MNH Seeking its 1st Board of Directors!

Marpole Neighbourhood House Seeking its First Board of Directors

In May 2019, the Association of Neighbourhood Houses BC (“the Association”, or ANHBC) opened the newest neighbourhood house in Metro Vancouver in over a decade – Marpole Neighbourhood House (MNH). The Association now consists of 8 neighbourhood houses and 1 outdoor camp.
Neighbourhood Houses are places for social interaction that give community members the opportunity to lead and participate in the strengthening of their neighbourhoods by connecting people of all walks of life and enhancing their capacity to create change.

Marpole Neighbourhood House is located at 8585 Hudson Street, in Marpole’s heritage firehall building at the corner of West 70th Avenue. Sitting on Coast Salish unceded territories, by Musqueam’s Cesnam (c̓əsnaʔəm), with a small but growing staff team, core programs established, and several engaged community partners, Marpole Neighbourhood House is ready to build its first Community Board of Directors to shape its strategic directions, ensure good governance and support financial sustainability.
ANHBC’s Board of Directors establishes Community Boards at the individual houses to provide local leadership of member organizations. There is a ‘Terms of Reference’ document that outlines the purpose, membership, and delegated authority of Community Boards. The Terms of Reference is available upon request. Key responsibilities of the Marpole Neighbourhood House Board include:

• Create, engage and lead activities to ensure that Marpole Neighbourhood House fulfils its mission and the vision of the Association.
• Work with Marpole Neighbourhood House’s Executive Director providing leadership in the local community.
• Ensure that the direction of MNH is in keeping with the needs and characteristics identified by the community.
• Assist with the annual assessment of the performance of MNH’s Executive Director.
• Act as a conduit of information from the Association to the community served by MNH and as a conduit for advice and information from the MNH to the Association.
• Provide advice to the Association with respect to matters of concern to MNH and the community which it serves.
• Support the fundraising efforts and overall financial sustainability of MNH

Community Boards must have a minimum of six (6) members. Each Community Board has a cabinet comprised of Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. In addition, each Community Board will appoint a Community Board Representative to join the Association Board for a two-year term. This provides a connection between the Association Board and each member community to ensure distributed, community-based leadership at the highest levels of Association decision making.

It is essential that Marpole Neighbourhood House’s Board be comprised of individuals who represent Marpole’s rich diversity, geography, and history. This includes individuals of various ages, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, socio-economic and education levels, gender identities and sexual orientations,
abilities, faiths and beliefs, and citizenship/status. Board members should live, work or have a strong connection to the Marpole area, and be interested in strengthening the neighbourhood of Marpole.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Zahra Esmail at zahra.esmail@marpolenh.org and Javier Ojer at javier.ojer@marpolenh.org, or call 604.628.5663.

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