I really like what Kat said here. It is close to what I believe we can do with a governance Board. Policy Governance at Oregon Country Fair Working with a Portland nonprofit who made this same transition from being an Operations Board to a Policy Governance Board, I learned a few things I want to share. There seems to be a growing fear around fair that moving toward Policy Governance is the wrong direction for the fair and that fair family members would lose their influence over how the fair is run if Operations is moved to Management. That fear includes thinking that Policy Governance would shift all the power to a few people in Operations. I believe those fears are unwarranted and come out of misunderstanding what Policy Governance actually does. In fact, Policy Governance keeps the power within the Board and gives fair family members at least as much power as our previous model did, arguably more. Here is why I believe that. We are a democratic organization controlled by fair family members. A Policy Governance Board spends its time getting super clear about what our values are and what end results we want. The Board also defines limits on Operational Means, basically defining the boundaries of Operations authority. While the Board works on what Ends we want, Operations can get as creative as they want to be with the Means used to reach those Ends, within the Limitations given by the Board. If fair family members do not like how things are being done, they can lobby and elect their Board members to create different Ends policies and different Executive Limitations policies. Because Board members are not mired in the weeds of the details of how things get done, they have more time for the more important work of defining exactly what we want to have happen. The ongoing monitoring of Ends and Executive Limitations policies are an effective performance evaluation of the Executive Director. Are the Ends we asked for actually happening? Is it being done within the Limitations set up by the Board? If not, we know it. I have been concerned for some time that instead of offering the world an alternative way of communicating and collaborating together, we as fair family are mirroring the tone of the current national discourse, creating divisions among us instead of uniting us as a family. We don’t have the wrong Board members; we have the wrong way of thinking about each other and talking to each other. We do not need to pit Board members against Operations members. Each has their job to do, and they do not need to be at odds with each other. Board members retain the power to direct Operations in what we want to have done (and within what limits) through their written Board policies. In a Policy Governance Board, the Board defines in writing their own code of conduct, what their job is and how they will do it in their Board Process policies and their Board - Management Relationship policies. Because things are clear, it is clear whether or not things are working as intended. It will take persistently respectful communication to do that work. The voice of the Board is heard through its written policies, so the Board speaks with one voice, undivided. We can get more things done with this model, and it is more likely to be the things fair family members actually want to have happen because that is what the Board spends its time on – figuring out exactly what we want to have happen and giving Operations the leeway to make it happen within the Limitations set out by the Board. Power is not concentrated in Operations; it remains in the elected Board. The Board tells Operations what Ends we want and outlines the Limitations of what Means Operations can use to make those Ends happen. I hope the folks running for the Board in the next election will spend some time wrapping their minds around the promise of Policy Governance. We as fair family members can help shape the fair more directly through this, and hopefully may end up with more unity and less division.