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The Alpine Club of Canada
The Alpine Club of Canada

ACC Board Responsibilities and Competencies

Overall ACC Board Responsibilities

The ACC Board provides Strategic Leadership by setting direction, making and overseeing policy, and contributing to strategy decision, while also overseeing and monitoring organizational performance and ensuring overall organization accountability. These areas of focus will enable management to run the day-to-day operations of the organization. 
The board as a whole is responsible for the following duties:

  • Be involved in setting and approving the organization’s mission and direction. 
  • Hire, support, and assess the performance of the Executive Director.
  • Be involved in the development of and approve the 3-year strategic plan.
  • Ensure the organization is regularly assessing and mitigating risk.
  • Approve yearly budgets and strategic plans, ensuring effective organizational planning to achieve the tangible milestones and goals outlined in each yearly budget.
  • Ensure adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission, working in partnership with the chief executive and development staff, if any, to raise funds from the community.
  • Review Quarterly performance against yearly budget and milestones.
  • Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability of the Club, staff, contractors, and members.
  • Recruit and orient new Board members and assess Board performance.
  • Offer insight and assist in decision making for the Executive Director as required.

General Board member Attributes (for all positions)

  • Board Knowledge: Knowledge of The Alpine Club of Canada, Board responsibilities and governance best practices.
  •  Understands ACC’s functions and capabilities. Understands responsibilities and liabilities as a Director and Board member. Knowledgeable of governance best practices and processes. Experience with/knowledge of climbing, understands the broader environment and trends that may affect the sport.
  • Analytical and problem solving skills.
  • Uses common sense, balanced reasoning, knowledge and experience to debate and arrive at best conclusions and decisions. Can deal with ambiguity and complexity comfortably. Makes decisions objectively that optimize the relationship between risk and reward.
  • Integrity: Possesses high degree of ethics, integrity and accountability.
  • Responsible, conscientious – can be relied on to act and speak with consistency and honesty. Maintains confidentiality and upholds high ethical standards, including avoidance of conflicts of interest.
  • Effective communication.
  • Gives and receives information clearly. Listens seeking to understand; makes others feel heard. Can communicate feedback in a clear and logical manner verbally and in writing.
  • Ability to support effective and efficient Board operation.
  • Strives for consensus, but also values diverse opinions. Can identify and diminish ‘group think’ tendencies and recognize decision-making biases in Board discussions. Can oversee the organization without being involved directly in the management process.
  • Active Listening.
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Experience with and/or knowledge of the climbing community.
  • Experience with/knowledge of climbing, understands the broader environment and trends that may affect the sport.

Attributes (for specific positions)

