Board Chair Report
While we can’t ignore our current circumstances, given a global pandemic and the impacts it has had in our daily lives, we’re here to celebrate our accomplishments in the past year. And what a year it’s been.
The 2019-2020 term can be described as great change and growth for the Board. One of our key goals this year was to continue to evolve from a working board to a governance board. In the past year, we’ve been able to attract new Board members who bring important skills, unique perspectives and new energy to AAFS. Our collective expertise includes backgrounds in business, finance, law, non-profit management marketing, education, and communication, to name a few. Our diverse perspectives are grounded in our commitment to bring AAFS’ vision of friendship and connection to life in everything we do.
In the past year, our Board was focused on three main areas:
• Continue to evolve towards a governance board. Transitioning to a governance board continued from work in previous years. In late 2019, we held our first Board retreat which helped us to understand and refine our role. With recent changes on Board, we plan to continue this work in the coming year.
• The AAFS North Expansion. In August, we approved the expansion of AAFS North to better serve members and families in Calgary’s northern quadrants.
• Support AAFS through Covid-19. We’ve worked closely with Dean in the past five weeks to ensure we’re taking the right steps today so AAFS will be prepared for the near future when restrictions are eased and lifted. We believe AAFS can weather the storm return stronger and better to support our members and their families. I want to recognize Dean and Aaron who worked tirelessly to support staff and volunteers through some very tough decisions. We are incredibly lucky for their leadership and dedication during these unprecedented times.