Board Roles and Responsibilities

The following is a list of roles and responsibilities for the GoLocal board of directors and its individual directors.  The board meets at least once a month on the second Friday of the month.  In addition, board members may occasionally be asked to join committees to address operational questions.

Sonoma County GoLocal Cooperative
Board Member Roles and Responsibilities

As a Board member,

1. I am responsible for the health and well-being of Sonoma County GoLocal and understand and am committed to its mission and pledge:
Our Mission: To reclaim our local economic power! We do this by:

• Shifting
• Engaging all community stakeholders by providing ownership in the cooperative and process.
• Formalizing and strengthening community relationships.
• Sustaining well-being through community reinvestment and enterprise incubation.

GoLocal Pledge: I pledge to become more aware of my impact and contribution to the community, economy and environment. I understand the importance of supporting our independent, locally owned businesses and will “think local first” when making daily purchasing decisions.

2. I will actively engage in developing the financial resources for GoLocal in whatever ways are best suited to me. These may include providing contacts, recruiting members, writing proposals or letters of support, helping with special events, or individual, corporate, or foundation solicitation.

3. I will attend all board meetings during the year and be available for phone and/or email consultation with other board members or staff. If I cannot attend a board meeting it is my responsibility to notify the President prior to the meeting. It is also my responsibility to find out what occurred during the meeting by reviewing the meeting minutes. I understand that commitment to this board will involve a significant commitment of time during the year.

4. I will actively work to enhance the public image of GoLocal.

5. I will bring a sense of humor to the Board’s deliberations.

6. I will maintain confidentiality of the Board’s executive sessions.

7. I will disclose any possible conflicts of interest to the Board in a timely fashion.

8. I will serve on at least one committee of the board.

9. I will maintain independence and objectivity and do what my sense of fairness, ethics, and personal integrity dictates.

10. I will serve for the best interest of GoLocal as a whole rather than for any special interest group or constituency.

11. I understand that authority is granted to the board as a whole. I understand that I, as an individual board member, have no authority.

12. I understand that the minimum legal functions of the Board include the following:

• Approves all policies.
• Approves job descriptions
• Is active in selection and evaluation of Team Members
• Adopts and monitors annual budget
• Receives financial statements regularly
• Authorizes all bank accounts and all borrowing by the cooperative
• Authorizes all contracts with funding sources
• Monitors and evaluates GoLocal’s programs and services.
• Develops and helps implement realistic annual funding plan
• Annually elects officers, holds meetings, and evaluates its own performance
• Maintains minutes of all board meetings
• Ensures that annual corporation reports are submitted
• Understands laws regulating cooperative organizations.
• Is informed of and approves all political activities.

GoLocal is responsible to the board for the following:

1. Management will provide clear and current information relating to the mission, strategic plan, programs, policies, legal status, board activities, risks and staffing.

2. Management will provide without request, quarterly financial reports, which allow the board to meet the "prudent person" section of the law.

3. Management will be available to discuss GoLocal mission, programs, policies, goals and objectives.

4. Team Members will respond in a straightforward and thorough fashion to any questions board members have, which they feel are necessary to carry out their fiscal, legal or moral responsibilities to the organization.

5. Management will give reasonable notice for all board and committee meetings.