Last week, I sent the following email to OASIS Staff and to the OASIS Board Executive Committee, as input for the Annual Meeting. I realize I should have made it available to everyone else as well.
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As a Voting Member, I move that at least an additional 3 cents of every one hundred dollars of OASIS & Associates revenue go towards training OASIS Board Members in how to be more effective Directors, using training from an outside organization such as the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), BoardSource, or some equivalent professional organization.
As a former OASIS Board member, who has interviewed many Directors of other corporations on this topic, I feel all OASIS Directors should have something like NACD's "Director Proficiency: Financial Oversight" and other introductory Director training.
Ideally the training would be custom for OASIS as "in-boardroom" education tailored to our specific situation. But that might cost more than the proposed budget so prepackaged training might be used instead.
One downside of this proposal is that it would cost money, and money is tight. 2022 and 2023 both operated in the red. 2023 OASIS revenue was ~3M so 0.3% is ~$9K. This motion theoretically would put OASIS an additional $9K in the red. However, I believe a better-trained Board would result in a better balance sheet and we'd end up money ahead.
Another downside is this proposal is coming from the Membership, not from the Board itself, or from Staff. However, it might be considered a conflict-of-interest if the Board were to propose it - since the Directors themselves would benefit from this training. I waited until I was off the Board to make this suggestion. As a former Director, I firmly believe we the Members would benefit at least as much as the Directors by having a better-trained Board. Wrt why Staff hasn't proposed, Staff would have to answer. I could speculate that one reason might it hasn't been done in the past. But the world, the role of non-profit Boards, and OASIS' situation have all changed significantly in recent years. I could speculate another reason might be that it's a bit like asking the fox to propose a better henhouse fence. But I speculate the main reason is Staff would have to figure out the cuts to offset the $9k - at least until the longer-term benefits of a better trained Board were realized. And that would be hard - but I think necessary.
Besides the obvious benefit of a better Board, I do think it would be a 'perk' to being an OASIS Director. Admittedly a perk most other equivalent Boards already offer, but a perk nonetheless. Our Board is composed of passionate volunteers who perform their roles out of love of our mission, not because it is going to move them up their company's ladder. Helping them do their roles a little better would be worth it.
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Duncan Sparrell
Chief Cyber Curmudgeion
sFractal Consulting LLC
Oakton VA
703-828-8646
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