Board Chair Development Seminar

Confidently execute your duties as a current or future board chair with expert training from Board Chair Development Seminar.

Learn to protect your credit union with the good governance best practices you’ll discover at this highly interactive, filler-free event. We’ll discuss what’s top of mind for you and your fellow board chairs, and delve deep into the responsibilities and challenges you face.

You’ll leave with recommendations drawn directly from current best practices on:  

• The chair/CEO partnership
• Critical domains for chairperson leadership
• The chair’s role in leading the governance process
• Governance performance and risk oversight

Plus, you’ll develop a personal action plan, so you’ll be set for a successful conversation with your board back home.

The bottom line? You’ll leave a better, stronger board chair, knowing how to protect your CU with good governance practices. Register now!

Let us help you plan a full-board retreat during our director seminars! Contact CUES, and we’ll help you arrange meeting space before or after the event.

Why Attend?

Current and Future Board Chairs: Why Attend?

• Your role, and the decisions you make, are vitally important to the health and well-being of your CU. Attend and head home confident in your responsibilities.
• Walk away with practical tips and tools you can implement right away.
• This event is highly interactive. You can ask questions, bring up challenges, and share your own best practices and success stories.
• You have a unique level of responsibility; you’ll find a fellowship of board chairs, and develop a network of colleagues you can reach out to after the seminar is over.
• You'll receive a hard copy, high-level seminar synopsis so you can share key takeaways and action items with your colleagues back home.
• We’ll set you up for success with planned discussion points.

CEOs: Why Send Your Current and Future Board Chair to this Event? 

• Board chair responsibilities range far and wide. Protect your credit union, and make sure your current and future chair are set up for success.
• The schedule is filler-free; your chair will spend 13 and a half hours learning, and the interactive setup makes it easy to connect with new colleagues.
• This seminar is a must attend for any board chair; aspiring, new, or veteran.
• Upon their return, you can be confident knowing your board is functioning at its best.  
• This event is highly interactive. Your board chair will be able ask questions and bring up challenges in a positive environment among colleagues.
• Plus, your board chair will:
  • Walk away with practical tips and tools they can use right away.
  • Meet others in the same role, and develop a network of colleagues they can reach out to after the seminar is over.
  • Receive a hard copy, high-level seminar synopsis, so they can easily share key takeaways and action items when back home.
  • Head home with talking points for easy back at home discussions
     

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Sponsorship Opportunities

When you need to reach the top, you need to reach the board chair. They’re here!

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Overview 

The board chair is in some ways the most influential and important position in any credit union, but also often receives the least rigor when it comes to role definition, recruitment and performance oversight. 

What does it mean to be a great board chair? How should your credit union determine the boundaries of the chair’s responsibilities, and how they fit within the broader role of the board? What can you do to continue to excel in your position today, while keeping an eye firmly on the future? 

This seminar features up-to-date research, engaging case studies and vigorous conversations to equip you with new tools that will optimize your effectiveness as board chair.  
 
The seminar will focus on the following questions:  

1. To whom do you owe a duty as board chair? 
2. Where does the chair’s role begin and end? 
3. What are the characteristics of an excellent board chair?  
4. How can you build meeting agendas that focus on what really matters? 
5. How can you build and maintain an effective relationship with the CEO? 
6. What is the chair’s role in managing the performance of the board? 

 
Seminar Outline 

1. Exercise: To whom do you owe a duty? 

Working with your peers, you’ll explore the nuances of a board’s duties, and the chair’s role within the broader context of the board. This section will help you build tools that ensure these duties are taken into account in all board decision-making. 

2. What exactly is a board chair’s job? 

We often hear board chairs described as “orchestra conductors” or “first among equals.” Are these accurate descriptions? Whether they are or not, what do they actually mean in practice? 

Learn from the instructor and your peers about the spectrum of roles that board chairs undertake, and head back into your boardroom with a clearer understanding of where your role begins and ends. 

3. The chair’s role in defining the line between board and management.  

Many CEOs complain about their board getting “into the weeds,” while many boards worry that they are not receiving the right information at the right time. What can the chair do to find and maintain an appropriate balance between the board and management? 

This section will use a combination of lecture, conversation and group exercises to build tools for you to optimize the contributions of both sides of the table. 

4. Running effective meetings. 

A board’s scarcest resource is time, and it’s up to the board chair to make sure that time is spent carefully. What does an effective agenda look like? Once you’ve crafted the perfect agenda, how do you keep things on track while giving everyone in the room a chance to participate? This section will offer research-driven insights into the structure and mechanics of excellent board meetings. 

5. Monitoring the performance of the board and board members.  

No board is perfect, but the best boards acknowledge that fact and strive for ongoing improvement. These efforts can only be successful if they are driven and supported by an effective board chair. This section will explore effective approaches to board and director assessment and the tools a chair needs to get it done right. 

6. Personal action plan development. 

Every participant will leave the session with a specific set of next steps that they will bring back to their boardroom and implement over the near- and medium-term. This session is designed to have practical, applied value for all participants, and to have a positive impact on all participating credit unions. 
 

Hotel

Le Westin Montreal
270 St. Antoine Ouest
Montreal, Québec, H2Y 0A3
Canada

CUES discounted rates at Le Westin Montreal are:

Single & Double Occupancy, $272 CAD per night plus applicable taxes, which include a housing tax, federal sales tax, and a provincial sales tax. 

Make reservations online prior to June 19, 2020. The hotel will accept reservations after June 19th based on availability, however, room rates and availability are not guaranteed so early reservations are recommended. Staying within CUES’ room block will help keep registration prices down. Hotel arrangements are strictly between you and the hotel. 

Check-in: 3:00 p.m.
Check-out: 12:00 p.m. 

There is a $6 per day mandatory porter fee.

Parking

Le Westin Montreal valet parking is $36 CAD for 24 hours with in and out access and $21 CAD for the day. 

Air Travel

CUES conference participants may call Fox World Travel for airfare reservations at 888.691.9163 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. CST and reference Group Code 09FP4115. Please note that a ticket processing fee of $37 domestic or $46 international will be added. CUES does not offer a discounted rate, but Fox World Travel will ensure the best pricing available for U.S. residents.

Airport

Le Westin Montreal is located approximately 20 km from the Montreal- Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport. Approximate drive time is 25 minutes from the airport to the hotel. 

Airport to Hotel 

Taxi service is approximately $38 one way. Uber and Lyft services are approximately $35 CAD each way.

Ground Transportation

Car Rental
Hertz is the official car rental company for this meeting. You can take advantage of their discounted rates by placing your reservation online at www.hertz.com or through the Hertz Meeting Sales Desk within the U.S. at 800-654-2240; from within Canada call 800-263-0600 refer to Meeting CV#02ZG0016.