Governing Board

If you only read one of The Gravely Group’s blogs each year, our annual Year in Review should be it. Each year, we do a recap of all the articles we put out throughout the year, as well as give a few other highlights from our trainings and travels. After nearly three years of uncertainty,…

September seems so far from now, doesn’t it? Where will things stand at that time? Will school be back in session? Even as states begin cautiously reopening some businesses, schools remain closed. However, most expect that school will be back in session in the fall. But what will that look like? As we try to…

In Head Start, shared governance is something we live by every day. From the very beginning, the framers of Head Start wanted to provide parents and community representatives with the authority and opportunity to participate in share decision-making concerning program design and implementation. But as we know, as human beings, we sometimes disagree. That’s completely…

According to Sec 642(c) of the Head Start Act, all Head Start designees are required to have a formal structure for program governance, including the formation of a governing body and policy council. The section goes into detail about the responsibilities of the board and policy council, including the composition of each group and who…

We recently gave a free webinar on the three entities of Head Start/Early Head Start Program Governance Structure. (Sign up for our mailing list to receive notices about upcoming free webinars). In that webinar, we talked about the roles and responsibilities of each entity, as well as training and reporting requirements. Based on the questions…

The most effective organizations invest in their boards, and encourage continual learning in the boardroom. But why board training? The Gravely Group works with a diverse range of clients in the early learning industry. Here are five reasons we feel it’s important to have good board development and training. It helps build the board Time…

Serving on a nonprofit board can be immensely rewarding. A common approach to staffing a nonprofit board is to invite seasoned business men and women who want to give back to the community. In this approach, business-savvy executives are expected to leverage their for-profit business success and replicate it at the nonprofit level. However, running…

Each organization should decide what is needed to be able to function well. Bylaws need to be impartial, that is, fair to all. Members play an important role in determining what the document contains; and they must be able to make changes, not on a whim, but in a manner that protects all members as…

A blog I follow frequently is from BourceSource, which describes itself as “a national organization working to strengthen nonprofit board leadership.” Recently, the President & CEO, Anne Wallestad, penned an article titled “Why Repealing the Johnson Amendment is a Bad Idea.” Wallestad writes about her experience in 2013, when she was part of a specially-commissioned…

One new and exciting part of the new Head Start Performance Standards is a section on Advisory Committees. Now remember, this is still part of the program governance section – 1301.2 Governing Body (aka your board). I quote: “Advisory committees. (1) A governing body may establish advisory committees as it deems necessary for effective governance…