Abstract
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Board of Directors established a Leadership Development Committee (LDC) in early 2018 to identify, cultivate, recruit, and orient competent and diverse volunteer leaders for board and committee positions. The LDC plans to develop leadership potential and skills in emerging leaders to serve in positions across the organization, responding to the current and future needs of CEC.
One way the LDC is accountable to the CEC board is through measuring and annually reporting the results of efforts to engage members of diverse groups in leadership development and appointment to leadership positions. The first LDC annual report was presented at the meeting of the CEC Representative Assembly, the membership advisory body to the CEC board, at its meeting during the CEC 2019 Convention and Expo.
The report highlighted the work plan and objectives for 2018–2019, which include
developing and widely disseminating a revised application for the CEC Board of Directors, reflecting the need for applicants who have knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to support CEC’s mission and strategic plan;
updating the application rating rubric to reflect the revised board application;
conducting a needs assessment of the board though a third party to determine KSAs needed for applicants for the 2020 board;
presenting a well-vetted slate of candidates for election by the membership for three positions on the board and two candidates for appointment by the board for president-elect; and
developing a framework for a leadership development program curriculum, to then begin developing curriculum and assessment components.
Twenty-five applications were received by the LDC, and seven candidates were slated for the board election.
The report also provided insights on decisions the LDC made from its review of board applications. For example, years of experience with CEC versus other leadership experience created a challenge when weighing candidates’ leadership experience. Neither prior CEC board membership nor membership in CEC divisions was weighted in the evaluation rubric formula.
Identifying Diversity
The LDC was created to reflect many aspects of diversity, and responses to the open-ended question in the demographics section of the application provided some of the most useful information in selecting committee members. Therefore, to address CEC’s goal of increasing the diversity of its volunteer leadership pool, the application for the board asked open-ended questions about candidates’ self-described diversity and experience as related to CEC’s new view of diversity: “CEC views diversity to include race, ethnicity, culture, language, age, [dis]abilities, family status/composition, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religious and spiritual values, geographic location, and country of origin.”
The same result held true as the LDC-slated candidates for the board. The committee noted a keen self-awareness among applicants of their own diversity, beyond the more antiquated visible aspects of diversity, as well as how their wide variety of experiences related to diversity influenced them personally and professionally. Although the responses to the open-ended questions about diversity were among the most significant in the final slating of board candidates, the responses to these questions did not rank high among the most influential to members in making their voting decision.
The committee recognizes that because CEC cannot require members to provide demographic information, the limited data on its members impact the LDC’s required reporting on recruitment of diverse candidates, as related to overall membership demographics. With an enormous amount of individual outreach to potential candidates and request for input from unit and division volunteer leaders, the LDC was able to recruit a large number of well-qualified individuals who represented the many aspects of CEC’s view of diversity.
Meeting the Challenge
LDC members recognize that it is not simply the various aspects of diversity represented within the LDC that has created a cohesive and well-functioning team but the diversity of their perspectives and the culture of candor, respect, and inquiry that allows them to openly, without judgment, express their ideas and opinions.
The LDC is addressing a few key areas as it seeks to build the overall volunteer leadership pool across the entire organization.
First, as associations struggle with membership recruitment and retention, personal and sustained contact and engagement is proven to have a significant impact in these areas. Solely based on numbers, the hundreds—even thousands—of unit and division members in leadership positions have a greater opportunity beyond the 10-member LDC or the 17-member CEC Board of Directors. Unit and division leaders must intentionally have robust discussions and develop strategies to engage with and encourage participation in general volunteer and leadership opportunities by new and diverse members to help deepen the pool of future leaders across the organization and ensure the vitality of all its entities.
Second, research has demonstrated that a wide variety of perspectives—not just the inclusion of diverse traits—is of strategic, mission-related, and bottom-line value to an organization. Depending on personal networks for recruitment can lead to “more people like us.” What is more important than “who you know” is “how you know them.” It is incumbent upon volunteer leaders across the organization to respond to recruitment outreach efforts from the LDC and to intentionally recruit and support new and diverse members with leadership potential in leadership positions within their respective entities and CEC.
Finally, building an effective board is about the diverse culture, thinking, ability, and perspective of individual directors, as well as the intentional creation of a group dynamic and chemistry that allows for effective execution of governance and strategic oversight. Despite the best efforts of the LDC this year and moving forward, there is no guarantee that CEC members will ultimately elect the wide variety of members needed for a board that can more effectively serve its constituents and navigate the complex and dynamic issues faced by the field and the association by drawing on a diverse set of competencies and knowledge. CEC member voter participation must increase over the 2.5% of members who voted in 2018, with informed, nonbiased voting decisions, if the board is to truly represent the membership of CEC.
The work that lies ahead for the LDC—as it winds up its first year—is crucial to the long-term success of the LDC and the future viability of CEC, as envisioned in the board-approved recommendations regarding CEC’s governance. Specifically, the work includes
reviewing the basic responsibilities and “best-practices” literature of nonprofit boards in order to identify or create training and assessment tools;
creating a plan for ongoing leadership development for the board, the LDC, and standing and advisory committees; and
producing and periodically updating a leadership development curriculum for prospective board and committee members.
Read the full report at www.cec.sped.org/About-Us/CEC-Leadership/Committees/LDC-Annual-Reports.