Founding Board Member For Survivor-Led Nonprofit: Board Secretary (Director of Administration)

About Women’s Survivors Network

Women’s Survivors Network is a survivor-led nonprofit building a trusted ecosystem of support, resources, education, and leadership pathways for women affected by abuse.

WSN supports survivors across the longer journey of understanding abuse, escaping harm, stabilizing, healing, rebuilding, and eventually leading. Our work is trauma-informed, survivor-centered, culturally responsive, systems-aware, and grounded in dignity, agency, clarity, and care.

As a founding-stage organization, WSN is building not only programs, but also the governance systems, policies, records, culture, and organizational foundation that future survivors and leaders will inherit.

Position Summary

WSN is seeking a thoughtful, highly organized, and governance-minded Secretary to help strengthen the integrity, continuity, and clarity of the Board's work.

The Secretary serves as a board officer and contributes to both formal governance responsibilities and light system-building during WSN's founding stage. This role helps ensure that board decisions, records, policies, resolutions, and governance processes are documented accurately, stored clearly, and maintained consistently over time.

The Secretary is not simply a note-taker. The role helps protect WSN's institutional memory and supports accountable, transparent, and legally sound governance.

Because WSN is a survivor-led organization, the Secretary is also expected to understand how abuse, trauma, coercive control, and systems impact governance. Good governance is not only about documentation—it is about creating structures that protect survivor dignity, accountability, trust, and organizational integrity. This understanding may come through lived experience, professional work, advocacy, research, volunteer service, or other sustained engagement. Applicants are never expected to disclose personal experiences of abuse.

A Shared Expectation for All WSN Board Members

At WSN, professional expertise alone is not sufficient for board service.

We seek board members who combine their professional skills with a meaningful understanding of abuse—whether familial, relational, workplace, institutional, or other forms of abuse—and a commitment to survivor-centered learning.

This understanding may be rooted in lived experience, professional work, advocacy, research, education, volunteer service, or sustained community engagement. Some board members arrive with deep subject-matter expertise. Others arrive with lived experience and continue building their understanding through shared learning. Both perspectives strengthen WSN's governance.

Applicants are never expected to disclose personal experiences of abuse.

Core Responsibilities

Board Records and Documentation

• Ensure accurate records of board meetings, decisions, votes, and official actions.
• Review and support the preparation of meeting minutes.
• Help maintain a clear record of attendance, motions, recusals, approvals, and follow-up items.
• Ensure approved minutes are stored in the appropriate governance location.
• Help protect the distinction between meeting records, policies, resolutions, and working documents.
• Support consistent document naming, version control, and clear document homes.

Board Resolutions

• Help ensure that formal board decisions are captured in the Board Resolutions system.
• Maintain resolutions as the single source of truth for official board decisions, including decisions made outside regular meetings.
• Ensure resolutions are dated, numbered, approved, and stored consistently.
• Help distinguish between discussion records and formal decisions.
• Coordinate with the Board President and Executive Director when a resolution is needed.

Governance Compliance

• Help monitor compliance with WSN’s bylaws, board policies, meeting requirements, and governance procedures.
• Support annual review of key governance documents.
• Help identify missing approvals, outdated records, or unresolved governance actions.
• Ensure board actions are documented in ways that support accountability and organizational continuity.
• Raise governance concerns appropriately when a process or decision may not align with governing documents.

Meeting Preparation and Follow-Through

• Support the preparation and review of board agendas, meeting packets, and governance materials.
• Confirm that required notices and supporting materials are distributed appropriately.
• Help identify which items are for information, discussion, recommendation, or decision.
• Support post-meeting documentation and governance follow-through.
• Help ensure that official decisions are communicated and routed to the correct document home.

Governance Systems Development

• Contribute to the development and refinement of governance templates, guides, trackers, and document systems.
• Help strengthen the connection among meetings, resolutions, policies, role descriptions, charters, and governance guides.
• Support systems that reduce duplication, clarify ownership, and create one reliable home for each governance record.
• Help build practices future board members can understand and sustain.

Governance Committee Participation

• Participate actively in the Governance Committee.
• Contribute to board structure, policy development, board health, accountability, governance sustainability, and mission alignment.
• Help review and refine governance processes before recommendations move to the full Board.
• Collaborate with the Board President, Executive Director, and other governance contributors while preserving the distinction between officer responsibilities, committee responsibilities, and operations.

Contribute Through a Survivor-Centered Governance Lens

• Apply governance expertise while considering how abuse, trauma, coercive control, and systemic barriers affect survivors and survivor-serving organizations.
• Help ensure governance systems promote transparency, accountability, psychological safety, and survivor trust.
• Consider how board decisions, documentation, and governance practices may affect survivors, volunteers, future leaders, and community partners.
• Support governance structures that balance accountability with trauma-informed principles.

Ideal Background

Strong candidates may bring experience in one or more of the following:

• nonprofit governance,
• board administration,
• corporate or organizational records,
• policy administration,
• legal or compliance support,
• meeting management,
• document management,
• project coordination,
• operations,
• executive support,
• records retention,
• nonprofit leadership,
• organizational systems.

Prior board service is helpful but not required.

Experience with governance documentation, policies, resolutions, or compliance is especially valuable.

In addition to governance experience, strong candidates will demonstrate a meaningful understanding of abuse and its long-term impacts.

This understanding may come through:

• lived experience as a survivor,
• supporting a loved one,
• professional work,
• advocacy,
• nonprofit leadership,
• legal systems,
• research,
• community organizing,
• education,
• volunteer service,
• or other sustained engagement.

Applicants are never expected to disclose personal experiences of abuse.

Professional governance experience is important. Equally important is the ability to apply governance through a survivor-centered, trauma-informed lens.

Values and Leadership Fit

WSN is especially interested in someone who:

• Values clarity, consistency, and accountability.
• Understands that documentation protects both people and mission.
• Can organize information without overcomplicating it.
• Communicates clearly, directly, and compassionately.
• Is comfortable noticing gaps and raising them respectfully.
• Understands the importance of confidentiality.
• Can distinguish between discussion, recommendation, decision, and implementation.
• Supports shared governance rather than gatekeeping information.
• Can work carefully without becoming rigid or controlling.
• Respects trauma-informed pacing and the emotional realities of survivor-led work.
• Is comfortable helping build systems in an evolving organization.
• Follows through reliably and asks questions when expectations are unclear.

Time Commitment

Approximately 5–7 hours per month, including:

• board meetings,
• Governance Committee meetings,
• agenda and packet review,
• minutes and resolution review,
• occasional governance follow-up,
• light system-building support.

Some months may require additional time during annual meetings, policy reviews, officer transitions, board recruitment, or major governance updates.

The role is designed to be active and meaningful while remaining sustainable.

Additional Leadership Opportunities

As WSN grows, board members may be invited to take on additional leadership responsibilities, such as serving as committee Co-Leads or supporting special governance initiatives.

These opportunities are based on organizational needs, demonstrated collaboration, board development, capacity, and mutual interest. They are not automatic components of any board role.

Inclusive Recruitment

WSN welcomes applicants across race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration experience, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, faith, socioeconomic background, professional pathway, and lived experience.

Survivors and people from communities historically excluded from nonprofit leadership are strongly encouraged to apply.

Lived experience is valued, but no applicant is expected to disclose personal trauma or survivor history.