Board Voice is set to become a non profit society organized to bring the voice of the volunteer governors to government and the public to help create strong, vibrant communities through supporting high quality social services.

Full members of Board Voice are boards of agencies which deliver social services in B.C. Other categories of membership may be considered in the future.

Board Voice ‘reflects’ rather than represents the views of volunteer boards from across the province. While members sit on agency boards, they are not there to specifically ‘represent’ the views of their agencies.

There are many organizations representing various parts of the social services sector in B.C. None, however, specifically reflect the views of the governors of the system. Further, Board Voice aims to include all the different social services streams within its membership. So it is not exclusive to one part of the system, e.g. services for persons with developmental disabilities or children.

One of the issues in the social services is that for many years it has been funded and operated in various service silos such as youth justice, early childhood development, child welfare, mental health, community corrections, homelessness, social housing, addictions, employment supports, child welfare, community supports to seniors and persons with disabilities and women’s services. Because of this, our communities and governments do not understand the full range of services and their importance to community health and well being. To lump an already diffused and misunderstood service system under an even broader rubric such as ‘non profit’ with a myriad of other organizations such as environmental groups and arts organizations, will not assist in making the social services more understandable. This does not mean that Board Voice will not collaborate with the broader non profit sector on specific issues as appropriate.

Bringing community governors of the system together to articulate a voice of support for this sector adds value because the voice is grounded in the community and is reflecting community governance. This does not now exist. Further, it will promote cross sectoral thinking and planning at the community as well as the provincial level. This has the particular value, at the community level, of bringing together the Board members from all the different social services agencies to consider how well they are jointly serving the community. Third, it will promote improved governance of agencies.

Board Voice does not intend to become a top heavy organization with large numbers of staff. It will, however, require some funding to operate. It is unlikely that any funding received by Board Voice would automatically be spent in direct services. One would hope that if Board Voice achieves its aims, additional resources will flow into the community social service sector.

The Board of Directors of Board Voice were elected at the founding conference on November 7, 2009 and are responsible to directing the implementation of Board Voice’s vision.

Decisions will be made by the Board Voice board and informed by input from member agency boards from across the province. All decisions will be made within the framework of the Constitution and Bylaws of the organization and its goals and objectives. Processes will be put into place to help determine what issues are most critical and require communication and resolution. 

Board Voice will work with partners from all segments of society as appropriate. In particular, Board Voice would want to have very solid connections with umbrella organizations representing various parts of the social services system to better understand the issues and position the organization. It will also work closely with other key provincial organizations such as Union of British Columbia Municipalities, the provincial Chamber of Commerce, Boards of Trade and the School Trustees Association.

Robert Putnam defined social capital as “...the collective value of all 'social networks' and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other". Thomas suggests that it is 'those voluntary means and processes developed within civil society which promote development for the collective whole' (Thomas 1996, p. 11). The World Bank offers this definition: "Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions…Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society – it is the glue that holds them together." In this sense, social capital is a positive value for communities. Board Voice promotes the involvement of community members in the governance of social services which creates new networks of informed and involved citizens. This in turn strengthens the resiliency of the community to deal with the inevitable stresses which communities experience.

By promoting the value of volunteer board operated social services, Board Voice is championing the value of the kind of grass roots decision-making that occurs in the community which strengthens understanding of and compassion for community members and ownership of issues and responses. This is a ‘value-added’ aspect of a volunteer board-run service delivery system. As community members, volunteer board members not only bring their experience to the table, but their linkages to family and their circle of acquaintances. This entire in-community network is brought to bear by the volunteer governor on decisions affecting their fellow citizens.

Board Voice held its founding conference on November 6th & 7th, 2009, and is now working on implementing its action plan.

For most boards, the best way to become involved will be to take out a membership and actively participate in the regional caucuses that have been established and actively engage in the pursuit of Board Voice’s vision and mission.