1. Being a member of the Board is about…

The role of the Board has changed now that ILGA-Europe has a staff team headed by an Executive Director. As a consequence, being on the Board is not so much about “doing” things, as it used to be, but it is more about “making sure that things are done”. Of course this is a generalised statement, because one has to “do” many things in order to ensure that things are being done.

The responsibilities of the Board include:

• Engaging in strategic planning
• Formulating needed policies
• Approving and monitoring ILGA-Europe’s programmes and services
• Making sure that adequate financial resources are available and effectively managed and monitored
• Understanding and respecting the relationship between board and staff
• Selecting and supporting the Executive Director (ED) and monitoring the ED’s performance
• Acting as a responsible employer
• Enhancing the organisation’s public image

Ok, nice words, but what does this mean in practice? Let’s look at some of these responsibilities and try to clarify them.

Formulating needed policies. Policies are necessary in many areas of work of ILGA-Europe, some are organizational policies (e.g. staff management, organisation of Board business, financial management, etc.) other are policies on issues ILGA-Europe works with (e.g. horizontal approach & hierarchy of discrimination, family issues, etc.). The latter follow directly from a conference mandate or ILGA-Europe constitution, while organizational policies are needed for the good functioning of the organisation. Many of both types are in place at the moment, while others need to be developed or updated.

Policies on issues related to ILGA-Europe work are possibly those with which activists are more familiar with, but there are a number of instances for which an organisational policy needs to be set – for instance, staff recruitment. Do we hire somebody we know of and who might be good for a job, or do we advertise the job so that it is open to everybody to apply? Do we choose people on the basis of CVs or do we ask them to fill in a questionnaire? What are the criteria on which we base our choice? What the person knows or what the person is capable of achieving? How do we measure these? Etc. A policy needs to be put in place and then enacted when the time comes for people to be hired – also the policy needs to be consistent in order to be fair to all employees.

Acting as a responsible employer. ILGA-Europe has a hired staff and this places on the Executive Board the responsibilities of an employer. So the Board needs to create comprehensive and fair personnel policies that meet legal requirements and protect both the organization and those who work for it. Further, the people of ILGA-Europe are a hugely important asset, so the board is actively seeking to go beyond legal requirements and implement best practices in particular through the Human Resources strategy adopted in early 2004 that range from ensuring that personal development plans are in place for staff, to ensuring that work/life balance issues are addressed and that all staff have regular performance and development reviews, etc.

Understanding and respecting the relationship between board and staff. The Board and staff have distinct and separate roles that need to be acknowledged and respected. The different areas of responsibility, and the boundaries, need to be recognised, in order that the Board avoids interfering in the day to day running of the office, while having systems and policies in place to guide staff activities and safeguard the interests of the organisation.

Engage in strategic planning. In order for the organisation to function effectively, and for the staff and volunteers to be able to carry out their work, a clear strategy is needed. Developing strategic plans, i.e. medium to long term plans on objectives to achieve ILGA-Europe’s mission, is a joint responsibility of the ED and the Board.

2. How is the Board organised?

But how does the Board do all of these things? Does everybody discuss everything? Of course not, that would not be very effective.

In the Board there are three Board officers and several sub-committee and working groups.

2.1 Board officials

The Board officers, who work closely with each other and the Executive Director, are:

• The two co-chairs, who are responsible for planning and chairing the work of the Board giving it a direction as well as for its development, for addressing conflicts within the organisation, for representing ILGA-Europe at functions, meetings and acting as spokespersons as appropriate;
• The treasurer, who is responsible for overseeing ILGA-Europe’s finances and their management, for advising on financial issues, for contributing to the organisation’s fundraising strategy and for presenting the accounts to the annual Conference.

The Board also appoints one of the co-chairs or another member of the Board as line manager, the Executive Director's immediate boss, or supervisor. Having a line manager is a basic good practice in staff management, in fact how could the ED work effectively if she/he has to follow the directions of eight bosses and report to the eight of them all at once? For this reason a line manager is appointed who maintains regular contact with the ED, consulting and liasing on ongoing developments, and providing support. The line manager also keeps the co-chair(s) briefed on any significant developments and maintains contact with the Board.

