While we find board minutes fascinating, they aren’t for everyone. We’ve created this handy recap, highlighting what CIRA’s board has been up to for the last six months.
The board plays an important role in CIRA’s mission to build a trusted internet for Canadians, keeping the organization on track and acting responsibly on behalf of our stakeholders.
No doubt reading board minutes is not at the top of your to do list. Albeit not the most exciting activity, however, meeting minutes provide a behind-the-scenes journey of the board’s oversight of our work throughout the year.
We hope this summary is informative for even the busiest of our stakeholders, providing insight into board processes and activities as they’ve guided CIRA over the last six months.
The basics of every meeting
The board meets virtually and in-person several times throughout the year. Every board meeting starts with a declaration of conflict based on the approved agenda, and approval of the previous meeting minutes. Next is where the action happens—a culmination of staff and committee work is presented to the board for discussion and, if needed, their approval.
Highlights of recent board meeting discussions and approvals
April 12
The board’s spring meeting usually lines up with the governance committee completing their annual work to select members for the election’s nominating committee.
During this meeting, the governance committee provided an overview of their evaluations of nominating committee candidates, recommended changes to its composition from 12 to 10 members and sought approval of the five selected candidates for a 2-year term on the nominating committee, which were subsequently approved.
June 7
Staff provided the board with a general update on recent CIRA activities, the regulatory landscape, advocacy work related to Bill C-26 and trends in the domain name industry.
The board also listened to presentations on various topics related to CIRA’s performance, programs, obligations, risks, investments, communication guidelines, board effectiveness, guidance to the nominating committee, director compensation, net assets framework and potential updates to CIRA’s internal Statement of investment policies and procedures.
June 28
Following an intensive evaluation and selection process by the Community investment evaluation panel, the board’s June meeting typically focuses on CIRA’s Net Good Grants program, and this meeting was no different.
The Community investment committee presented their final list of grantees and proposed funding envelope. A total of 16 projects and $1.27M in funding was unanimously approved.
July 21
With CIRA’s annual general meeting on the horizon, the board reviewed and unanimously approved CIRA’s audited fiscal year 2023 financial statements for presentation to the membership. They also unanimously approved the recommendation to re-appoint CIRA’s current auditor for another year and, as such, a motion be presented to members for their vote.
September 28
Being the final meeting before the end of the board election voting period, the Chair thanked the board for their work over the past year and highlighted contributions made by two of the departing board members. The President and CEO also thanked the departing directors and provided well wishes to directors standing for re-election.
After the discussions and approvals
At the end of every board meeting, the date of the next meeting is highlighted and confirmed. Then an in-camera session is held, if needed.
Haven’t gotten your fill of board activities? Learn more about CIRA’s board, governance and transparency.
As the Manager of Membership Relations at CIRA, Julie manages the development, planning and delivery of CIRA’s membership and Member-related activities and engagement. She strives to create opportunities for Members and consumers, and partners to share, connect, and learn and get the most out of their relationship with CIRA.
