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Opportunities

Board Directors

Civida Housing Foundation

Status: Open Location: Edmonton AB

The Organization

The Civida Housing Foundation (CHF) is the charitable arm of Civida, the largest provider of community (social) and affordable housing in Northern Alberta. Civida houses more than 23,000 people in 5,300 homes across the City of Edmonton.

Established in 2000, and driven by a board of passionate volunteers, CHF is a registered charity that enables innovative opportunities to progress Civida’s housing initiatives.  Affordable housing and related community support needs continue to grow.  Civida’s priority list currently exceeds 9,000 qualified households awaiting housing.   The Foundation raises funds, builds relationships, initiates community well-being programs, hosts community events, and more – all in efforts to support Civida’s crucial services.

For further information on Civida Housing Foundation, please visit their website.

For more about Civida, please visit their website.

The Opportunity

Job Title:Board Director – Civida Housing Foundation
Location:Edmonton, Alberta

Mandate

The role of the Board of Directors is to assume the overall stewardship of the Foundation through strong governance, overseeing the Foundation’s affairs while monitoring and assessing the performance and progress of the Foundation’s short- and long-term goals. Supported administratively by Civida, the Board champions the Foundation’s cause and its goals in the community, which are predominantly fund and resource raising to support the work of their parent organization, Civida.  Examples of Foundation initiatives include tenant welcome kits with the essentials to get started in a new home; an annual scholarship program for Civida tenants, aimed at increasing academic, employment and personal development; space dedicated to community programming at Civida’s inner city O’Daymin Village; and application for grants to support the development of community gardens in Civida’s housing communities.

The Foundation is at an inflection point.  Since 2022, the Board and management have activated the Foundation by establishing pillars of governance and operation; developed a robust fund development plan; engaged dedicated fund development resources; and repurposed assets to higher levels of contribution.  Meaningful partnerships and sponsors have been engaged to facilitate achievement of planned initiatives.   We are now ready to enter an era of accelerated execution of our well-laid plans, and engaging the right competencies and capacity in our Board are a critical step.  

The Board composition includes representative members from the Civida Board alongside independent members from the community.  We are seeking to increase capacity and diversity of experience in the recruitment of three new board members.   These positions will appeal to innovative, energetic individuals who are eager to contribute their talents to stewarding increased activity in fund and resource raising, creating productive connections with partners, and ensuring good governance enables a successful, sustainable growing Foundation.

Key Accountabilities

  • Prepare for and actively participate in board meetings
  • Listen to others’ views, advocate for their own, identify common interests and alternatives, and be open to compromise in the best interest of the Foundation
  • Support governance decisions once made
  • Guide the Foundation in the creation and achievement of performance expectations. It will include active participation or leadership in one or more subcommittees, including but not limited to:
    • Audit and Finance
    • Legal/Governance
    • Human Resources
  • Participate in the approval of the annual budget and monitor the financial performance of the Foundation in relation to it
  • Participate in the review of the Foundation’s mission and objectives and ongoing strategic planning
  • Help monitor the performance of the Foundation in relation to its mission, strategy, objectives, core values, and reputation
  • Maintain oversight of an integrated risk management framework that anticipates, manages, and reports on (at minimum) the financial, regulatory, legislative, and reputational risks to the Foundation
  • Abide by the by-laws, code of conduct, conflict of interest, and other policies that apply to the Board
  • Help establish, review, and monitor operational policies
  • Participate in the hiring, evaluation, and, if required, releasing of, the Executive Director
  • Identify prospective Board members and help recruit them
  • Participate in self-evaluation and the evaluation of the Board itself
  • Attend and actively participate in the Annual General Meeting
  • Keep informed about the environment as it relates to the mission and objectives of the Foundation
  • Seek and participate in ongoing education to enhance one’s governance competencies in service of the Foundation

Special Fiduciary Oversight Responsibilities

  • Understand and act in accordance with the roles, relationships, and operating models between the Civida Board, Civida Management, Civida Housing Foundation Board, and Civida Housing Foundation management

