From Our Vantage Point

Margaret Mason, a Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright joins us this month to chat about why you shouldn’t start that charity you’ve been mulling over. We talk about partnership opportunities, how to cultivate collaboration for your mission, and much more.

Nav Nagra, a dedicated arts sector volunteer, received an exciting opportunity her inbox – a board role with the Vancouver Art/Book Fair. She took the leap into this board position in early 2018, leveraging her passion for the sector together with her writing skills. Now 6 months into her role, Nav shares tips to find a great board role, prepare for your first board meeting, and how to contribute as a new board member. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a CPA firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

For our very first panel podcast we are joined by: Veronika Bylicki, Co-Founder and Co-Director of CityHive; Vincent Gonsalves Manager, Communications and Engagement of Mobility Pricing; and Brad Roberts, Director of HR at MPA Society, to share their expertise on engagement strategies for the next generation of not-for-profit leaders. Our panelists challenge assumptions and recommend practical insights to leverage the perspective, experience, and technical know-how of today’s emerging leaders. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a CPA firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

This month, Vantage Point’s Executive Director, Denise Baker, brings forward examples of her personal self-awareness journey throughout her career. She highlights how self-awareness comes from an understanding of our individual strengths, motivations, and values. Personal goal-setting is a valuable learning process. When we have a deeper sense of self awareness, we can more successfully support ourselves and our teams! Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

Esther Jang joins us from Global Philanthropic, an international fundraising consultancy, to share recommendations for developing and executing capital campaigns. She highlights why organizations must have strong internal capacity to launch a successful campaign. Esther provides key steps to access your internal capacity – including a feasibility study, understanding your current donor relationships, and uncovering the knowledge of your staff and board. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

This month, Bhupie Dulay, a registered Clinical Counsellor with a Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology joins us to discuss safe spaces in organizations and the meaning of safety. This episode explores what can be done to create safety from both an organizational standpoint but also as an individual. Bhupie reminds us that safe spaces exist along a continuum, not a binary. Listen in to explore this thought-provoking topic and learn how you can apply these practices in your organization. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a CPA firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

This month, Director and Founder of Intercultural Strategies, Jessie Sutherland, brings forward thoughtful practices for creating belonging and unity on our boards and in our organizations. Jessie uses the Belonging Lens theory discussed in her TEDx talk to explore strategic ways we can transform polarized positions on boards to create deeper unity through a sense of belonging. We would also like to introduce our new podcast host! The wonderful Nav Nagra, Communications & Events Manager at Vantage Point is the new voice behind - From Our Vantage Point. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a CPA firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

Join Maria Turnbull and Jodi Rai for a fresh and energetic discussion about how to engage your most significant asset – volunteers and staff! Jodi Rai is a people strategist; Free Agent with the Federal government; founder of Humantis Consulting; board member & facilitator with Vantage Point; and board member of Check Your Head: the Youth Global Education Network. Jodi shares practical ways to embark on Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) Planning, explores how the process can support your strategic plan, and how you can best engage with your people plan to lift those working within your organization. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a CPA firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

This month, Mark Giffford shares some compelling tips for navigating a new executive director role - such as using baked goods to win over your board of directors! Mark is the executive director of Kiwassa Neighbourhood House and he shares insights from his long career in the sector and his new adventure as an executive director. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

Who better to provide perspective on key approaches to finding and engaging a Treasurer than a past and current Treasurer – and passionate board member – Gordon Holley, President & CEO of Humanity Financial. Leveraging his professional designations as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and a Certified Professional Bookkeeper (CPB), Gordon outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Treasurer and how the role intersects with book-keeping and/or Finance staff or contractors. He shares tips on sourcing quality candidates for this critical board role. During the interview, Gordon mentions two resources Humanity Financial has created related to the topic: A Treasurer Roles and Responsibilities Summary and a Treasurer Position Description Template, available at www.humanityfinancial.ca. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

Sector leaders are in for an interesting conversation in this month’s podcast: Not-for-Profit Salary Surveys: Striving for fair compensation in the sector. Trina Isakson, independent researcher and consultant, draws on her recent experience in championing an effort to reveal current not-for-profit salary levels here in the Metro Vancouver area. Trina shares her insights from that project, providing some suggested implications for sector leader’s consideration. Please note: podcast listeners are offered a 20% discount to the Metro Vancouver Nonprofit Sector Salary Survey, using discount code VANTAGEPOINT. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

