Organizational Overview

The National Capital FreeNet (NCF) is incorporated under Part II of the Canada Corporation Act as a not-for-profit corporation. NCF is controlled by its thousands of members, and supported by their donations.

Curtis Taylor, Executive Director, manages day-to-day operations, coordinating the efforts of staff, contractors, community partners, and volunteers. Curtis maintains a web page at http://www.ncf.ca/ncf/home/execdir and welcomes your comments and suggestions.

Andre Dalle, System Adminstrator, keeps NCF's computers and modems running well, and coordinates the activities of technical volunteers. Andre's web page is at http://www.ncf.ca/ncf/sysadmin.

Nathalie Dolbeck, Souleiman Douksieh, and Dion McGrath handle many and most aspects of the office, including helping members via phone, online, and in person.

NCF supporters donate their time and skills to improve NCF's services to the community. Their work is coordinated and facilitated by the Executive Director and staff. Opportunities are described at the Volunteer page. Helping NCF is a way to make the National Capital region a better place to live.

NCF's Board of Directors has eleven members who donate their time and experience to oversee the progress of the Executive Director and set direction for NCF. Directors are elected by NCF members at the online Annual General Meeting and have a 3-year term, staggered so that approximately one-third of the board seats are elected each year. Board member Gary Eikenberry, President, is chair of the Board. Everyone is welcome to attend meetings of the Board.

NCF enjoys the support of many thousands of donors and many local organizations and corporations. NCF is controlled by the community to operate basic network communication services and create a public place on the internet for people of the community to put content; NCF operates the platform, but it is the community who use it and fill it with value.

Hundreds of community organizations and thousands of people in the National Capital region use NCF to host their web pages and use NCF's broadband and dial-up services to access the internet.

The table below explains roles in the organization.

BOARD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PEOPLE WORKING WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
(staff and volunteers)

Is accountable and legally responsible for the organization Manages day-to-day operations of the organization Carries out the work of the organization

Promotes the organization in the community (eg., by using personal connections, and by explaining the vision, traditions, and mission) Seeks community support and understanding Represents ('interfaces') the organization to the community

Perceives changes in the community and adjusts NCF vision and mission to keep NCF relevant Identifies needs the organization can meet Understands the clients and the organization

Is steward of the long-term vision, mission, and traditions Drafts long and short term plans consistent with the long-term vision Contributes concise and accurate information to the planning process

Establishes a structure to carry out the Board's work (committees, consultants, etc) Is an ex-officio member of all Board committees Assists the Board committees with their work

Sets personnel policy; hires, counsels and evaluates Executive Director Implements personnel policy; hires, supervises and evaluates staff Accepts conditions of work as outlines in personnel policy; works as a profession in the team

Approves the budget and monitors the financial integrity of the organization Prepares budget with Treasurer and manages the money Identifies resource needs and accounts for expenditures

Monitors policies Formulates/recommends policies Identifies policy gaps and implementation pitfalls

Ensures procedures are established to implement policy Directs policy implementation and administers the organization Makes decisions within the policy guidelines and established procedures

Serves as a review panel, providing expertise, wisdom and an objective viewpoint Provides professional expertise and objective reactions to the Board Provides professional expertise and objective reactions to the Board and Executive Director

Maintains and builds Board Supports the Board in fulfilling its role Stimulates and educates the Board

Monitors the organization's operations Reports to the Board and acts as liaison between Board and staff Maintains required records and reports on program implementation

Evaluates the organization's operations Evaluates program achievements Provides feedback on program impact

BOARD	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR	PEOPLE WORKING WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (staff and volunteers)
Is accountable and legally responsible for the organization	Manages day-to-day operations of the organization	Carries out the work of the organization
Promotes the organization in the community (eg., by using personal connections, and by explaining the vision, traditions, and mission)	Seeks community support and understanding	Represents ('interfaces') the organization to the community
Perceives changes in the community and adjusts NCF vision and mission to keep NCF relevant	Identifies needs the organization can meet	Understands the clients and the organization
Is steward of the long-term vision, mission, and traditions	Drafts long and short term plans consistent with the long-term vision	Contributes concise and accurate information to the planning process
Establishes a structure to carry out the Board's work (committees, consultants, etc)	Is an ex-officio member of all Board committees	Assists the Board committees with their work
Sets personnel policy; hires, counsels and evaluates Executive Director	Implements personnel policy; hires, supervises and evaluates staff	Accepts conditions of work as outlines in personnel policy; works as a profession in the team
Approves the budget and monitors the financial integrity of the organization	Prepares budget with Treasurer and manages the money	Identifies resource needs and accounts for expenditures
Monitors policies	Formulates/recommends policies	Identifies policy gaps and implementation pitfalls
Ensures procedures are established to implement policy	Directs policy implementation and administers the organization	Makes decisions within the policy guidelines and established procedures
Serves as a review panel, providing expertise, wisdom and an objective viewpoint	Provides professional expertise and objective reactions to the Board	Provides professional expertise and objective reactions to the Board and Executive Director
Maintains and builds Board	Supports the Board in fulfilling its role	Stimulates and educates the Board
Monitors the organization's operations	Reports to the Board and acts as liaison between Board and staff	Maintains required records and reports on program implementation
Evaluates the organization's operations	Evaluates program achievements	Provides feedback on program impact

(Adapted from material provided by BOARDWALK: Board Development for Community Organizations, a volunteer Board Development program of the United Way Ottawa-Carleton, in co-operation with the YMCA-YWCA of Ottawa.)