Learn the 4 central roles of an effective board chair or volunteer president.

Participate in a community of other Board Chairs for problem solving and support.

Confidently Lead Your Nonprofit Board

You want to do your best if you are a new board chair or soon-to-be.

You want to lead with impact.

Maybe you don't have any mentors or others to help lead the way.

Maybe you took on the role reluctantly because no one else would do it.

You might be thinking that it is too much responsibility and takes too much time. It feels like a daunting position to take.

It doesn't have to be. Let me mentor you in this important leadership role.

The program consists of a five-module course and four group coaching calls designed for adult learners to support you to be the best chair that you can be.

Being a nonprofit board chair or volunteer president is a leadership position like no other role you will assume. It is the most important position next to a thriving nonprofit organization's CEO or Executive Director.

The prime function is to lead your board of volunteers in steering and guiding your organization.

The board chair has four main responsibilities: setting the tone of the board, planning the agenda with the ED, partnering with the Executive Director and facilitating good decision-making.

With the right skills and understanding of the role of the board chair, you can learn how to lead a group of volunteers toward your organization's strategic goals and create a lasting legacy.

Registration Fee

Similar leadership programs cost $1500+, we want to make it accessible . . .

This program offers you:

Self-Paced Online Five Module Program with lifetime access:

A five-module self-paced program where you will learn:

* How to support the board in its purpose, roles and responsibilities;
* To apply your leadership style in service of the mission;
* How to create psychological safety to facilitate open and free discussion;
* How to have difficult conversations;
* How to manage meetings effectively;
* How to manage the board and Executive Director relationship.

An excellent board chair needs more than knowledge. So many times, situations arise where board chairs need mentorship and the advice of others in similar positions.


Four Live Coaching Calls and Masterminds

In addition, the program offers a safe community of other board chairs and vice chairs. Four 90-minute coaching calls will be held in March, April, May and June 2025.

This is where we support and strategize the unique problems that board chairs must face, such as having difficult conversations with staff and other board members and directing and partnering with senior staff.

The Canadian Nonprofit Academy want to make this program affordable and accessible for all new board chairs. Similar programs offer much less and cost three times more.

Here is why this program will get you to where you want to be faster

Acquiring confidence in your role as the board chair

  • Spend more of your term making the difference you want to make

  • Lead with confidence from being grounded in the responsibilites of the role.

  • Spend less time trying to figure it out

Course curriculum

  • 01

    Introduction to Effective Board Leadership

  • 02

    Module 1 - Governance as Leadership

    • The Role of the Board as a whole - Review

    • Self Asessment - Understanding your Organization's Core Purpose

    • The Essential Role of the Board Chair
  • 03

    Module 2 - Effective Leadership

    • What kind of Leader are you?

    • Reflection Questions - What qualities do you bring to the role of chair of your board?

    • Different Kinds of Leadership Styles

    • What kind of leader are you? Part 2

    • Setting the Right Tone

  • 04

    Module 3 - Effective Meeting Management and Group Dynamics

    • Introduction

    • The Agenda (15 minutes)

    • Board's Annual Planning Calendar - Courtesy of https://www.governinggood.ca/ (Pdf for download)

    • Sample Timed Agenda

    • Rules of Order ( 8 Minutes)

    • Motions and When to call a motion (6 Minutes)

    • Minutes (8 Minutes)

    • How Motions work

  • 05

    Module 4 - Effective ED/CEO and Board Chair Relationship

    • How to be manage the relationship

  • 06

    Module 5 : Succession Planning for Long-Term Success

    • The Importance of Succession Planning

    • Creating a Succession Plan

Conducting Excellence is right for you if . . . .

  • You are stepping into the Board Chair or vice chair of a nonprofit or charity in Canada.

  • You feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start.

  • You want to lead confidently but don't have a mentor.

  • You are ready to make a lasting impact on your nonprofit.

Christina Becker, MBA

Founder, the Canadian Nonprofit Academy

I am the Vice President of Consulting and Online Training at Becker Associates and the founder of the Canadian Nonprofit Academy. I created the Academy because I believe that a thriving nonprofit sector depends on an effective and well-functioning board of directors. We are dedicated to the professional development of Canada's volunteer leaders.

I bring 40 + years of working in the nonprofit sector and have had many roles – consultant, management, Board member, volunteer President, and Executive Director. I have extensive experience in board governance and management. As board president for six years, I successfully led a team of board volunteers to turn a small nonprofit professional association from a membership of 250 to over 1000 with a clear vision for what we wanted to accomplish and a commitment to make it happen. I have worked with many wonderful and dedicated volunteers committed to the organization. I have sat around the boardroom table in many capacities and understand the sometimes competing demands.

Christina Becker

Founder and Instructor

Program Fees

Programs of this value cost 3 times as much

Flexible payment options