The board meeting
What Saturday decides
A working session, not a presentation. The pre-read carries the detail so the meeting can stay where the board actually adds value — on what we are aiming at, and how much of it is enough.
How to read this brief in fifteen minutes: Chapter 1 is the scorecard on June. Chapters 2–4 are the three programs, each ending in three or four options for 2027. Chapter 5 is the draft goals table — that is the one to read closely. Chapters 6 and 7 are the year-end campaign and the December handoff.
The five calls
Decide
Direction on 2027 goals. Chapter 5 puts draft targets on the table across revenue, scholarships, donors, team and reserves. We need the board's reaction — too low, too high, wrong thing measured — not a formal adoption. December adopts.
Decide
Year-end giving campaign. Chapter 6 proposes a structure, tiers and a timeline. Two things needed from the board: approve the shape, and commit to a personal role in it.
Decide
Board expansion. Target size, the skills we are missing, and a named recruiting owner per candidate. Two names are already in play.
Decide
Reserves policy — direction. Recent large unrestricted gifts make this urgent. We need the board's view on how much and what for; the policy language comes back in December.
Vote
Four items carried over from June — see below. These need formal votes, not discussion.
The four carried-over votes
The June retreat tracker assigned these to this meeting. None of them came up in the September 22 pre-board call, which means they either slipped quietly or are being held for the executive session. Either way they should not leave this meeting undecided a second time.
Vote
Adopt the vision statement. A v-next was due for September approval. Status of the draft is in Chapter 1.
Vote
Adopt the brand identity. The GEA Alliance mark and the Summit Scholarship rollout have been operating in public without a formal board adoption behind them.
Vote
Shadow ED salary. A board vote documenting the Executive Director's market-rate compensation, even while unpaid. This is a governance record, not a payment.
Vote
Close out the ED evaluation. The executive-session evaluation from June was never formally closed, and forward expectations were never issued.
Chair Alison to sequence these
All four are board-collective calls the chair drives. The shadow-salary vote and the evaluation close-out belong in executive session; the two adoption votes do not, and can be taken in the open portion.
A shape for the day
| Block | What happens | Who leads |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Scorecard on June — Chapter 1, no slides, questions welcome | Sunny |
| Programs | Three verticals, ~20 minutes each: status, then the options. The board picks a direction per vertical. | Sunny presents, board decides |
| Goals | The 2027 goals table, worked live. This is the longest block and the reason for the meeting. | Board |
| Year-end | Campaign structure, then each director's commitment | Alison |
| Governance | Board expansion, reserves direction, the two open adoption votes | Alison |
| Executive session | Shadow ED salary, ED evaluation close-out | Alison |
Timings deliberately left off — Alison sets the clock. The order matters more than the minutes: goals should land before energy drops, and governance should not get squeezed into the last ten minutes the way it was in June.
If Saturday produces one thing, it should be a set of 2027 targets the board owns and I can execute against. Everything else on this list is real, but that is the one that changes how next year goes.