J Boulet reviewed key changes and updates to committee descriptions. Committee members discussed: 

• The distinction between the Executive Committee and Governance Committee
• Updates to Governance Committee responsibilities, incl. Board professional development and self-evalutaions, and oversight of progress toward Strategic Goals
• The new External Relations Committee description, in light of the Board's Strategic Goals and purpose of establishing the Committee
• Whether or not the Finance Committee may want to explicitly spell out signature powers in the bylaws (currently, it does not--S Pressley will inquire with the Board's counsel and revert)

The Committee agreed that they are happy with the revisions to the Bylaws and will recommend that the current draft be formally adopted by the Board at the upcoming Board Meeting. 

The Committee discussed its general and upcoming tasks, including Board self-evaluations in January and reflecting on the outcomes in February.

J Boulet will update the Governance Committee's annual calendar in the coming month.  

J Boulet shared the outcomes of Strategic Goal conversations held with Committee Chairs over the past months, and highlighted potential challenges with each goal. These were reflected in the document shared with the Governance Committee.

The Committee agreed that the proposed distribution of responsibility to various committees to lead the execution of each Strategic Goal made sense. A Khanyile and S Pressley agreed to be in touch regarding Fundraising. S Pressley highlighted that we need to make a concerted effort to actively involve all Board members in executing the Goals. 

The Committee discussed Strategic Goal 4 ("Implement an effective governance structure for Committees in order to accomplish our strategic priorities and hold ourselves accountable to goals") in more detail. The Governance Committee will lead on SG4 implementation. The following questions were highlighted:

• Lack of experience among Trustees
• Need to consider and define what it means to have “highly effective” Committee Chairs
• Are onboarding materials setting Trustees up for success? 
• Currently communication channels are mostly informal: what works about this? What doesn’t?
• Need to set specific benchmarks: what will be achieved this year toward each goal?  

C Barnes affirmed that she felt that Trustee professional development and understanding the role of the Board would be important. S Pressley highlighted the need for better communication between all Board members, including in between meetings. E Chen agreed. J Boulet proposed that the Governance Committee can develop a policy for internal communications.

Committee members highlighted that internal communications could be improved through more opportunities to get to know one another. J Boulet and E Chen agreed to take the lead on setting up a virtual happy hour. General enthusiasm was expressed.
 

J Boulet proposed various options for structuring an approach to accountability and planning for achieving the Strategic Goals. Committee members agreed on the following:

• Governance Committee could provide a good forum, for the moment, for some Strategic Goal-related discussions, but more general involvement will also be necessary;
• Governance Committee meetings could potentially be held toward the beginning of the month to create a space for planning actions toward Strategic Goals on a monthly basis;
• Committee chairs, in collaboration with their Committees, will create 3-month plans for steps they will take toward achieving Strategic Goals. They will reach out to J Boulet or one another as helpful in developing these goals. 
• The Governance Committee will host a discussion on the 3-month plans, which all Trustees will be welcome to attend.