Becoming an Effective International School Board Chair

29 September 2024
07:00-09:00 am EDT
Facilitated by: Chip Barder and Bambi Betts

Are you an international school governance board chair? Or preparing to become one?
Can a board be effective without a skilled board chair? International school communities worldwide have come to understand the critical importance of the chair of the governance board.

Any of these resonate?

• What the chair does and how they do it hugely impacts the effectiveness of the board

• The position can be very isolating

• Managing a team of volunteers can be harder than managing employees

• The ‘job’ description for a chair is fuzzy and often unfamiliar

• There are not many opportunities to learn about successful board leadership

• There are few opportunities for peer interaction/exchange of ideas with other board chairs

What will we learn?

Practical strategies framed in the international school context for:

✔ Ensuring that we get the most out of our time together as a Board
✔ Establishing, monitoring and leveraging norms and resources for when NOT in meetings
✔ Thoughtful agenda setting
✔ Purposeful Relationship Building
✔ Focused analysis of Board Roles and Responsibilities
✔ Intentional Policy Development

To achieve

✔ More efficient and effective board meetings More trust within the board 
✔ Increased knowledge and understanding of board leadership in the context of international school governance
✔ More Board chair confidence in facilitating good governance practice
✔ Stronger and clearer policies to guide board decision making
✔ Development of coaching and peer relationships for future support

How does it work?

The session features:

✔ 2-hour synchronous session conducted on Zoom. You will need a internet connected device. 
✔ Interactive presentation during which you will engage with some exercises and reflections
✔ Breakout rooms with other participants 
✔ PDF packet of materials which you will use for the interactive parts of the session.

Who is it for?

✔ Current Board Chairs who are veterans and are looking for further refinement of the work
✔ Current Board Chairs who are new to the role and looking some learnings from others to be more effective
✔ Potential board chairs who have been thinking about it but are not fully understanding of the roles, responsibilities and job expectations and wary of the challenges, time commitment and job scope. 
✔ School heads who can benefit from better understanding how essential an effective board chair is to the head-board relationship and its impact on the head’s work

What is the cost?

Per participant from a member school: USD$200
Per participant from a non-member school: USD$225
Online payment by credit card. Wire transfer payment available to groups of more than five. Email registrations@theptc.org

…and more opportunities for international school governance members

Not a member school? Click here for more information Provoked or Inspired to learn more? Click here…