Fundraising and Stewardship

  • Be an advocate and ambassador for the Foundation
    • Leverage one’s own network of friends and contacts to increase awareness and recruit support
    • Activate advocacy for the Foundation through participation and volunteerism in CHF events and initiatives
  • Represent the Board and Foundation at events, helping thank and steward relationships with Donors, Volunteers, and Staff
  • Contribute to the Foundation’s stewardship plans and strategies by bringing forward innovation or improvement opportunities, potential donor and partner contacts, and other information about the resource-raising environment
  • Ensure that the foundation has adequate resources to implement the Board’s direction (financial, talent, and capacity)

Candidate Profile

CHF is seeking up to three (3) Directors to positively influence the future direction and success of the Civida Housing Foundation.  We are committed to ensure the Board composition represents a diverse range of both general and special skills, experiences, and ways of thinking.  The successful candidate will have the following:

Experience:

  • Demonstrated leadership in fundraising, business, entrepreneurial pursuits, community, and/or the non-profit sector
  • Experience and demonstrated acumen in one or more of the following areas:
    • financial & audit literacy; fund development & philanthropy; legal & risk management; investment management; community advocacy; human services

Competencies and Attributes:

Fundraising and Resource Development:  

  • Experience or training within fund raising fields, such as interpreting regulations and policy or history with charities or foundations in raising funds.  Understand legal and regulatory principles, processes, and systems in the context of fundraising and are able to effectively interpret policies and understand organizational strategy to enhance and sustain a successful foundation. 

Financial and Audit Oversight:

  • Ability to analyze and interpret financial statements and utilize the information to guide governance decisions.
  • Understands generally accepted accounting/financial principles.
  • Experience with an Audit function, including identifying areas of oversight, establishing risk appetite and monitoring of risk profile.
  • Able and willing to lead an Audit and Finance committee.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance:

  • Experience or training within regulatory, business, legal or policy fields, such as interpreting bylaws and regulations.
  • Understand legal and regulatory principles, processes, and systems in the context of charitable fundraising organizations; and are able to effectively interpret policies
  • Experience with parent-subsidiary organization structures

Stakeholder Engagement:

  • Experience in building and maintaining relationships with diverse stakeholders, including beneficiaries, donors, community partners, government agencies, other Board members, and the public, to enhance the foundation’s impact and effectiveness while meeting community needs.

CHF is committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access, and recognizes that those ideals support service excellence.  We seek, and welcome, the unique contributions that candidates can bring in terms of diverse backgrounds, unique thinking perspectives, and lived experiences and encourage applications that represent the diversity of our community.  

Additionally, CHF seeks the following:

  • Passion for the affordable housing and social services sector
  • Exceptional ability to maintain and nurture relationships over time with internal and external stakeholders
  • A high level of comfort in making decisions to catalyze action
  • High emotional intelligence; empathy and understanding of diverse priorities and viewpoints
  • Uncompromising ethical and moral compass
  • Professional maturity, with the ability and courage to work through conflict and competing priorities in a measured, calm and collaborative way
  • Demonstrated track record of professionalism coupled with the ability to make decisions that will be vital to enabling the Foundation
  • Exercise sound judgment, recognize and address sensitive issues

Capacity:

  • Confident ability to dedicate an average of 5 to 10 hours monthly (preparation and participation in board meetings and Foundation activities).
  • Ability to serve within particular restrictions of code of conduct
    • CHF code contains terms related to qualifications to act as a supplier to CHF, or Civida.  

Please note: this is a volunteer board opportunity.
Our design and orientation is as a governance Board, however as a fledgling organization, CHF still requires active participation in Foundation activities.  The Board calendar includes 5 meetings per year.  Committee and ad hoc sessions are additional but rarely exceed an additional 5 meetings.  Hybrid virtual/in-person formats are enabled for most meetings.

Application Instructions

If this opportunity excites you, please send an application, including a resume and cover letter, to connect@mullenleadership.com with the position title and organization name in the subject line of your email.

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