From the March - April 2008, Vol. 8, No. 2 issue.

More than sixty food co-ops across the country participate in the Cooperative Board Leadership Development (CBLD) program, which includes a one-day retreat, ongoing consulting hours to support the board’s development during the year, regional in-person CBL101 “foundations class” for newly elected directors, and online learning opportunities.

Online courses are selected based
on a national survey provided to co-op boards. The 2008 schedule includes:

CBL 200 series: Mastering the fundamentals

• Building a Board Budget, March 12
• Acting on GM monitoring reports, April 2
• Legal roles and responsibilities, including fiduciary responsibility, April 14
• Recruiting and orienting new directors, July 22
• Dealing with complaints from staff and members, August 12
• Understanding the balance sheet, including fiduciary responsibility, September 10

CBL 300 series: Thinking and acting strategically

• GM compensation, April 9
• Member economic participation, April 16
• The board’s role in expansions, May 7
• Including members in the Ends dialogue, July 9
• Understanding member needs and motivations, October 14
• Trends and life cycles of cooperatives, October 29

For more information about CBLD and these online sessions, visit the CBLD page.

Not in CBLD, but would like to participate in online sessions or attend a CBL101 in-person session? E-mail MarkGoehring@cdsfood.coop for more information.

Consultants featured in this article

• Mark Goehring