Directors' Forum

Directors' Forum

The annual Directors' Forum is a professional development, educational and networking conference that is organized specifically BY credit union directors FOR credit union, caisses populaires and co-operative Directors, Chair/Presidents, board members, and key volunteers. 

2013 DIRECTORS' FORUM INFORMATION

WEBINARS

The Directors' Forum is in the process of organizing a series of webinars through a partnership with CUSOURCE, Credit Union Knowledge Network, for the year.

The first webinar in the series, "Mergers: From Deciding to Building a Great Board - Independence or Partnership: Working through the Options" will be held on May 8th, 2013, from 7:00 - 8:30pm ET. In this session, Kim Andres highlights what the board needs to consider in building the case to merge or not to merge. These factors include business drivers, criteria for the appropriate partner; risks/rewards and more. Participants will also tackle such questions as:

  • Yes/No: How to oversee the decision
  • If "Yes", the criteria for establishing a good partnership
  • Take away: Terms of Reference for a Partnership Committee

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS SESSION!

Pleae stay tuned for more updates on future webinars in this series...

2013 DIRECTORS' FORUM EVENT

This year, the Directors' Forum will not be holding its own unique event, due to the close proximity in timing to Central 1's Fall Conference. For this reason, we are currently in discussion with Central 1 with regards to holding our AGM, as well as a couple of additional sessions at the Fall Conference, taking place from November 13 - 16th, 2013.

Please stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks!


2012 DIRECTORS' FORUM "CREDIT UNIONS BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" A GREAT SUCCESS!

The 2012 Directors' Forum and Gala took place October 26 and 27, 2012.  The 28th Annual Directors' Forum took place on October 26th and 27th, 2012 at the Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre. 

FRIDAY EVENTS
Close to 180 attended the Friday evening keynote and cocktail reception, which was sponsored by the Deposit Insurance Corporation on Ontario and The CUMIS Group.

  • A 50/50 draw was held by the Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation. 
  • Prior to the start of the Directors' Forum, many directors took part in CUDA (credit union director achievment) sessions presented by CUSOURCE Credit Union Knowledge Network.

SATURDAY EVENTS
Over 150 directors attended the conference on Saturday, which started off with the DF business meeting. 

  • Dame Pauline Green welcomed the group with a special and personalized video message from the International Co-operative Alliance. 

Click HERE to watch the Directors' Forum address from Dame Pauline Green, President of the International Co-operative Alliance.

  • Tomo Matesic, Chair of the Directors' Forum, and official host of the conference, thanked the two retiring members, David Kilgour (Northern Credit Union) and Marty Gillis (Windsor Family Credit Union), for their time and valuable contributions to the executive committee.
  • Afterwards, the elections were held and Tanya Gracie (Your Credit Union) and Tim Foster (Northern Credit Union) were welcomed to the executive committee.
  • Long-Term Service Awards were presented to seven directors who had served 25 years or more with their credit unions. Click here for their bios. Several graduates of the Credit Union Director Achievement Program were presented with pins by Donna Bailey of CUSOURCE, Credit Union Knowledge Network.

 

2012 DF SPEAKERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Throughout the conference, attendees were exposed to a variety of keynote and plenary speakers from across the country and abroad! In lieu of honorariums or gifts, each speaker was presented with a card and a donation in their names will be made to both the Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation and the Co-operative Development Foundation. For your convenience, we have listed all the speakers and their topics below. 

To read speakers' bios, and to download a copy of their PowerPoint presentations (where available), please refer to the "Downloads" section on the right of the page.

