CAE Credits Forthcoming

This virtual edition of Exceptional Boards is an online workshop for CEOs and elected officers. Delivered live and highly interactive with plenty of time to process what your team is learning, the program fosters effective governance and optimizes the entire board as a cohesive unit through best practices in board organization, structure, and operations. Discover the insight and resources you need to build a high-performing board that understands its role, fulfills its responsibility, demonstrates visionary leadership, and leads the organization to new heights.

Beyond tapping the knowledge and expertise of the program facilitators, you'll connect more deeply with your leadership team as you engage in private team discussions, utilizing online breakout room capability. Additionally, the program harnesses group interaction through polls and chats. CEOs and elected officers will:

• Develop strategies to build a cohesive board
• Explore strategies for effective virtual board meetings
• Analyze the board’s key governing functions and primary responsibilities
• Use effective management principles in orientation/onboarding, communicating, managing conflict, and structuring board meetings
• Understand implications of associations’ maturity lifecycle
• Evaluate implications of different types of boards (operational, strategic, generative) and management models
• Navigate emerging trends and common governance challenges
• Examine legal duties of the board and board members and reinforce accountability for fiduciary responsibilities
• Create a leadership team action plan using assessment and analysis
• Leverage characteristics and habits of high-performing boards and avoid common board dysfunctions
• Enhance the process of decision making and decision quality using future-focused foresight to anticipate change and set strategic direction.

Please note: This program is designed for team participation, requiring at least one staff professional and one board leader to jointly attend.

Speaker Info

Debbie Trueblood, MSW, FASAE, IOM, CAE

Lead Consultant, Association Management Center

Debbie Trueblood, MSW, FASAE, IOM, CAE is the Lead Consultant with Association Management Center (AMC). She has been in the association community for 24 years. She served as an Executive Director from 2002 until 2021. As a consultant, she has worked with over 100 associations, supporting them with governance, strategic planning, DEI, and ethics. She serves on the board for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and serves as the 2024-2026 Chair of the National Association of Park Foundations (NAPF). She became a Fellow of ASAE (FASAE) in 2022 and earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) in 2008. She is on faculty for the ASAE Exceptional Boards program. She was the 2018-2019 Chair of the ASAE Ethics Committee. She is a past chair of the Association Forum's Welcoming Environment Committee. Debbie received her former association’s Diversity Icon Award in 2019 and Association Forum’s “Forty Under 40” award in 2014. 

Mark T. Engle, CAE

AMC Principal, Association Management Center

Mark Engle is a principal with Association Management Center in Chicago, headquarters to 31 associations with a staff of more than 230 talented professionals. Mark studied nonprofit governance and received his doctor of management degree in 2011 from Case Western Reserve University. A frequent author and speaker on governance and high-performing organizations, he served as a CEO for trade associations and professional societies for 29 years. He is a fellow of ASAE and the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Leadership (Case Western Reserve University) and a BoardSource certified governance trainer. Mark has participated in more than 300 board meetings during his career. Written from their 2019 ground-breaking ASAE Foundation governance research, Mark and Will Brown, PhD (Texas A&M University) released a new book, Recruit the Right Board: Proven Processes for Selecting Critical Competencies.

Accessibility Features

This program provides professional live captioning by 3 Play media. If you require ASL or additional accommodations, please let us know at Learning & Meetings to request specialized accommodation for this program.