VACANCY: BOARD POSITION – BOARD CHAIRPERSON Organisation: Symphony for Life Foundation Limited
Location:
Australia
Time required: As can be provided – with a minimum of 3 hours per week.
In addition to a monthly board meeting of 2 – 3 hours, plus travel time.
Duration of engagement: Initial development 3 months, then ongoing three year appointment, with mutual option to renew
for a further 5 years.
Skill area: Management, people-skills, finance, funding and development, Not for profits, philanthropy and
extensive and wide-ranging connections.
Sector Expertise: Not-for-profits, social enterprise, indigenous, drugs and alcohol, music, Arts and Culture,
Children, Community Support Services, Education and Training, and Youth..
Remuneration: This is a voluntary position, however all out of pocket expenses will be refunded and every board
member including the Chair will be issued with an iPad for use in communicating with the
organisation, its administration and other board members.
Our Intent After having a CV and application reviewed, successful candidates will be interviewed by a 3person panel with a scribe in attendance. Corporate and personal DVD’s showing background,
skill sets, passions, professionalism and hobbies are acceptable with the initial application, and
why you want to be part of the SFLF.
Contact name: Christopher Nicholls, CEO Symphony For Life Foundation
Contact telephone: 0418 487322
Page 1 Board Chairperson: Position Description We are searching for an active Board Chairperson to join the board of a new company being
established. Preferably, the person we need will have experience in social development,
community, disadvantage, the art and cultural community, good connections into the corporate
community in Australia, and have a love for music and music education.
Above all, we need someone who is well connected in the corporate, government, and general
community; someone who really wants to actively and positively change Australia by giving
children the optimum opportunity to develop into the best Australians they can be, and through
them, to transform our communities.
Requirements •
Is a member of the Board and serves as the Chief Volunteer of the organisation
•
Is a partner with the Chief Executive in achieving the organisation’s mission
•
Provides leadership to the Board of Directors, who sets policy and to whom the Chief
Executive is accountable.
•
Chairs meetings of the Board after developing the agenda with the CEO.
•
Encourages Board's role in strategic planning
•
Serves as ex officio member of committees attends their meetings when invited.
•
Discusses issues confronting the organisation with the Chief Executive.
•
Helps guide and mediate Board actions with respect to organisational priorities and
governance concerns.
•
Reviews with the Chief Executive any issues of concern to the Board, and evaluates
annually the performance of the organisation in achieving its mission.
•
Monitors financial planning and financial reports.
•
Plays a leading role in fundraising activities
•
Formally evaluates the performance of the Chief Executive and informally evaluates the
effectiveness of the Board members.
•
Performs other responsibilities assigned by the Board.
Selection Criteria •
Have a proven success as an administrator or senior manager in large dynamic
organisations
•
Has held a chair role previously for action oriented large organisations, particularly in the
NFP sector
•
Have proven success in grants, source funding and income stream generation
•
Sound working knowledge of the NFP sector
•
Sound working knowledge of Local, State and federal funding and NFP governance
models
•
Is a current member of The Australian Institute of Company Directors
•
Have a qualification in Board Governance
Desirable •
Be a practising Philanthropist
•
Have a well-established network of likeminded professionals
Page 2 Company Background Symphony For Life Foundation is a new organisation, established as a company limited by
guarantee, and to be registered as a benevolent institution. It is being established as a national
initiative and social action program offering musical orchestral training and performance programs
for children in disadvantaged communities. It gives them the opportunity to partake in a rich and
powerful music program through participation in orchestras and choirs. The programs use the
“community” of the orchestra as an ideal example of social life, where everybody works together
in a harmonious, disciplined and organised manner to strive towards a common and beautiful goal.
It is a positive, encouraging and empowering program that delivers an excellent return on
investment in social capital within the community, and transforms young lives.
Each program sees a unique collaboration between our organisation, communities, peak music
bodies and various local, national, and philanthropic organisations to provide children with
exceptional musical training each day after school – each program runs for 3 - 5 days per week –
with an emphasis on performance, difficult fun, and rich cultural experiences.
Learning to play a musical instrument and gaining skills through music reading, singing and
performance are important cognitive processes that are also understood to enhance children's
abilities in other areas of learning — particularly in attention skills, discipline and literacy,
numeracy, and memory. As well as developing impressive musical skills, artistic sensitivity and
expressive capabilities, children in Symphony For Life Foundation programs are able to gain
valuable life skills such as teamwork, self-esteem, patience, discipline, respect and concentration.
Inspired by El Sistema - the Venezuelan network of orchestral programs that has reached over 2
million youth - our programs offer children the rich education of music in an orchestral or
ensemble setting as a means to develop themselves as expressive, cooperative and engaged
members of the community, regardless of their socio-economic circumstances.
These programs change lives – all children are given opportunities that currently only the
privileged attending private schools can. In fact, better than the private schools can offer.
For further information on this, please contact: Christopher Nicholls on 0418487322 or via email
[email protected]. More details of the organisation can be found at:
www.symphonyforlifefoundation.org
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