Board & governance service

I have served in corporate, nonprofit and tribal governance. This includes Chairman of the Board of Yak-tat Kwaan, Inc., the village corporation for Yakutat, Alaska. Finance Committee and Communications -subcommittee Chairs for Sealaska, Director for Tlingit and Haida Tribal Business Corp. board and Seattle delegate to CCTHITA. For each of these duties, I served about ten years.

The experience covers board governance, strategic planning, financial oversight, organizational development, communications leadership, public affairs, community engagement and stakeholder relations. It’s a long list and it takes a real commitment in time.

My board experience helps me better serve them as a communications consultant

Accountability – the buck stops with the Board. They are the only group of people shareholders can fire. This means for good or bad, politics enters the picture when Directors make decisions. This adds another layer of complexity when crafting communication strategies for Boards.

When communication is bad, the Board pays. When the organization communicates well, management gets the credit; but when it’s lacking, the Board gets the blame. They will hear it at the store, at the meeting and at the funeral. Poor communications has a political cost as well as an economic one.

I understand what directors need for management, what makes board communication effective, and where communications can either strengthen or undermine governance. With my years of directorship I can provide governance-minded communications.

An inexperienced communications consultant might prepare a CEO to answer the questions “What happened and why did it happen?” for its stakeholders but Directors will want to know what’s next. How can we verify that it’s correct? What happens if we’re wrong? Lastly and most importantly, what are you asking us to do about it?

I have sat in your seat. It is the reason I am careful about what I recommend.

Working with boards and executive teams →