Barbie Reynolds
(Proud to call you friend ! )

That was truly beautiful!!!! You made me cry – in a good way! You’ve truly reminded me to take a moment to appreciate the “little things” in life and to let your friends and family know that you appreciate, cherish and love them! Thank you Lee!

But what has really made the difference this year is being deputy governor, and meeting people from other clubs and zones. NOW I know what they mean when they say Family of Kin. More important to me is that my kids know what it means, too. This wasn’t part of any of the organizations that my parents were involved in, I never felt a connection to other Lions families that way my kids feel about other Kin kids.

Kin is a gift…when you unwrap the whole package you appreciate it the most. So one of my missions this year is to spread that message to the other clubs in my zone, so that they GET IT the way I did this year.

Karen Coutts
Zone J Deputy Governor, District 1

Thank you so much for your comments. With respect to stakeholder consultation, a policy document was drafted by ND James Doerr in the fall of last year. This piece is going to be utilized in revising our current policy regarding the responsibility of the NBOD during our Board meeting in April. Also, as I mentioned in the article, we have now placed Ownership Linkage on our agenda as a standard item. This, in consultation with a clearer policy on ownership linkage and consultation will ensure the NBOD places a priority on this moving forward. As soon as the policies are revised, we will be sending out notification to members through a variety of means, which brings me to your next point

Communication. It’s an area that we have certainly placed priority on at the NBOD and is an area that I truly believe can make or break any operation, depending on how well it’s done of course. I have been very happy with the enhanced level of communication we have been providing this year as a Board, through areas such as BelieveKin. That being said, you are absolutely right in that there are a variety of other mechanisms we need to use if we are going to ensure maximum reach with our communications. One area we are currently working on (as mentioned above) is the creation of a number of education modules regarding the operations and scope of responsibilities for the NBOD. This piece is being lead by D6 National Director, Melodie LeMoeligou.

Additionally, during our policy review in April, one of our areas of key focus will be on the Governance Process policies (ie. How we operate as a Board). One of the areas we will be taking a closer look at is how to ensure more effective communication between the NBOD and the ownership of Kin Canada. It’s great for us to say we are making ownership linkage a regular item on our agenda, but if we don’t have the variety of tools required to effectively communicate with this group…then simply putting it on the agenda serves no purpose. Again, more to come on that piece…hopefully within the days and weeks after our meeting in Cambridge at the beginning of April.

Just a quick point of clarification too…on the whole membership vs ownership piece.
It may have just been a slip, but for anyone that may be reading this, please remember that “owners” and “members” are two very distinct groups when it comes to how we operate. Basically, as an NBOD we are accountable to the ownership of Kin Canada, and ensure effective linkages with this group when it comes to communication, the direction the ownership wishes the Association to move with respect to it’s overall objectives, etc. On the “operational” side of things so to speak, thats where the ED, Staff, Governors, Operational Committees, Deputy Governors, etc…provide services to the members.

As such, when it comes to how a particular feature works regarding a communication tool that we use (eg. Website login), you are right in that it falls on the “operational” side of the coin and this isn’t something that the NBOD would typically address. In addition to raising the concern to the ED, I would certainly encourage and recommend first bringing the concern to your DG and through to the Governors, as it would then allow them to discuss with other Governors also and potentially have those discussions on behalf of the members of the District (and sub-sequentially the Association) regarding operational matters that are impacting them. Likewise on the Communications Committee piece. This would certainly be something that would fit very well as a discussion amongst the leaders of our Districts. Starting more broadly around communications as a whole on the operations side of things. This is certainly an area where our Club Presidents, DG’s and Governors alike can play a major role.

That being said, your point highlights another area I am interested in addressing through consultation with both the ED and the Governors alike. I think it would be very beneficial, in straight forward terms, to create a document which would explain to members the types of concerns that should be brought to stakeholders A, B or C within the Association, and likewise the appropriate process to follow when doing so. I think having such a document would provide additional clarity to various roles, the process that should be followed and would enhance awareness of issues as they arise to the appropriate stakeholders.

Again, thanks so much for your comments Tanya. This was a long winded response but hopefully it sheds some light onto the concerns you have raised and some of the actions we are taking in the near future. These will hopefully enhance the level of service and accountability we are providing as a National Board.