As part of the On Board project we have been running sessions of classes – or what we call “meetings” – for people with disabilities to learn how to serve on boards and committees. These boards might be of disability agencies, community groups, or congregations. The classes have been co-taught by the president of a local self-advocacy group — who has served on numerous boards including that of the NY state and national self-advocacy associations — and a graduate student in the Disability Studies program at Syracuse University. At present we have just completed (May 2000) our second session of bi-weekly meetings. Based on our first session, we revised the meetings’ curriculum to be as follows. At the start of each meeting we do an attendance call and read over the agenda for that meeting (as some boards do also). As you read through this curriculum please remember that these are just suggestions for meeting topics.
Meeting Number
1) Introduction – What Is a Board? In this first class we start off by having members introduce themselves to each other and get to know each other a bit, we talk about transportation for getting to meetings (we have transportation stipends available) to make sure students have the support they need to make travel arrangements. We then discuss what a board is and make a definition from this (handed out in the second meeting). Finally, students talk about what sort of boards on which they might like to serve.
2) How Board Meetings Are Run. Here, general information on how boards run, making motions, and voting are discussed. We also talk about the different types of boards and do role plays of the general run of a board meeting.
3) Questions to Ask Boards and Yourself Before Joining (2 part meeting). A discussion on questions to ask boards and yourself before you apply to join.
4) (as in meeting #3) After these two meetings, we type up the students ideas of questions and hand them out.
5) About Yourself. In this meeting, students make personal profiles for boards. We find support people to work with students alone or in pairs to assist them in making their profiles. We also use a general questionnaire to help students think about what they might like to put in their profile.
6) Being an Effective Board Member Presentation. In this meeting, students learn about and discuss how to be an effective board member including issues like privacy, assertiveness, and tokenism.
7) Working with a Support Person. A discussion on getting support as a board member.
8) My Support Plan. In this meeting, students make their own support plans. These support needs are added to the profiles to make a resume of the student to give to potential boards.
9) Review & Board Profiles. We begin to find boards for students by revisiting what we have learned and going through profiles of boards that have shown interest in having a member with a disability.
10) Where Do We Go from Here? In this last meeting, we talk about ways students can support each other after the meetings are over, while they wait to get on boards, and once they get on boards. In the last session of meetings, for example, the students decided to share their phone numbers.
Other Parts of the Curriculum
- Each student is given a class folder at the first meeting with a topic schedule within.
- Color code the handouts for each meeting/topic and list the colors on the schedule. This makes it easier for people to find which handouts they need to follow along.
- Do a lot of role plays and use game cards with questions about boards.
- Guest speakers – we try to have a guest speaker every other meeting. Speakers include community members with and without disabilities who have been on boards, board presidents, and past students.
Resources
Gobel, S., & Flynn, J. (1994). Not Another Board Meeting! Guides to Building Inclusive Decision-Making Groups. — The Oregon Developmental Disabilities Council. A tool for self-advocates, support persons, and board members, with separate materials suitable for making overhead transparencies for training for each group separately or all together.
Pederson, E., & Chaiken, M. (1993). Voices That Count. Capabilities Unlimited, Inc. — A video, audio-tape, and accompanying manual that assist self-advocates in learning skills relating to membership on boards and committees.
Eddy, B., Cohen, G., Rinck, C., and Griggs, P. (1989). How to Be an Effective Board Member. University of Missouri-Kansas City. — Two manuals, one for self-advocates and one for facilitators, that provide information on board member skills such as rules of order, motions, voting, assertiveness, board member responsibilities, and how to prepare for a meeting.
People First of Washington. Officer Handbook. — Although this handbook is geared toward self-advocacy meetings, much of the information is relevant to board meetings.