Policy Regarding Board of Directors Membership and Participation

Documented January 2007

1. It is the goal of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum to have its board of directors represent a rich diversity of backgrounds and experience in order to fully support our mission of sustainability. This diversity should include gender, race, business / organization type, and other aspects that the board / membership would identify. To further enhance the diversity, at any one time, only one board member per organization will be permitted.   
2. Annually, the board will put forth a slate of candidates that seeks to meet the diversity goals, create opportunity for new members to serve, maintain continuity, and preserve institutional memory. 
3. To participate as a board member, candidates must demonstrate "active participation" in the Forum activities before being eligible to run. The board will use reasonable judgment in determining what constitutes "active", in order to give maximum flexibility to augment organizational expertise as needed. 
4. The board has determined that term limits are not in the best interest of the organization as it could deprive the board of needed expertise and institutional history. Rather, the board will apply the following approach: 
   1. Annually, as required by the by-laws, the board will do a call for nominations for prospective board members. Nominations must come from or be approved by the individual being nominated. 
   2. The board will then develop a slate of candidates incorporating the diversity goals and expertise needs. 
   3. A succession path is established for the Forum President / Vice President as follows. Individuals are chosen by the board members to serve a one year term as Vice President. The following year, the VP becomes President. (The Vice President’s term is automatically extended at this time as necessary.) Upon completion of the term of President, the individual remains on the board serving in the emeritus position of Past President for 1 year. Following that year, the individual would leave the board for at least one year per item. This cycle is intended to preserve continuity of leadership while creating an automatic opportunity for new members. 
   4. To further create opportunity, the board will, in developing a slate of candidates for the member election, seek to have two additional board seats transition to forum members currently not serving on the board. 
   5. As individuals complete their board terms, a waiting period of one year will be observed before these individuals could again run for election. The board may waive the one year wait should it be necessary to meet the diversity and experience needs of the Forum.