President/Chair
  • Demonstrated Leadership.
  • Ability to run effective meetings – leads meetings in organized fashion, prepares adequately with necessary parties.
  • Ability to resolve conflicts – concerned with people dynamics, is able to address conflicts amongst Board members or between Board members and staff.
  • Effective in delegating responsibility to Board members (based on their skills and areas of responsibilities). Knows where to draw line between volunteer Board roles and staff roles.
  • Ability to manage people (HR management) – both the performance of the Executive Director and Board member behaviour.
  • Ability to engage Board in meetings/facilitate constructive Board discussions.
  • Supported by/likely to be supported by current composition of Board and senior staff.
  • Possesses strategic vision and the ability to think critically.
  • Ability to manage relationships with external partners.
  • Governance Expertise. Ability to provide guidance to the President and Board members, with regards to the organization and execution of BOD meetings. Ability to coordinate and prepare for Board meetings, Annual General Meeting, etc.
  • Communication Skills (both Oral and Written). Writing – Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. Ability to handle all member communications. Speaking – Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Judgment and Decision Making – Considers the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Detail – must ensure that the work of the Board in particular as well as the larger organization is well planned and executed and that compliance with relevant requirements, policies and procedures is facilitated. Must also understand the strategic goals and plans of the organization.
  • Familiar with provincial and federal laws and regulations governing non-profit record keeping, reporting and filing requirements.
  • Communication skills – effective written communication as appropriate for the needs of the audience, talking to others to convey financial information effectively. Ability to convey financial information in the form of financial statements and budgets to the Board and membership. Able to translate financial information and financial concepts for the Board.
  • Basic computer skills (word processing, spreadsheets, email, etc.) and knowledge of financial software used by the ACC, or similar and ability to transfer that knowledge to new software.
  • High level of integrity and ability to foster positive working relationship with other Board members, auditors and regulatory officials.
  • Ability to maintain accurate records as required by the by-laws and the law and to ensure confidentiality of those records where appropriate.
  • Familiar with provincial and federal laws and regulations governing non-profit financial record keeping, reporting and filing requirements.
  • Understanding of financial reports, budgeting and non-profit financial terminology and requirements.
  • Planning – ability to partner with other members of the Board to develop a useful budget. Bring value in preparing for budget discussions and conveying budget information to the Board. Ensure that the budget reflects the intentions and objectives of the Board’s strategic plan.
  • Strategy – ability to bring financial leadership to the organization. Ability to seek financial options and decisions needed for longer term goals and initiate discussions to connect finance and mission. Must also understand the financial strategic goals and plans of the organization.
  • Attention to detail for effective financial tracking and reporting. Must ensure that the financial plan of the Board and the larger organization is well planned and executed and that compliance with relevant requirements, policies and procedures is facilitated.
  • Communication skills (oral and written) – communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience, talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Basic computer skills (word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, etc.).
  • Demonstrated familiarity with the mountain community and The Alpine Club of Canada including its strategic goals and plans both generally and in respect of A&E.
  • Ability to build, manage and motivate a cross-country committee of A&E representatives.
  • Familiarity with the programs and undertakings of the ACC and the positioning of those matters in access advocacy or environmental advocacy.
  • Portfolio management-ability to provide guidance to the president, Board, sections, Club members and third parties on access and environmental issues including good political awareness, connectedness and positioning.
  • Judgment and decision-making ability to weigh the cost and benefit of various alternatives and choosing the appropriate alternative.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of the culture and history of The Alpine Club of Canada, and mountain culture generally.
  • Demonstrated contribution to Canadian mountain culture (through, for example, literary pursuits, film, photography, social media, public engagement, etc.).
  • Demonstrated relationship with key institutional partners (Banff Centre, Whyte Museum, Parks Canada, BC Parks, other national alpine clubs and organizations, etc.).
  • Ability to build, manage and motivate the Mountain Culture committee.
  • Ability/potential to imagine and execute mountain culture projects. What new ideas/projects does the candidate bring to the Club?
  • Ability/potential to work across various National Board portfolios in the advancement and integration of mountain culture.
  • Climbing skill/experience.
  • Demonstrate general knowledge of the current section structure, operations and challenges.
  • Ability to build, manage and motivate a cross-country community of section representatives by ensuring active engagement from all.
  • Ability to facilitate group discussions and engagement from all section representatives; demonstrate abilities to foster positive working relationship between all section representatives and create an environment where information (negative and positive) can be shared freely.
  • Ability to adapt communication skills to personalities; foster the best out of every section representative.
  • Ability to look at the “big picture” and help the sections anticipate current and future needs; ability to prioritize needs based on urgency and current Board priorities.
  • Demonstrate positive working relationships with other Board members, self-control and composure in all circumstances, in order to communicate effectively sections’ concerns and priorities for development by the Board.
  • Ability to effectively document and present section concerns in an organized and detailed matter so that the Board can make an educated decision on future priorities for the Club – basic computer and presentation skills required.
  • Ability to follow up on Section Forum’s discussions and provide continuous feedback to sections on current issues and priorities; demonstrate exceptional communication skills and organization skills – be the section leader.
  • Resourceful and willingness to help sections when dealing with particular subject or issues that require more information or understanding of best practices.
  • Demonstrate general knowledge of the general services of the ACC to the members.
  • General knowledge of sport climbing organization and structures.
  • Ability to create and maintain a high-level understanding of what the Club is doing and a meaningful appreciation of the ACC’s social culture.
  • Demonstrate an ability to assess how well Club activities and functions both align with the needs and expectations of Club members and support the social culture of the organization.
  • An imaginative approach to identifying new opportunities to deliver value to current members or reach out to prospective members.
  • A history of broad involvement in Club activities at both the section and national levels (trip participant, trip leader, GMC or national trip participant) to show an immersion in what the Club does at both levels, and lots of experience with other ACCers in order to ‘anchor’ the VP’s judgment around the Club’s social culture and member value and services.
  • Basic knowledge of liability insurance.
  • Experience in budget preparation and execution.
  • Strong communications skills, and a working knowledge/experience in organizational communications, including media relations, social media and web-based membership service delivery.
  • Demonstrate general knowledge of the ACC’s backcountry hut network and other facilities of the ACC, including a working knowledge of the general distribution of third party facilities in the mountain environment.
  • Experience in the operation, maintenance and planning of physical facilities, both backcountry and front country employing functional, economical, culturally acceptable and environmentally appropriate practices.
  • Strong environmental principles and knowledge regarding construction and operation of facilities.
  • Functional knowledge of the Club activity objectives and mountain areas so as to assess received ideas from members and club leaders.
  • Basic knowledge of liability insurance.
  • Experience in budget preparation and execution.
  • Experience in working with committees and paid staff.
  • Demonstrate general knowledge of the current activities portfolio structure, operations and challenges.
  • Background and participation in mountain sports.
  • Familiarity with leadership skills development and national and section leadership needs.
  • Functional knowledge of the Club activity objectives and mountain areas so as to assess received ideas from members and Club leaders.
  • Basic knowledge of liability insurance.
  • Experience in budget preparation an execution.