The NPCA Report on Improving Governance As requested by the Presidents' Forum last summer in Portland OR, the NPCA Board has studied ways to improve its performance. The report of this effort is now available and will be discussed in Chicago, August 5-8. The proposals, if approved, would reduce the Board's size and change its composition, via an amendment to NPCA Bylaws to be placed before the NPCA membership in the fall. Read the executive summary and the supporting material including NPCA's Challenges Today and Tomorrow, what RCPVs say about the changes and then leave your own comments. |
By Admin1 (admin) (pool-141-157-22-73.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.22.73) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 1:03 pm: Edit Post |
Improving NPCA's Governance: RPCVs comment on the Proposed Changes
Improving NPCA's Governance: RPCVs comment on the Proposed Changes
Notable Recent Comments
. . . enormous time is spent just hearing everyone's view on each point. Insignificant issues receive excessive and redundant discussion. A smaller board (I recommend 11 or 12) operates with greater efficiency and greater focus on important issues.
-- Neil Ross, President, Friends of the Dominican Republic
Members of my group . . . feel that the changes will not only dilute direct representation of the members, but that the more board members there are, the more people will be volunteering their time and money to . . . support the board and NPCA.
-- Steve Hoyt, President, RPCV's of Northeastern New York
Our members are our bedrock and many simply feel that NPCA has become irrelevant. This has to change, or we shall fail.
-- Hal Hardin, former Director, NPCA
We still operate with one foot in our past as a council, rather than as a board dedicated to sustaining a professional organization. This proposal, to shrink the board without limiting our ability to tap specfic expertise, is a bid to take more responsibility for sustaining and growing the NPCA.
-- Pat Reilly, Chairperson, NPCA
NPCA has not been particularly effective in the past, part of which may be a product of its unwieldy board structure . . . a larger board does not translate into improved effectiveness. A smaller board should mean more accountability. Our question is: Has the status quo produced an organization that has reached its potential for mobilizing the RPCV community and having an impact on important development issues? I don't think so . . . Changing the size of the board . . . ought to improve NPCA's effectiveness. If it doesn't, we can change it again.
-- Josh Busby, President, Friends of Ecuador; incoming Director, NPCA
The new structure is in some ways MORE democratic -- addresses extreme disparities in sizes of our current regions.
-- Mike Learned, Coordinator, Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual RPCVs
The vehicle for members who wish to work more on program issues is available -- through committees working with staff. The change is good -- we need to become more "professional".
-- Catherine Onyemelukwe, Vice Chair, NPCA
As a former association executive, I concur with your reasoning about how organizations' needs change as they mature. NPCA is at a new juncture in its organizational development.
-- Susan Bayley, Arkadaslar (Friends of Turkey)
Building a stronger, more effective Presidents' Forum will be critical to increasing the role of the Groups in NPCA's governance and policy-making.
-- Carol Rogers, Presidents' Forum Coordinator