  • Keynote Speaker 1: Delivering Access to Members. Sarah Canepa Bang, Chief Strategy Officer of CO-OP Shared Branching and President of FSCC, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of  CO-OP Financial Services.
  • Keynote Speaker 2: Co-operation and Collaboration. Jack Smit, former CEO of Libro Credit Union. Former board chair of Central 1 Credit Union.
  • Plenary Session 1: Director Training and Qualifications. Andy Poprawa, CEO and Paul Mullins, Board Chaird of the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario.
  • Plenary Session 2: Emerging Trends and Observations within the Co-operative Financial Sector. Don Rolfe, President and CEO of Central 1 Credit Union. NO PRESENTATION AVAILABLE.
  • Plenary Session 3: Governance in IYC 2012. David Phillips, CEO and Dan Burns, Board Chair of Credit Union Central of Canada. NO PRESENTATION AVAILABLE.
  • Plenary Session 4: Credit Union 3.0. Chris Catliff, President and CEO of North Shore Credit Union.
  • Plenary Session 5: Recap and Reflections. Alisdair Smith, National Learning Facilitator with CUSOURCE, Credit Union Knowledge Network.
  • Break-out Session for Board Chairs. Mac Davidson, Board Chair of Northern Credit Union.


ALL 4 EACH. Directors also enjoyed plenty of networking breaks, and witnessed the first-ever On Co-op All 4 Each Create-A-Co-op Challenge - a Dragon's Den-like event, where three youth entrepreneurial groups presented their co-op business ideas to a panel of judges. The winner was then presented with a $5,000 cash prize, and the runners-up each received  $1,000!

SATURDAY EVENING GALA. Over 100 attended the Saturday evening Gala to close out the conference. Participants enjoyed a global-themed dinner and performances by two live entertainment groups, including a Latin American dance troupe and an African drumming group. Alisdair Smith (CUSOURCE), the evening's Emcee, also entertained the group! A silent auction was also held, the proceeds of which raised funds for the Co-operative Development Foundation's "Build A Better World" campaign.

The Directors' Forum executive committee would once again, like to thank all our sponsnors for making this year's conference and gala such a great success!

READ MORE ABOUT EACH OF OUR SPONSORS HERE! 

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS' FORUM

The mandate of the Directors’ Forum (DF) organization is to provide education and professional development options tailored specifically to the needs of credit union directors. The DF is an independent, non-profit group comprised of credit union board members and funded solely through event sponsorships and registrations.  

For more than 25 years, the Directors’ Forum has played a significant role in credit union director professional development and education. The Directors’ Forum is also a meeting place for system volunteers, facilitating a wide range of discussions and events that are uniquely tailored to the role of Ontario credit union directors. Every credit union and caisse populaire in Ontario should send at least one board member to this event!

Directors attend the two-day Directors' Forum conference or participate in online development sessions to learn new skills, participate in discussion forums, and interact and network with other credit union leaders. Directors return to their credit unions to share their experiences and materials, further expanding the reach and influence of the Directors' Forum.

The Directors’ Forum offers a unique method of supporting directors and other key volunteers in the credit union system.  All sessions provide practical advice and real-world examples that can be applied to your credit union.

The Directors' Forum is managed by On Co-op, but organized by a volunteer executive committee.

BELONG TO THE DIRECTORS' FORUM

The scope of the Directors' Forum has been broadened to become a conference and webinar series open to credit union directors from across the country, and to board members from all types of co-operatives.  Credit Unions often use the DF to also provide professional development opportunites to their committee members, and to introduce director-candidates to credit union system issues.  Credit union managers and staff generally do not participate in the DF.

Paying participants at the Directors' Forum conferences are considered "delegates" and may vote on issues that are presented during the business meeting.  If a credit union sends more than one paying director to the business meeting, each paying participant is considered a delegate.

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE DF. To be invited to DF events and to be added to the print or electronic mailing list, please email your co-ordinates to directors@ontario.coop. It is recommended that every credit union with a board training and development liaison (usually a staff member) be included on the DF information list.

The Directors' Forum is an independent organization and is not funded by Central 1 Credit Union, CUSOURCE, On Co-op or any other organization.  Funding for DF activities comes from event sponsorship and registration fees.

Directors’ Forum activities are planned and organized by a volunteer Executive Committee made up of credit union board members.

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