2.2 Board sub-committees and working groups

The Board has two sub-groups, the Staffing Issues Sub-Committee and the Governance Issues Working Group, and appoints other working groups on specific issues as necessary (e.g. on conference, or a steering group for a particular project).

The Staffing Issues Sub-Committee (SISC) oversees all aspects of the Board's role with regard to the employment of staff. It reports to the Board on these matters and is delegated to take decisions on a number of specific issues. Its responsibilities include overseeing the management of the ED.

Governance is the process by which a governing body ensures that the organisation is effectively and properly run. So the Governance Issues Working Group (GIWG) has to take care that the proper instruments are in place for governance to work. This includes tasks such as producing this “guide to the Board” for members, coordinating the work on the Review of Structures and Constitution, preparing proposals related to governance issues (e.g. vision, mission and values statement), and addressing issues concerning Board development.

2.3 Working parties

The Board also appoints some “working parties” for specific tasks that include members of the Board and external individuals on an advisory basis.

The Transgender Issues Working Party continues its advisory activity to the Board on Trans issues. The remit of the Council of Europe and Eastern Europe working parties are subject to revision after the appointment of the Director for Eastern Europe, Council of Europe, and Transgender Programmes.

3. What does being a Board member involve?

As a general principle, all Board members are expected to regularly attend Board meetings, make a serious commitment to participate actively in Board work, stay informed about Board matters and use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board reach sound decisions. This may involve, for example, reviewing board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives or on other issues in which the board member has special expertis.

The level of involvement of each member of the Board varies depending on a number of factors, not least their capacity to reconcile ILGA-Europe work with working and private life. Being one of the Board officers, for example, involves a substantial time commitment. On average during the mandate each member is involved in the work of one of the sub-groups or working parties, or takes on another specific role. Often times board members are invited to take part on behalf of ILGA-Europe to external events for which expenses can be claimed back.

There are 6 Board meetings during the year, two of which are held at conference (one the day before conference starts, and the other on the last day after the new Board has been elected). The other four are held in November/December, February/March, May/June, and September – three are two full days at weekends, and the May/June “strategy” meeting (part of the annual planning cycle) is three days. Board members are able to claim expenses for attending Board meetings from ILGA-Europe.

There are regular discussions on Board matters by email between board meetings, and “virtual” Board meetings via email also take place from time to time. For instance, the draft work programme for the Commission grant application is discussed in such an email meeting: a framework for the discussion is agreed, on the agreed date documents are circulated and by the agreed deadline comments have to be received, then the discussion takes place and an agreement is reached. During these meetings each Board member has to be reachable via email and has to check email regularly.

As a general principle, expenses incurred in carrying out regular Board duties, such as board meetings, are refunded. Expenses related to other board activities are to be agreed in advance. Also, as a general principle, board members are invited to save as much of ILGA-Europe resources as possible.

4. How do I nominate/get nominated?

The Executive Board is elected every year during the annual Conference and it consists of four women and four men (under the current Constitution). Full member organizations and the Board may nominate up to four women and four men as candidates and all candidates must be individuals from a full member organization in the Region, although they do not need to be from the organisation which nominates them.

Nominations must be submitted on the appropriate nomination form by the deadline and should clearly state the name of each candidate, the organisation of which they are an individual member, and whether they are being nominated for a woman's or a man's place. Nomination forms and the indication of the deadline are included in the mailings and are also available from the website. Only if there are not enough nomination received by the deadline, further nominations may be made at the Conference.

Starting from this year, candidates for election have the opportunity to submit an election statement, to be circulated with the candidates list in the third mailing.

After election the new members of the board are not left alone to learn all the details of the Board working procedures, but a process of induction takes place to help new members of the board to find their way around the Board.

August 2004