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Board Development

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Board Training

About the Board Development Curriculum

CLAE's new Board Development curriculum and associated materials reflect the specific context of civil legal aid practice – its unique mission and values, services provided, clients and communities served, and challenges faced – as well as the core principles underlying the ABA governance-related Standards of Practice. The curriculum also addresses the leadership dimension of legal aid governance and supports the notion that a strong board/staff leadership partnership is essential to ensuring legal aid programs’ effectiveness in achieving their important mission.

Through the Board Development curriculum, our goals are to provide a consistent framework and set of tools to:

  • Clarify governing bodies’ roles and responsibilities;
  • Strengthen the capacity of boards and board members to carry out those responsibilities;
  • Build a greater sense of purpose and commitment within legal aid boards;
  • Deepen board members’ understanding of and respect for the diverse experiences, perspectives and contributions of its various members; and,
  • Increase the notion of partnership and shared leadership between legal aid providers and boards

Context for board training

Board TrainingLegal aid providers work in increasingly complex environments. The central issues they address – housing and homelessness, intake and case triage, employment and training, outreach to the client community, access to health care, creation of new delivery mechanisms for providing legal services – are themselves subject to innumerable forces. 

As stewards of the organization, legal aid boards are responsible for overseeing their organizations' performance, accountability, fiscal integrity and regulatory compliance.  They are also responsible for working with programs to develop strategic and long-range plans and ensure that program resources and services are responsive to evolving community needs and “accomplish lasting results” for clients...  In doing so, they must also recognize the various regional, statewide and even national systems and partnerships within which providers operate and ensure that the providers’ operations and services are aligned with and take these into account. Together, these various dimensions of governance call for an active, engaged and forward-looking board that works in a leadership partnership with senior management to govern the organization.

Topics covered in this course include:

Board Development

Reviews tools and techniques for developing a strong, active board that reflects a broad cross-section of low-income, legal and other communities and ensures all board members' full and meaningful participation in board activities and decision-making.

Board Dynamics

Examines structures and strategies for ensuring that board meetings are optimally productive by building agendas that focus on policy and strategy rather than management and that utilize techniques for ensuring full participation by all board members.

Board of Directors: Roles & Responsibilities

Provides an introduction to roles and responsibilities of civil legal aid boards as a whole as well as roles and responsibilities of individual board members.

Board – Staff Partnership

Examines the respective roles and responsibilities of the organization's board members and staff, potential areas of confusion about these and areas that require a strong board/staff partnership. It also examines the critical roles of the board chair and Executive Director in facilitating the productive work of the board.

Fiscal Responsibilities

Examines the board's role in ensuring effective financial oversight, including how to interpret financial statements, establish financial controls and oversee overall financial health.

How the Board carries out its work

Examines structural vehicles through which the Board carries out its work, e.g., roles and responsibilities of board officers, committee structures etc., as well as strategies for strengthening committees and overall board effectiveness.

Introduction

Introduces the legal aid context and core values underlying the Board Development Training curriculum as well as the leadership dimension of governance that is reflected throughout.

Program Oversight

Examines the Board's role in determining, monitoring and strengthening the organization's programs and services and ensuring that the organization is in compliance with its own policies and with pertinent legal and funder requirements.

Relations with the Chief Executive

Examines the board's role in relation to the Chief Executive, specifically in terms of recruitment, hiring, support and evaluation.

Resource Development

Explores the board's responsibility for ensuring adequate resources for the organization and strategies for directly involving board members in resource development activities.

The Board's Role in Organizational Planning

Examines the board's critical role in organizational planning that furthers the provider's mission and fosters the effective and efficient utilization of its resources to meet the most compelling needs of its clients.

ABA Standards addressed include:

1.1 - On Overall Functions and Responsibilities of the Governing Body

pdf PDF Version - 110.75 KB

1.1-1 - On Governing Body oversight of the provider

pdf PDF Version - 40.62 KB

1.1-2 - On Prohibition against interference in the representation of clients

pdf PDF Version - 28.40 KB

1.1-3 - On Fiscal Matters

pdf PDF Version - 44.54 KB

1.1-4 - On Relations with the Chief Executive

pdf PDF Version - 40.46 KB

1.1-5 - On Serving as a Resource to the Provider

pdf PDF Version - 28.07 KB

1.1-6 - On resource development

pdf PDF Version - 61.22 KB

1.2 - On governing body members' responsiveness to the communities served

pdf PDF Version - 66.03 KB

1.2-1 - On Individual Members' commitment to the provider

pdf PDF Version - 43.99 KB

1.2-2 - On Board Members from the communities served by the provider

pdf PDF Version - 42.93 KB

1.2-3 - On Training of Members of the Governing Body

pdf PDF Version - 34.53 KB

1.2-4 - On Governing Body Members' Conflicts of Interest

pdf PDF Version - 57.64 KB

1.3 - On governing body Communication with low income & legal communities

pdf PDF Version - 45.50 KB

2.1 - On Identifying Legal Needs and Planning to Respond

pdf PDF Version - 56.70 KB

LSC Performance Criterion 1 - On Governance

pdf PDF Version - 81.08 KB

Sample resources for this course

American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver

file download American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver - 78.80 MB

American Idealist brings Shriver's story to life in this documentary which aired nationally on PBS on January 21, 2008. CLAE has been granted permission from the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute to post this clip. If you are interested in purchasing the video and viewing the documentary in it's entirety, please click here.

Board Development Training Powerpoints - Atlanta, 2010

pdf download Board Development Training Powerpoints - Atlanta, 2010 - 602.43 KB

Introduction to Board Development Curriculum

pdf download Introduction to Board Development Curriculum - 484.27 KB

Reflections on the Shriver video

pdf download Reflections on the Shriver video - 118.29 KB

Shriver Video Powerpoints

pdf download Shriver Video Powerpoints - 151.75 KB

Faculty for this course:

Ellen Hemley

Ellen Hemley

Vice President of Training Programs

Ellen Hemley brings over 30 years of experience in the equal justice community to her role as Vice President of Training Programs.

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Gerry Singsen

Gerry Singsen

Independent Consultant

Gerry Singsen is a legal services consultant and trainer.

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Courses

The various dimensions of governance call for an active, engaged and forward-looking board that works in a leadership partnership with senior management...