• Attend at least 80% of Board meetings and Board activities. Review agenda and
  supporting materials prior to meetings.


• Join at least one committee and participate fully in its activities.


• Be informed about the organization's mission, services, policies, and programs.


• Participate in other Board activities, such as strategic planning and Board assessments.


• Act as an ambassador for Housing Families within your network and community:
  o Attend special events.
  o Introduce the organization to friends, family, and colleagues to build a cadre of
  supporters for Housing Families.


• Keep up-to-date on developments in the organization's field.


• Assist in the Board recruitment and nominating process.

• Responsible for hiring, evaluating, and supporting Housing Families’ CEO.


• Regularly review the organization’s mission and purpose


• Ensure effective organizational planning. As stewards of the organization, Board members must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in achieving
  the plan’s goals.

• Ensure that the Board carries out its fiduciary responsibilities:


• Review budgets and financial statements on a regular basis. Approve the annual
  budget.


• Sign a conflict-of-interest statement annually and disclose all potential conflicts in
  advance to the Board and Development Staff.


• Serve as an ethical member of the Board in a manner that promotes the best interests
  of the organization.


• Incorporate core values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in decision
  processes; widely communicate and invest in DEIB priorities; work with HFI team to
  build DEIB goals as metrics for organizational and employee performance; recruit and
  maintain a diverse an inclusive board.


• Nurture a culture of inclusion with attention to key practices, set clear expectations for
  inclusive leadership behaviors, and align the mission of the organization to the broader
  equity issues being faced by the communities Housing Families serves.

• Exercise duty of care. Each Board member has a legal responsibility to participate
  actively in making decisions on behalf of the organization and to exercise their best
  judgment while doing so—including determining use of the budget allocated for
  fundraising activities.


• Exercise duty of loyalty. Each Board member must put the interests of the organization
  before their personal and professional interests when acting on behalf of the
  organization in a decision-making capacity.


• Exercise duty of obedience. Board members bear the legal responsibility of ensuring that
  the organization complies with the applicable federal, state, and local laws and adheres
  to its mission.

• Develop a board member, committee member, and officer recruitment strategy, taking into account desired skill sets and diverse perspectives.


• Continually identify and recruit candidates for board, committee, and officer positions consistent with such strategy.


• Ensure timely and compliant elections of board members and officers.


• Develop, and ensure appropriate implementation of, a board, committee, and officer orientation and onboarding strategy, which emphasizes diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging.


• Develop and implement a plan for continually educating the board, committees, and officers.


• Periodically review the defined and adopted mission and vision statements of the organization and whether they are consistent across documents and activities.


• Periodically review the governing documents of the organization and whether they are consistent with applicable laws and actual or desired organizational practices; amend such governing documents, as necessary.


• Develop and review other governance policies to guide effective oversight and thoughtful planning.


• Annually review the performance of the board and committees, including the effectiveness of meetings, and make recommendations, as appropriate.


• Annually review the performance of, and any perceived or actual conflicts involving, individual board members.


• Recommend retention and re-election of incumbent board members, as appropriate.


• Recommend the request for resignation or removal of a board member, as appropriate.

Housing Families works to end family homelessness. We provide safe, temporary shelter and quality affordable housing to homeless and at-risk families. We offer individualized supportive services to enrich children’s lives, nurture the potential of each family member, and help families maintain permanent housing.