Education and Events
If your board meetings feel report-heavy, if roles get blurry, or if engagement is uneven, this workshop is built for you. Join a practical, hands-on learning lab that helps boards move faster, govern smarter, and stay anchored to mission.
Walk out with clearer roles, better meetings, stronger committees, and a governance toolkit you can use immediately.
Who Should Attend?
- Executive directors and senior staff who support the board
- Board members and officers
- Committee chairs and committee members
- Staff with career aspirations to manage a nonprofit organization
What You Will Learn
You will leave able to:
- Define what good governance looks like and how to keep the board out of day-to-day operations
- Clarify who decides what, including the role of the executive committee and what bylaws actually permit
- Apply the four governance lenses to your board meeting agendas and work: fiduciary, strategic, generative, ambassadorial
- Strengthen legal and ethical fundamentals, including duties of care, loyalty, compliance, and financial oversight
- Design meetings that inform, explore, and decide, not just update
- Use committees as an engagement funnel with clear scope, authority, and deliverables
- Improve information flow with better reporting, decision-ready materials, and board-level metrics
- Build a healthy board culture with simple norms, accountability, and advocacy alignment
- Use practical motivation tools that turn “we should” into consistent board behaviors
What We Will Cover
This is a fun and fast-moving workshop that blends essentials with real-world fixes:
- Basics of board governance and governing structure
- Board engagement, why it slips, and how to rebuild it
- Ohio baselines and common risk points for boards
- Orientation and onboarding that creates confidence from day one
- Role clarity, committees, and avoiding rogue lanes
- Meeting design, schedule, consent agendas, and decision-making discipline
- Reporting quality, dashboards, and strategic metrics that boards can actually act upon
- Culture and advocacy commitment that matches your mission
Resources You Will Receive
Every attendee gets access to the OTA Board Toolkit, including:
- Workshop slide deck and materials
- Sample board job descriptions
- Policy checklist and sample policies
- Practical templates and discussion prompts you can use with your board chair and committees
- Ohio nonprofit corporation law resources
Why this Workshop is Different
This learning lab blends:
- Real boardroom experience and facilitation tools
- Research-informed engagement and governance practices
- Practical examples, scripts, and “do this next” operating improvements
- A clear focus on stronger decisions, higher trust, and better mission outcomes
Ready to Move from Functional to Exceptional?
All learning labs run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with check-in open at 9:30 a.m.
- July 28 in Lake County
- Aug. 25 in Chillicothe
Investment includes in lab learning materials, everything listed in 'resources you will receive' and lunch.
- $125/pp for OTA Members
- $175/pp for Non-Members
