & Community Services, Strategy Solutions, Inc.

Sponsored by: Mutual of America | My Benefit Advisor (MBA)

Want to sign your company on as a sponsor? Click here to learn more!

*Registration will close at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, November 13. If you wish to attend and have missed the registration deadline, please reach out to Christina Spadaro at christina@pano.org as soon as possible.

If you serve on a nonprofit board or work with a board of directors, you may have seen (or maybe even done yourself) some problematic behaviors. It’s natural to behave in a way that you feel is “right” and seems to align with your job as a board member. But certain board habits can wreak havoc on an organization. That’s why it’s important to recognize when you, or someone on your board, is displaying problematic behavior. What’s even more important? Intervening promptly and appropriately.

If you’re ready to turn problematic board behaviors around, this interactive half-day session is for you! The purpose of this gathering is two-fold:

• To bring people together who share similar responsibilities in their day-to-day work, because we all need “our people” when we face challenges. Come find yours at this gathering!
• To identify 10 common behaviors we could all do without on our boards and strategize together about what to do when we experience them. Best practices in board recruitment and orientation to ensure appropriate board oversight and governance will also be shared.

So, if part of your job – whether it’s written into your official job description or not! – involves working with or on a board, invest in yourself and your mission and join us! When you register, you’ll have the opportunity to inform content by letting us know what you need most in this space. Light refreshments will be provided.

What can we accomplish for our communities when we empower our boards and board members to be their best selves? Let’s find out!

Agenda:

1:00 PM – 1:20 PM | Registration & Networking

1:20 PM – 1:30 PM | Welcome

1:30 PM – 1:45 PM | Level-Setting with Demographic Polling

1:45 PM – 2:00 PM | Small Group Discussion: Our collective experience with dysfunctional board behavior

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | 10 Board Habits to Kick Overview

2:30 PM – 2:45 PM | Networking Break

2:45 PM – 3:00 PM | Small Group Discussion: Strategizing to address problematic behaviors

3:00 PM – 3:55 PM | Interventional Strategies & Board Best Practices (including recruitment, orientation, onboarding, and performance management)

3:55 PM – 4:00 PM | Closing & Adjourn

Cost:

$15 PANO Members | $30 Not Yet Members

By signing up for this event, you authorize PANO to use any photos, videos, or recordings from this event in which you may appear. If you would like to request that PANO not use your image, likeness, and/or voice in publications and communications following this event, please reach out to Christina Spadaro | Christina@pano.org.

Location & Other Logistics:

North Pocono Public Library

Community Room

1315 Church Street

Moscow, PA 18444

While we designed this event so that most can travel to the event in the morning, we also understand that some may want to spend the night before or after. Please let us know when you register if you plan to stay one of these nights so we can book a room block at a local hotel.

Light refreshments – including coffee and tea for those who want (or need!) a little afternoon pick-me-up – will be available upon your arrival at the event.

And finally, this event is in-person only – with intention.  We have heard from those coming to post-pandemic events the importance of personal connections made over coffee or meals.  If you are not able to attend this convening, we hope you will be able to attend others coming up.

*Registration will close at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, November 13. If you wish to attend and have missed the registration deadline, please reach out to Christina Spadaro at christina@pano.org as soon as possible.

About the Facilitators:

Debra Thompson, BS, MBA, Strategy Solutions, Inc.

As Founder & President of Strategy Solutions, Inc., Deb serves as project manager and collaborator, enabling clients to “take it to the next level” and achieve their vision and goals. She also helps nonprofits implement best practices in governance and management.

Deb is a licensed consultant, Trainer, and peer reviewer for both the National and Pennsylvania Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. She was appointed to the National Standards for Excellence Council in December 2015.

Debra has 20 years’ experience teaching at the masters’ level at Duquesne and Gannon Universities, including Organizational Development, Program Development/Evaluation, Strategic Planning, Research Methods, and Leadership courses. Her awards and recognitions include: Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business, Erie’s “Dynamic Dozen” of Women Making History, Finalist for International Stevie Award for Women in Business, Technology Innovator category and Erie Woman of the Year Finalist.

Learn more about Deb here.

Jacqui Catrabone, MA, Strategy Solutions, Inc.

As Director of Nonprofit and Community Services at Strategy Solutions, Inc., Jacqui provides leadership, organization, project management and client coordination support for training, research, planning, facilitation, organizational and program development, and evaluation projects for nonprofit and community/government clients. A self-proclaimed “data geek”, Jacqui is also SSI’s acting Director of Research and works to analyze relevant data to help inform client engagements and uncover statistically significant nuances worth noting.

She brings a depth and breadth of project management and program development experience to SSI clients and is committed to ensuring the voice of key internal and external stakeholders are heard as well as helping to identify strategies based on this critical voice.

She is a certified trainer, consultant, and peer reviewer for the Pennsylvania Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. In addition, she is part of the PANO Consultant Collaborative and was appointed to the Standards Committee, where she is currently the chair.

Jacqui has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Social Work from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the team at SSI, she provided direct behavior support and clinical interventions for children, families, educators, and care providers.

Learn more about Jacqui here.

PANO is trying something a little new this year.

Here is why:

• We are celebrating 40 years of PANO by focusing on connections – because relationships form the basis of all that is PANO today. So…in honor of 40 years of PANO connections, we are “shaking up” our in-person programming slightly, using concepts from affinity groups and communities of practice to deepen the connections already in place and to make the space for new relationships to form.
• With this in mind, we are starting with community-building at the core, and then developing content around those connections – rather than the other way around.

We are leaning into concepts gleaned from:

• The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker, a keynote speaker at our 2020 conference. Priya planted the seed of what it means to create meaningful gatherings, including but not limited to the idea of “generous exclusion” – meaning that a gathering intentionally designed around a purpose could and maybe should exclude those who may not fit the purpose for which that gathering was designed. By doing so, those invited and engaged with intent may find the best value.
• Impact Networks: Create Connections, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change, by David Ehrlichman. Specifically, we want to create learning or knowledge networks where information is exchanged, innovation is sparked, coordination is increased, and members are better able to adapt knowledge to their local challenges, and promising practices are spread, resources are more easily distributed where they are needed most, messaging comes into greater alignment, and the actions of those involved begin to reinforce each other.
• We invite you to read either/both of these books with us as we engage on a journey toward more meaningful gatherings.

This is new for us – so we ask from you, grace, wisdom, and help as we experiment with you.