Chair, Board of Directors

Are you an energetic community member, passionate about supporting a charity? Does helping wildlife align with your values? If so, this may be the position for you!

Position: Chair, Board of Directors

Reports To: Membership of Wildlife Rescue Association of BC

Reports From: Co-Executive Director(s)

Average Hours: 12 – 15 hours per month

Commitment: The Board chair role renews every 2 years, when the vice-chair may move into the chair position and the outgoing chair serves as Past Chair for another 2 years. Candidates are asked to consider making a minimum two-year commitment from the time of appointment/election.

Organization

The WRA Wildlife Rescue Association of BC (WRA) is a charitable non-profit that rehabilitates wildlife affected by human activity and provides education to the public on co-existing with urban wildlife. We have a wildlife hospital on the south side of Burnaby Lake and treat animals from across the Lower Mainland, the rest of BC, and further afield.

WRA has steadily evolved since it started in 1979. More recently, we have worked to re-align organizational strengths to accomplish greater mission achievements in response to an ever-increasing number of wildlife needing help. This allows WRA to operate one of the busiest wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Canada.

WRA is now looking to recruit Board members to contribute to our renewed growth and relevance.

Board of Directors

The role of the WRA Board of Directors is to:

• Provide leadership and oversight of the organization and its activities
• Represent the interests of its members and the broader community,
• Ensure broad organizational accountability and transparency; and
• Facilitate active and meaningful external relationships

Board members are passionate about WRA’s mission and are committed to the organizational values of caring, collaboration, creativity and respect. In addition, as WRA embarks on innovative fund development initiatives moving forward, board members will be working collaboratively with senior staff to achieve critical philanthropic goals.

The WRA Board of Directors has a governance mandate and develops policies and practices to allow senior staff to align operations with WRA’s mission, vision and values, as well as strategic objectives.

The Board of Directors meets 10 times per year and oversees the work of Board committees that meet periodically to carry out specific roles. The Board reports annually to the membership and is individually and severally responsible for ensuring that the bylaws of the organization are followed. Ongoing work includes board recruitment, strategic planning, and performance evaluations of senior staff (Co-Executive Directors).

Board Responsibilities

All members of the Board have the following duties:

• Commit to the WRA mission, vision, and values
• Represent and report annually to the WRA membership
• Assist Chair and Vice Chair with delivery of strategic plan
• Keep Co-Executive Directors and organization accountable for strategic plan execution and upholding identified key performance indicator metrics
• Follow WRA’s Bylaws and best practices in non-profit governance
• Maintain arms-length relationships with each other and third parties
• Practice high standards of confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest
• Participate in strategic planning and performance review for the organization
• Establish policies and procedures to meet regulatory and other legal requirements
• Develop, review and approve new governance and operational policies
• Attend and participate in all meetings of the Board and membership
• Serve on one or more board committee(s) and actively engage in work
• Participate in the recruitment, management and evaluation of the Co-Executive Director(s)
• Support ongoing activities of the Board, including recruitment and self-evaluation
• Support the organization’s development and culture of philanthropy as a donor
• Represent WRA as an ambassador to professional and personal networks
• Know the community issues relevant to the mission and objectives of WRA
• Other duties as assigned

Board Member Qualifications

Ideal candidates will have the following attributes:

• Ability to actively listen to multiple views and work well as part of a multi-dimensional team
• Skilled at cultivating relationships with staff, other board members, volunteers and donors
• Understand the importance of a healthy board culture and inspirational leadership
• Familiar with meeting Rules of Order, the BC Societies Act and organizational bylaws
• Previous governance-level experience on a non-profit board of directors
• Commitment to follow through on tasks and complete assignments
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail
• Excellent communication skills

Board Recruitment

The WRA Board of Directors is recruiting for a Chair. The Chair is the most senior officer position on the Board of Directors and is an official spokesperson for the Society to the membership and the community at large.

The Board chair role renews every 2 years, when the vice-chair may move into the chair position and the outgoing chair serves as Past Chair for another 2 years. Candidates are asked to consider making a minimum two-year commitment from the time of appointment/election.

Chair – Roles & Responsibilities

The Chair provides leadership to the Board, ensures effective governance, and maintains a strong liaison with the Co‑Executive Directors as their primary contact on the Board of Directors.

The main functions of the Chair role include:

• Provide leadership for effective board functioning and governance
• Ensure compliance with the WRA Constitution, Bylaws and BC Societies Act
• Chair all board and membership meetings, ensuring inclusive, effective discussion
• Lead organizational oversight and ensure accountability and transparency
• Serve as an ex officio voting member on all committees of the Board of Directors
• Work with committee chairs to develop agendas, set targets and complete actions
• Supervise the other officers of the Board in the execution of their respective duties
• Work with the Co-EDs to develop board meeting agendas and meeting materials
• Work with Past Chair to develop agenda and materials for annual retreat meeting
• Lead annual board and executive performance evaluation processes
• Support succession planning for board and senior staff members
• Drive strategic plan development, review and implementation
• Serve as a WRA representative and spokesperson at external events
• Champion WRA’s culture, mission, vision and values
• Act as a signing officer where authorized by the Board
• Delegate duties to other directors as required

Chair – Qualifications

Ideal candidates will have the following attributes:

• Significant prior experience in charity or non-profit leadership role(s)
• Senior non-profit governance experience working on/with volunteer boards
• Sound understanding of the structure and function of a governance board model
• Skilled in facilitating inclusive meetings and fostering a healthy board culture
• Previous experience in the development of strategic plans and meeting agendas
• Knowledgeable in risk management and compliance issues for BC Societies
• Experienced in supervising the performance of senior staff and volunteers
• Availability and willingness to mentor other directors in their respective roles
• Strong analytical abilities and communication skills with diverse audiences
• Demonstrated commitment to WRA’s mission, vision, values and culture of philanthropy

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and letter of interest as a single PDF using our online form: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/019e00f60ea07312949010ef891e03d7

Please visit www.wildliferescue.ca for more information.

Applicants are advised that recruitment is a multistep process that may take a period of months to be completed. WRA thanks all applicants in advance for their interest, patience and understanding.