PRESIDENT'S TOOLKIT
Table of Contents
Who is EWB? Why Might Starting a Chapter Be Right for Me?
How Do I Start a Chapter?
What Can We Accomplish in a Year At EWB?
How Do I Keep My
Chapter Going?
How Do I Grow
My Chapter?
Chapter Operation
Resources
Communications Channels
Whether operating in-person or online, communication is essential for getting things done at your local chapter. An essential way to ensure you are making the most of these tools is to have a designated Communications Lead and to get familiar with the different platforms EWBers use, along with when to use them! You can email community@ewb.ca if you ever have any questions about communications and how to contact different members within the EWB network.
Frequency: Bi-Weekly Presidents’ Updates, Monthly Community Newsletters
With Who? Presidents, Broader Chapter Membership
How? Send an email to community@ewb.ca and we’ll get you connected to the right place! Be sure to mark us as a trusted sender in your email so that our messages don’t get redirected to spam!
Discord Server
Frequency: Check at least once every 2 days - includes any and all key information in between Presidents’ emails; voice channels are also a good option for President Pod Calls and for drop-in Office Hours
With Who? National Office staff, other Presidents, your own members, members from other Chapters
How? If you haven’t already, sign-up to our Discord server and create an account. Send a message to Geneva, Justin, Bernice, or your President if you need to be granted an Executive role on the server
Zoom/Google Hangouts/MS Teams
Frequency: Alternative option for monthly Regional Pod Calls, Community Learning series presentations
With Who? Presidents, Broader EWB membership, External presentations
How? Use your university Zoom/Teams account, OR use this link at least 48 hours in advance of your meeting to book your with our premium Zoom account
Wix Member Portal
Frequency: Whenever you need to look up information and resources relating to your Chapter operations/EWB; Also has a handy Member Directory to help you look up members in specific roles at different chapters
With Who? Materials crowdsourced from Community members and provided by Community Team; contact information for executives and other leaders across the volunteer community
How? Create an account through our Member Portal and complete the member training stages to have full site access
Communication Tip!
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How to communicate with your Peers
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How to communicate with your Chapter
Chapter Responsibilities
As public-facing representatives of a national organization, EWB chapters have a number of responsibilities to uphold, and our team is here to help educate you on them! Core executive members should be aware of the Chapter Affiliation Agreement, which is signed each year by 5 core members to demonstrate their understanding of and commitment to their working agreement with EWB Canada.
Here is an overview of some of the many routine responsibilities that a Chapter commits to taking on:
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Impact Reporting - Impact reporting is an essential part of operating an EWB Chapter. We devote significant time to walking through this process during each year’s chapter leader onboarding to ensure that members are comfortable tracking and reporting the many great activities that their teams get up to in a given year.
Presidents and Execs can view an example of a monthly impact report form here!
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Chapter Finances Reporting
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Fundraising - A number of the activities and initiatives that chapters aim to pursue require funding.
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Maintaining Health, Safety & Wellness Protocols - The Health, Safety and Wellness of our chapter members is a top priority. Members of the EWB community represent a diverse group of people from various backgrounds. As a starting point, we strive to create a welcoming and inclusive space for members to gather in a safe environment, free of prejudice and harassment. Members of the EWB Community are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct while they are interacting with any internal EWB members and any external stakeholders.
Chapter members have a number of resources and policies applicable to their experience with EWB. You can view a comprehensive overview of all of those policies here, though we strongly encourage you to also promote and familiarize yourself with your university’s policies for on-campus regulation. While overseas, EWB applies a more rigorous process for our fellowship programs. You can access the Fellows’ Manual of Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines online here.
These resources are intended to provide the Organization and its members with policies, procedures, and guidelines that ensure a safe and equitable working environment and promote the wellness of individual members. The policies, procedures, and guidelines in this manual were created from within EWB with the aid of many outside resources. Policies of Médecins Sans Frontières, CARE International, and UNICEF were researched and influenced those developed for EWB. Experts in the field have also been contacted to aid in the development of some policies.
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Chapter Communications & Websites - Every chapter has the opportunity to manage and customize their own personal Wix website. These sites have standard, on-brand templates already in place, but can be as useful and informative as your team chooses to make them! If you don’t yet have a login for a site, get in touch with the Community Team to get sorted and start working on your site!
Do you already have a site, but aren’t sure where to start?? View the training materials below to get started:
Transition Overview
Each year, chapters undergo a transition in leadership through an internal election or appointment of new leaders. There are a few core ways to carry out this process - you can read more about them here.
While it is possible for a President’s tenure to carry over from one year to the next, it is important that this decision is made in an open and democratic way, in-line with that chapter’s respective charter or constitution that would have been created at the chapter’s initial inception. If there is any doubt that your chapter is carrying out a free and fair election, you can contact the Canada Community Team to receive oversight and support in carrying out the process.
Above anything else, the most important part of the transition process is the handing over of important and accurate information. Outgoing executives should meet with their incoming counterparts to provide a full overview of the role they are about to take on. Outgoing executives and presidents can make use of this Handover Template to guide the information and themes that they discuss and pass on to their new counterparts.
Core Resources to Reference During Your Transition:
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Chapter President (S)election Process Explainer - helps to give you a sense of how elections may run if this is your first time running a chapter election
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Executive Member Form - a form to share with new executive members after they are selected for their position so that their information can be brought into the Member Portal and member directory
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Exit Interviews Template - an overview of the kinds of questions that presidents will cover during their exit interviews with the Canada Community team
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Transition Checklist - a step-by-step checklist to help you keep on top of all of the hand-offs you are doing with your new team
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Handover Template - a template to be used by core executive members to help ensure all critical information is passed on from one year’s team to the next. Make a copy of this document to have a fully-editable version for your use
Chapter Executives are leaders amongst our Chapter Community. They are the team supporting their President in achieving the Chapter’s goals, and each acts as a leader of an individual program or portfolio within the Chapter. Their roles are dependent on a variety of criteria, including the size and membership of the Chapter, and its goals and objectives.
Prior to solidifying your strategy, selecting the right people comes first. What makes them the right people?
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Their attitude - do they believe in the Core Values of EWB?
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Their motivation - are they self-motivated by a belief in the work of the Chapter? particularly, are they committed to the Chapter members?
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Their skill set - do they have the right skills or willingness to learn the skills necessary to succeed?
Advocacy Lead
Theory of Change Focus
Citizenship: Advocating for policy innovations that address the root causes of poverty and inequality.
Member Learning Lead
Theory of Change Focus
Leadership: Developing a community of systems change leaders who have the capacity to solve the world’s most complex problems.
Ventures and Fellowships Lead
Theory of Change Focus
Entrepreneurship: Invest in and support social enterprises that can drive lasting, transformational impact within the communities that need it most.
Finance Lead
Ensure compliance with EWB audit practices (to maintain Charity status); university administration and student council/union financial rules and regulations to maintain status as an authorized entity on campus; and the proper management of a chapter’s finances to support day-to-day activities, fundraising, and grant distributions etc.
Local DT Rep
Theory of Change Focus
Leadership: Works with the Community DT to ensure their Chapter is connected to the national impact portfolios and able to contribute to national activities
Chapter Presidents play an extremely important role in the EWB Community. Presidents are not only leaders of their chapters, but also leaders within the broader Chapter Community. Presidents play an essential role in facilitating and managing relationships between Chapters and staff, across Chapters, and between Chapters and the world.
Taking on the role of Chapter President is a significant responsibility, but it is also an incredible opportunity to grow as a leader, to mentor other leaders in the EWB Community, and be part of a large and vibrant community of past President alumni.