Board of Directors
Every limited company like our Co-op has a board of directors which in our case is elected or appointed by the members.
The board of directors is the Co-op’s administrative body and acts on the members’ behalf between annual general meetings.
The Co-op’s Board of Directors plays an important role in the well-being of Lumby, it demonstrates how a community can democratically take control of its food supply, support its members, farmers and producers in sustainable ways. Like any company, the Co-op Board works on behalf of our member/owners. That means your family, friends, neighbours, co-workers!
What Does the Board Do?
- Honours the vision, mission and mandate of the membership.
- Decides upon and implements the strategic long-range plans and policies.
- Hires and oversees new employees.
- Holds ultimate accountability for management of our resources and performance of its volunteers and employees.
- Acts as trustees on behalf of the Co-op’s members.
- Moves towards being a policy-driven board with less responsibility around operations.
Qualifications
Roles and Responsibilities
As representatives of the membership, directors have the legal right to operate the Co-op. They must manage or supervise the Co-op’s business and affairs. They can use all the powers of the co-operative to do their job. Sometimes the Co-op’s Rules will limit what the directors can do. These limits must not prevent the directors from doing their job as laid out in the Co-operative Association Act.
Specific Responsibilities:
- Collectively set goals, objectives and administrative policies
- Adopt long term business strategic plans
- Regularly connect with store staff, volunteers and membership to co-operatively share ideas and recommendations regarding Co-op operations
- Put plans in place for succession of the Board of Directors for future years
2019-2020 Board of Directors
Chris Bauman
President
Chris has been a Co-op member and volunteer since 2015 and a board member since 2016. She has been on several boards in the past and is particularly passionate about this one as the Co-op and what it stands for is very much in alignment with her own values. She loves to work with people, is goal-oriented but has learned the power of process and the camaraderie that can result from people pulling together with egolessness, commitment, and enthusiasm.
Julie Pilon
Vice-President
Julie has volunteered as a director since 2018. She regularly connects with store staff, volunteers and members to share ideas and recommendations regarding the Co-op. Julie genuinely desires to see the Co-op succeed as a business in our community. In the last year Julie has taken on the roll of the Vendor Liaison which has taken her to various communities within the Okanagan in order to seek out new vendors and their unique products to be sold at the Co-op. Julie is very excited to work with the new board of directors.
Nick Hodge
Member at Large
Nick has been a member of the Co-op for several years, but not an active volunteer. By joining the board recently, he hopes to provide a useful role in planning for the Co-op’s growth, but more importantly its focus on developing local suppliers. He has extensive experience working with volunteer and not-for-profit organizations, including Whitevalley Community Resource Centre, Amnesty International (Vernon), and Lumby and District Seniors Housing Society.
Sylvie Desjardins
Member at Large
Sylvie Desjardins has been a co-op member since 2018. She has agreed to relieve our stellar Financial Comptroller Julie Jones of many of her day-to-day tasks; she is Julie’s backup person for keeping the books and helps provide analysis of sales. Sylvie is an associate professor of Mathematics and Statistics at UBCO and so is well-qualified for the role. Her range of interests includes an academic project on threatened butterflies of the South Okanagan Similkameen.
Contact
Email the directors.