We have legal expertise in the recording studio for this month’s podcast, Tips on Running an Effective Annual General Meeting (AGM). Michael Blatchford, lawyer with Norton Rose Fulbright, shares his depth of knowledge on the most frequent questions we receive on AGM-related issues: AGM agendas and preparation, requirements of notice to members, impact of the new Societies Act, quorum, proxy voting, taking AGM minutes, and required filings after the AGM. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

In this month’s podcast, find out how single malt Scotch can teach us a thing or two about designing successful employee engagement surveys. Maureen Simons, Principal with Verita HR Services, brings to the topic over 30 years’ professional HR experience and specific knowledge designing and administering employee engagement surveys, from the very customized to “off-the-shelf” solutions. She shares practical advice for designing, preparing for participation in, and employing your employee engagement survey data effectively. Presented by Humanity Financial Management From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management. Humanity Financial Management’s part-time controllers and CFOs provide support for budgeting, reporting, audit preparation, policies and procedures, and internal controls. Their results: Financial risk reduction and asset protection. Visit Humanity Financial Management online at humanityfinancial.ca.

Juliana Laing, one of our local governance experts, brings the Board Chair and ED Partnership to life in this month’s podcast. She emphasizes the importance of treating this partnership like many other key relationships in life, beginning with a strong foundation of trust with a willingness to tackle tough issues in a timely and open way. Juliana shares, in closing, that the best Board Chair – ED partnerships are like those of strong dance partners who know who is leading, when – and how not to step on each other’s toes! From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management.

We are often asked by boards that we work with: do we really need Director and Officers (D&O) Liability Insurance? We’ve finally had a chance to go to the experts on this one for this one: Director and Officers Liability Insurance: A Necessary Cost? Kawkab Jamal, agency owner of The Co-operators office at 5564 Cambie Street, Vancouver, leads us through the key benefits of D&O insurance, the issues to consider when exploring or revisiting your coverage, and the risks of not having this type of insurance (because neither ignorance nor resignation is a defence!). From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management.

Carol Neuman, Vantage Point’s Director of Learning, shares her insights on the topic: Board Committee Structure: Going Lean. From Carol’s vantage point, “going lean” on committees means paring back to the key essentials and taking intentional care to regularly review terms of reference, while reserving task forces for project specific work, as needed. From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management.

This month we finally get to the topic that inspired the idea for this podcast: What's the deal with Robert's Rules of Order? I’ve personally worked with not-for-profit boards for over a decade and I’ve never opened the 700+ page Robert’s Rules of Order. I’ve dismissed the whole idea as being overly complex and simply too overwhelming for the typical board member to digest and, ultimately, a deterrent to effective board member engagement. My guest, Eli Mina, a Vancouver based consultant on board effectiveness and a registered Parliamentarian, was definitely up to the task of challenging my thinking. From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management.

Maria is in highly skilled company for this podcast, focused on best practices in volunteer engagement in a unionized workforce. Jill Wurflinger has built her knowledge in volunteer engagement through her current role as National Director of Volunteer Engagement at the Canadian Diabetes Association, as well as past roles as Manager, Volunteer Engagement, BC-Yukon Division of the Canadian Cancer Society; Manager, National Olympic Committee/National Paralympic Committee Assistants Program for Vanoc - Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; and Field Executive for Scouts Canada.

Chilwin Cheng, Managing Partner of Ascendion Law, invites board chairs and executive directors to consider how they can nurture a culture that supports every board member to show up to board meetings – in body and in mind (i.e., having prepared for the meeting and ready to engage in conversations that govern!). From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management.

In the fifth episode of From Our Vantage Point, Michael McKnight, President & CEO of United Way of the Lower Mainland, joins Maria to talk metrics: ones that speak to mission impact. From Michael’s vantage point, it’s tough to determine the metrics that truly reveal mission impact and he acknowledges the imperative in figuring it out. When we are successful, the governance conversations at our board tables turn to a genuine focus on what matters – improving the lives of those in our community. From our Vantage Point is brought to you by Humanity Financial Management, a Chartered Accounting firm dedicated to helping Canadian not-for-profit, charitable and social enterprises build capacity for strong internal financial management.