Nonprofit and community organizations
Mission stewardship, charitable resources, executive partnership and community accountability.
Build a board aligned around mission, sustainable resources and the communities it serves.
LMJ Strategic Solutions
Board Governance
Academy
Build a board that understands its role, asks better questions, and makes decisions with confidence.
Flagship certificate retreat
Building an Effective Board:
From A to Z
A facilitated, day-long retreat that connects board responsibilities with the decisions members face in practice.
One day
Six learning hours, plus lunch and breaks
Applied learning
Cases, discussion and a simulated board meeting
Practical takeaways
Digital handbook, oversight tools and a 90-day plan
Begin with the distinction between board governance and staff management. Practice financial and program oversight, ethical decision-making, productive meetings, executive partnership and risk awareness. Finish with a decision brief and a board improvement plan.
Plan a retreat with LisaA shared foundation. Relevant application.
Three tracks for different boards.
Associations and membership organizations
Member value, representative governance, dues sustainability and board–staff communications.
Connect representative leadership, member communications and organizational strategy.
Public boards, authorities, and commissions
Delegated public authority, public accountability, budget oversight and transparent decision-making.
Strengthen oversight and decision-making within the board’s public role and delegated authority.
Each track uses examples and discussion tailored to its governance structure, funding model and accountability responsibilities. Mixed groups can work in separate track discussions during the same retreat.
Twelve areas of board oversight
Know what to oversee.
Know what to ask.
The retreat introduces the essential decisions and practices. The accompanying handbook provides reference guidance and worksheets across all twelve areas.
01 Board and staff roles
The board governs collectively; the executive manages within delegated authority.
02 Building and renewing the board
Recruit for the work the board must do and the communities it serves.
03 Officers, committees and executive leadership
Delegate clearly while retaining the board’s responsibility for oversight.
04 Ethics and responsible governance
Disclose conflicts early and protect the integrity of the decision.
05 Meetings and board communications
Design the meeting around the decisions the board needs to make.
06 Strategy and policy oversight
Turn mission into a small number of priorities the board can monitor.
07 Financial stewardship
Understand performance, liquidity and restrictions before approving commitments.
08 Funding and sustainability
Evaluate the full cost and obligations of new revenue.
09 People, culture and organizational health
Oversee the organization’s health without becoming its day-to-day supervisor.
10 Risk, compliance and crisis oversight
Know the major exposures, the control owners and when escalation is required.
11 Programs, data and community accountability
Judge results using evidence, context and the experience of people served.
12 Board performance and improvement
Evaluate how the board works and commit to observable improvements.
Learning into practice
Leave with tools you can use.
Clarify authority and accountability
Map board and executive responsibilities, strengthen committee delegation, and practice ethical decisions and productive meetings.
Ask stronger oversight questions
Read a financial and program dashboard, examine cash timing and funding obligations, and evaluate risk and community or member outcomes.
Practice a real decision
Use a fictional expansion proposal to compare options, question assumptions, address a conflict, and define approval conditions and follow-up.
Commit to measurable improvement
Complete an individual decision brief and a 30-, 60- and 90-day governance plan with owners, evidence and review dates.
Participant materials include twelve module worksheets, a baseline assessment, a dashboard exercise, a board simulation, a decision brief template and a 90-day action plan. Facilitated assessment and feedback support the completion requirements.
A working retreat
A day that leads to action.
Morning: clarify the role
Establish board–staff boundaries, strengthen board structure and meetings, and work through ethics and accountability scenarios.
Afternoon: practice oversight
Interpret financial and program information, evaluate risk, simulate a board decision and develop a 90-day governance action plan.
Typical schedule: 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., with six instructional hours, a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks. Morning work covers roles, delegation, ethics, meetings, strategy and financial stewardship. Afternoon work covers people, risk, program outcomes, the board simulation, individual submissions and assessment. Scheduling and examples are tailored to the organization.
Demonstrate the learning
Certificate of Completion
in Board Governance Foundations
Participants earn an LMJ-issued certificate by completing the six learning hours or documented equivalent makeup, achieving at least 80% on the learning check, demonstrating the capstone criteria, and submitting an individual decision brief and action plan. Feedback and reassessment support completion.
This is an LMJ certificate of completion. It is not professional licensure, third-party accreditation or a claim of statutory training credit. Organization- and sector-specific requirements are addressed separately.
The academy’s family of offerings
Support for every stage
of board development.
Governance Essentials
A three-hour introduction for new members or an existing board’s refresher. Focus on roles, ethics, meetings and oversight.
Building an Effective Board: From A to Z
The flagship one-day certificate retreat, combining governance instruction, realistic scenarios and a board action plan.
Board Chair & Officer Development
Focused development in meeting leadership, officer responsibilities, committee coordination, executive partnership and succession.
Board Development Retreats
Customized facilitation to assess current practices, strengthen alignment and agree on specific governance improvements.
Governance Implementation Support
Implementation support for board recruitment, orientation, committee structures, reporting systems and governance processes.
Each offering can be tailored to the nonprofit/community, association/membership or public-board track. The three-hour introduction is separate from the six-hour retreat certificate.
Work with LMJ
Build your board’s
next chapter.
Tell Lisa about your board, its priorities and the support you need. Together, we will identify the appropriate track, format and engagement.