On January 27th, Wayne Tormala, Chair of the Nomination Committee for the NAQC Board of Directors, invited you to submit names of candidates for next year’s vacancies on the Board of Directors. The deadline for submissions is February 17, just one week away. I would like to encourage all of you to consider who among your colleagues would be a good candidate for the board and to submit candidate names as soon as possible! You are welcome to recommend names of candidates whom you nominated in past years.

Please send all recommendations for candidates to Wayne Tormala, Chair of the Nomination Committee, c/o Board@naquitline.org by February 17.

This year, NAQC will be electing up to 3 new directors. Directors are responsible for setting NAQC’s strategic direction, connecting with its members and ensuring NAQC’s advancement and sustainability.

Candidates for the board should have senior level experience, possess leadership skills, be strategic thinkers and display professional and collegial demeanor. Board members do not represent their employer or any specific constituency, but instead work together to create a global vision for NAQC. The board seeks members who are committed to NAQC’s mission and values, contribute diverse viewpoints and cultural experiences, and have expertise in some of the areas listed below:

• Finance: The Board is responsible for financial oversight of the organization, and seeks candidates with expertise in this area. Currently, there are no CPAs or MBAs on the Board.
• Understanding issues related to organizational sustainability for NAQC: Ensuring sustainability of the organization is a key responsibility of the Board. NAQC seeks candidates who offer strategic leadership in fundraising and working with donor and/or grant-making organizations.
• Policy governance of a not-for-profit organization: Experience on a non-profit board is extremely helpful to candidates. NAQC follows a policy governance model developed by John Carver which focuses on business issues and strategic leadership. The Board does not focus on program development; this issue is delegated to staff.
• Operations of a quitline: NAQC seeks candidates with experience in the operations of quitlines. Currently, there are no service providers on the Board.
• Making quitlines sustainable: Ensuring quitline sustainability is a key objective for NAQC. Recently, government funding for quitlines and tobacco control programs has been decreasing. NAQC seeks candidates who offer strategic leadership on new approaches to sustainability planning for quitlines, including public-private partnerships and integration of quitlines in health systems.

Board members are elected for three-year terms and can be reelected once. The annual time commitment for board members includes four one-and-a-half day meetings (plus travel to and preparation for the meeting) and approximately 30 hours of additional time for committee work. NAQC covers all travel related costs for Board meetings.

For each person you would like to recommend, please provide the following information to Wayne Tormala, Chair of the Nomination Committee, c/o Board@naquitline.org by February 17:

1. Full name, contact information and brief resume for the person;
2. Your rationale for recommending this person as a candidate; and
3. Confirmation that you have spoken to the person and know that s/he is willing to have her/his name put forward to the Nomination Committee for consideration.

Next Steps: After the February 17 deadline, the nomination committee will review all suggested candidates, may follow up with selected people for additional information, and will propose a slate of nominees to the full board of directors. After approval of the slate, the nominees then stand for election by the NAQC membership. A single representative from each organizational member of NAQC is eligible to vote. The election will be conducted online from June 1-14. The new directors will be announced in July.

If you have questions, please contact Wayne Tormala, Chair of the Nomination Committee, at Board@naquitline.orgor me at lbailey@naquitline.org. You can find a list of current board members here.

Many thanks for your help!

Linda A. Bailey
President & CEO