Consuelo Castro of CEMEFI

Here is another interview with one of our fantastic Global Forum members. There are also two short podcasts associated with this interview, one in English and one in Spanish . If you would like to be interviewed, please contact us.

Consuelo, please tell us a bit about your work in NGO governance. What do you do?

As part of my function as coordinator of the Legal and Professionalisation Areas at the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI ), I conduct the board training program, which was launched in 1998.

The main objective of the program is to raise awareness regarding the role of governing bodies in strengthening and developing civil society organizations in Mexico. The program includes workshops, consulting and the translation of BoardSources booklets into Spanish.

I have organized more than 40 board training workshops and seminars along with local organizations in most of the important cities in our country. The attendants at these events have varied from 10 to 300 persons. As a result, this subject has gained importance among the nonprofit sector, and now organizations have realized the importance of selecting board members who are truly committed and willing to participate. And in the case of grassroots organizations, they are beginning to invite people to serve on the board who are not employed by the organization.

I also was responsible for the translation of BoardSource’s materials (into Spanish). These have allowed us to provide printed information on the principal responsibilities of governing bodies (of NGOs).

Board training has proved to be an efficient mechanism in encouraging public trust in nonprofit organizations.

What drew you to this work?

My desire to empower persons and nonprofit organizations has guided my professional experience. This desire moved me to ask myself what strategic issues could make a difference (in improving) organizational performance. Of course one of the answers is to have good leadership and governance. Therefore I have dedicated a lot of time and effort in my work to achieve these.

In all this training, what topics have people found most compelling and useful? What turns on the light bulb for them on governance issues?
Well, even if it sounds very simple, the definition of roles and responsibilities of the board and CEO are very important. They are the guidelines against which boards can assess their performance, clarify differences between their tasks and those of the CEO, and develop a common understanding of expectations and functions. Even long-term boards can detect points of improvement.

Another issue that is important (to cover in training programs) is the policy-making function (of the board). Boards do not write down the policies of how they should function, how to handle situations where conflicts-of-interest arise. Boards usually think this is important to cover in training. It prevents them from micro-managing the CEO.

Another thing I do is to have exercises during workshops, where they can see the difference between a solution reached when a decision is made individually and when it is made in a group. This way, they can realize the value of teamwork. Seeing the difference between decisions made as a group versus those made individually helps boards see the importance of reflecting on the values, results and outcomes of the organization. It can make a difference in their attitude towards their board work, and how they can help their boards adopt decisions in a collegial way. Those three things, even if very simple, boards have found them very useful.

So you are making explicit things people may know and recognize in other parts of their lives, as in their business life, but may not pay attention to in their role on the board?

Yes, exactly. You know, the weight of the board chair or president, and the weight of the CEO, are so important and so influential in the organization. But sometimes they forget the role of the board is not just to sit down and hear reports on how the CEO or the organization is doing. That is what they usually do. It is very interesting how the CEO reports and gives his perception of the organization--he has the complete image of how the organization is doing. But board members, as stewards, should learn how they can contribute through teamwork to the organization.

You are talking about really building that collaboration between board members and CEOs. If someone came to you and asked for your top three tips for board members, what would they be?

1. Agree on how to disagree. Good stewardship of an organization depends on how decision-making processes are performed by boards. If you have well-thought out mechanisms, then decisions will be better. Usually there is someone who talks louder, or has more a more influential character. Sometimes some board members don't feel they are taken into account, or there are conflicts. If there aren’t mechanisms to handle these situations, the board might lose energy or they might lose some board members, or even some nasty things might come up regarding the work of the board. You should think about using different mechanisms, such as determining when to have secret voting, or when to ask the CEO or another person involved in the decision to leave the room. You need to agree on how to disagree.

2. Don't be reluctant to ask. There are many cases where someone might make a motion on an issue or topic, and even if you are not sure of its impact, you are pushed to vote or make a decision. If there is something yet to be clarified, it is good to ask. The CEO might have the whole picture but the board member may not. Don't be afraid to ask. Sometimes it is a simple thing like a new organizational structure and the board members don't ask how this impacts budget, or who is going to be promoted and why.

3. Put it in writing. There are still cases where boards do not put their agreements in writing -- who is going to do what by when. This is especially true in policy-making. In Mexico at least, there are very few organizations that have their policies or codes-of-conduct in writing. I know that other things are more common to put in writing such as minutes, but some organizations even neglect to do that.

So those are the three things I think are most important: agree on how to disagree, don't be reluctant to ask, and put it in writing.