Below the Waterline: News from the Board of Directors

This is to update members on at least a bit of what the Board of Directors has been doing, discussing, and deciding over the past
months.

You might recall that the March 2009 Newsletter reported on the Board’s six major areas of focus in our 2009 Business Plan:
• membership growth and retention;
• revenue sources;
• professional certification;
• structural coherence/ operational clarity/ role definition/ succession planning;
• communications; and,
• partnerships.

Not surprisingly, these were the principal topics of conversation during the Board’s most recent face-to-face meeting, held in Vancouver on April 19, 2009.

The Board has come to see the development of Regional Chapters as a means to improve member networking, deliver local programming, and provide other value-added services, as well as increasing member recruitment and retention. While the precise
approaches used in our several global Regions will likely vary, the Board is attempting, with the guidance of Simon Wilson, our Strategic Initiative Coordinator for Membership and Affiliations, to craft some overall guidelines and procedures that will ensure minimum consistency in the administration and oversight of our Chapters. Simon is also working on a campaign to promote membership in IAF to various groups, and to remind current members of what is available through our Association. As well, the Board is moving forward with various recognition programs (including a new Community Outreach Award) to make clear the many
contributions of IAF members to the profession, to the Association, and to the wider world.

The continued financial viability of the organization is an obvious preoccupation of the Board. At present, IAF’s financial situation is stable, but the international economic downturn, and its potential effects on both revenues and liabilities, is a concern. The Board is planning to extend its search for sponsor organizations independent of those recruited for our individual Conferences. We are also looking at ways to ensure that our Conference, and other revenues and expenses, are more predictable and less prone to risk. Tony Nash, a member based in Ottawa, and well-known to many of us as a Certification Program Assessor and Process Manager, has recently taken on the volunteer duties of IAF Treasurer.

The CPF Re-Certification program for people who received their initial designation in the years 1998 – 2005 has now begun. The Board has reviewed the Re-Certification Process Manual and timeline, and accompanying informational and promotional materials. To
date, almost 700 practitioners in over 40 countries have achieved their professional certification. Introduction of this program has consumed many months of intensive work by Michael Spivey, volunteer Strategic Initiative Coordinator for Professional Development, and a team of volunteers. Michael and his colleagues are also continuing to work on implementation of the many recommendations arising from the September 2007 Report of the IAF CPF Workgroup, a major undertaking that involved members from around the world.
Those recommendations include a training accreditation program, specialty certifications, and enhancement of the program’s administrative infrastructure.

Eunice Shankland, Past Chair of IAF, and a small Nominations Committee, have been working to clarify and operationalize a more transparent and effective nominations and elections process for the Board. That will also require the Board to make decisions on exactly which positions and portfolios are required moving into the future. To help with this, Carol Sherriff, volunteer Strategic Initiative Coordinator for Conferences, is doing double-duty in helping the Board reassess its needs, roles, and approaches in light of our business planning and the evolving opportunities and challenges that we are facing as an organization. The Association’s By-Laws have long been under review, and proposed changes will be submitted to the membership later this year.

IAF’s new volunteer Strategic Initiative Coordinator for Communications and Publications, Mark Edmead of Escondido, California, has already launched a LinkedIn group to promote IAF to the community at large. As well, a major redesign of the IAF website and
its connections to our various Regional sites is underway.

There are many organizations whose members are interested in the tools and techniques of facilitation, and with which IAF could create mutually-beneficial partnerships. For example, the Board considered a joint statement of core principles for public engagement
drafted by a consortium of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, the International Association of Public Participation, and the Co-Intelligence Institute. With a minor amendment, the Board endorsed the core principles. Through our members, as well as through active participation in their conferences and other forums, IAF also is hoping to enhance our relationships with groups such as these, the Project Management Institute, and others.

by John Butcher