The BC Institute for Co-operative Studies/Canadian Social Economy Hub and the School of Public Administration present...

Bridging the Gap: Between the Ideal and Reality in the Governance of Non-Profit Organizations

with Vic Murray, Adjunct Professor, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria

Thursday, March 6th
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Collard Room, Swans Hotel

For years, books, articles, web-sites, and consultants have been offering all kinds of advice on how boards of non-profit organizations ought to operate and relate to the organizations they govern. Yet many boards have a very difficult time living up to these ideals or choose not to even try. Why is this? Is it the fault of the boards and managers? Or is it possible that the advice itself is not always what is needed?

This session will:

• Explore the gaps between the ideal and the reality of board governance
• Discuss how to develop ways to bring the ideal and the reality closer together
• Offer practical advice on how to use contingency-based analysis to improve board performance.

This talk will be of particular interest to executive directors and boards of directors of non-profit organizations.

Vic Murray is currently Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria. From 1983 to 1995, he was director of the program in Voluntary Sector Management in the Schulich School of Business at York University, Toronto. He is also an active consultant and volunteer in the areas of board governance, strategic planning, inter-organizational collaboration, and the assessment of organizational effectiveness.

Time: Thursday, March 6th 1-2 pm
Location: Collard Room, Swans Hotel (506 Pandora Avenue, downtown Victoria)

This talk is part of the 2008 BCICS/Canadian Social Economy Hub Winter Speakers Series: "Co-operatives and the Social Economy."

This series features presentations by UVic academics, graduate students, visiting faculty, and practitioners discussing topics related to Co-operatives and the Social Economy. These presentations are free and open to all members of the public and university community.

Coming up next...

Working with Nomadic Women in Mongolia

Vanessa Hammond, Co-op Developer, First Ownership Co-op

Through small felt-making co-operatives, nomadic women in Mongolia's Gobi desert are finding a means to economic security and cultural survival for themselves and future generations. Vanessa Hammond has spent four month-long assignments in Mongolia helping to provide development and marketing assistance to women's co-operatives on behalf of the Co-operative Development Foundation. Vanessa will share her knowledge of
the development and operating of these co-ops, and her stories and slides of the wonderful people and stunning landscape of this high desert and mountainous central Asian republic.

Time: Wednesday, March 19th, 1 - 2pm
Location: Room D115 MacLaurin Bdlg, University of Victoria

For more information, please visit our website