Equitas Academy Charter School
Minutes
Governance Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Monday August 28, 2017 at 3:00 PM
Location
Call in: 719-394-0060 PIN: 81249. Additional Call in Locations: 1700 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90015, 2723 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, CA 90005, 5371 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 200, 90036, 10250 Constellation Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90067
PUBLIC COMMENT AT EQUITAS ACADEMY BOARD MEETINGS – An opportunity for the public to address the Board will be provided at the conclusion of the agenda. Members of the public who wish to speak on any item are requested to identify themselves and indicate on which agenda item they wish to speak. The Board will provide an opportunity for the public to speak for a maximum of three (3) minutes, unless granted additional time at the discretion of the Board. Testimony shall be limited in content to matters pertaining to Equitas Academy. The Board may not take any action on matters discussed during the public testimony period that are not listed on the agenda. Brown Act Compliance: Agenda posted at School
Committee Members Present
J. Creed (remote), L. Phillips (remote)
Committee Members Absent
None
Guests Present
J. Host (remote), K. Cape (remote), L. Renfort (remote), M. Borrego (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
L. Phillips called a meeting of the Governance Committee Committee of Equitas Academy Charter School to order on Monday Aug 28, 2017 at 3:02 PM.
II. Governance
A.
Prospective Board Members
Duplicate agenda item. See item below .... Prospective Board Member Tracker.
B.
Prospective Board Member Tracker
Lindsay Phillips presented the Prospective Board Member Tracker.
Shared Google Doc Tracker with the overall annual goal to increase Board to 11 members. Repository for everyone to document when they think about candidates and document current strengths etc.
Would like to roll out over the coming month.
Want to track demographics (gender, race, age) so we create a diverse board in terms of background and demographics.
Discussed current board membership, who is leaving and how many positions need to be filled.
JC suggested maybe changing the Board goal of increasing to 11 over two years instead of one.
MB reiterated the Board Retreat goals and that she would feel uncomfortable changing the goals that were set in June. We need to focus heavily on recruiting and training new Board members. This number was chosen, because that is where we need to go as we grow as an organization.
Process:
LP - Sharing out feedback. Giving everyone a deadline to populate ideas and feedback. Start prioritizing an outreach list.
Need to settle on a deadline to collect feedback from everyone.
MB will create an email for Board Member recruiting strategy/purposes that we can use to send out to people.
JC - cast a wide net and then narrow down for recruiting purposes
JH - what are our screening measures? - Commitment (hours on a monthly basis), diversity initiative, skills, etc.
JC - create a list of influencers to talk to people about our Board strategy more broadly, to broaden who we're reaching out to. Make a separate list for influencers.
LP - next step is having people give a list of connectors and prospectives and also starting filling out the Board Member Tracker.
Shared Google Doc Tracker with the overall annual goal to increase Board to 11 members. Repository for everyone to document when they think about candidates and document current strengths etc.
Would like to roll out over the coming month.
Want to track demographics (gender, race, age) so we create a diverse board in terms of background and demographics.
Discussed current board membership, who is leaving and how many positions need to be filled.
JC suggested maybe changing the Board goal of increasing to 11 over two years instead of one.
MB reiterated the Board Retreat goals and that she would feel uncomfortable changing the goals that were set in June. We need to focus heavily on recruiting and training new Board members. This number was chosen, because that is where we need to go as we grow as an organization.
Process:
LP - Sharing out feedback. Giving everyone a deadline to populate ideas and feedback. Start prioritizing an outreach list.
Need to settle on a deadline to collect feedback from everyone.
MB will create an email for Board Member recruiting strategy/purposes that we can use to send out to people.
JC - cast a wide net and then narrow down for recruiting purposes
JH - what are our screening measures? - Commitment (hours on a monthly basis), diversity initiative, skills, etc.
JC - create a list of influencers to talk to people about our Board strategy more broadly, to broaden who we're reaching out to. Make a separate list for influencers.
LP - next step is having people give a list of connectors and prospectives and also starting filling out the Board Member Tracker.
C.
Board Scorecard
Kevin Cape presented the Board Scorecard. Very relevant in new board member orientation and also for who we want to bring on the board in the first place.
Kevin went over the categories of Governor, Sponsor, Ambassador and Consultant (actively serving on a committee). The categories are not listed in any ranking order.
Discussed the Donor Pyramid.
Kevin asked for feedback on Scorecard.
LP - trying to tie it to "who are we looking for in a board member"?
Malka - there are 3 parts of the process - Selection, Training, and Accountability/Outcomes. The Board Scorecard helps to hold this up, to be able to talk about this upfront in the recruitment process.
LP - Bringing in the mix of the money and the resources is an important part of the board participating process.
Board Scorecard - Governance will ultimately take this recommendation to the larger board.
JC - on the Governor - change 10 to maybe 9 above the averages.
Governance Comm. will finalize the Board Scorecard and they will take it to Sept. 28th Board Meeting for a vote for adoption.
Lauren will give update on attendance from last year's Board meetings.
Kevin will present Board Scorecard at Board mtg. on August 31st for discussion and then go to vote at Sept. Board Meeting.
Kevin went over the categories of Governor, Sponsor, Ambassador and Consultant (actively serving on a committee). The categories are not listed in any ranking order.
Discussed the Donor Pyramid.
Kevin asked for feedback on Scorecard.
LP - trying to tie it to "who are we looking for in a board member"?
Malka - there are 3 parts of the process - Selection, Training, and Accountability/Outcomes. The Board Scorecard helps to hold this up, to be able to talk about this upfront in the recruitment process.
LP - Bringing in the mix of the money and the resources is an important part of the board participating process.
Board Scorecard - Governance will ultimately take this recommendation to the larger board.
JC - on the Governor - change 10 to maybe 9 above the averages.
Governance Comm. will finalize the Board Scorecard and they will take it to Sept. 28th Board Meeting for a vote for adoption.
Lauren will give update on attendance from last year's Board meetings.
Kevin will present Board Scorecard at Board mtg. on August 31st for discussion and then go to vote at Sept. Board Meeting.
D.
Employee Handbook
Jon presented revisions on the FY 17-18 Employee Handbook.
Moving forward we would like to bring these annual revisions to the June board meeting.
Used Law firm Procopio to make suggested updates to our Employee Handbook.
The updates include Lawyer suggested updates as well as Equitas suggested updates.
Moving forward we would like to bring these annual revisions to the June board meeting.
Used Law firm Procopio to make suggested updates to our Employee Handbook.
The updates include Lawyer suggested updates as well as Equitas suggested updates.
III. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
L. Phillips made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
J. Creed seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 4:28 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
L. Phillips