Latest revision as of 23:58, 3 May 2007

This is the Board Policies document, copied from cnvc.org for our collaborative review (and revision) as discussed in the May meeting of the Board. I may tidy up the formatting over the next few days, but at least it's here now for us to edit. I've turned on the "Protect" feature and requested that only Board members have access to write to this page, but anyone can comment by clicking on "discussion" at the top of this page. -John Wiley

Click here to return to the main CNVC Board page.

Policies adopted by the board of cnvc

Introduction

Dear Friends,

The following policies have been adopted by the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) Board of Directors. They have evolved from the work of John Carver (see his books Boards That Make A Difference and Reinventing Your Board and his website, www.CarverGovernance.com).

Carver's work was introduced to the Board by Gary Baran, CNVC's Executive Director, early in the year 2000. The Board became convinced that this guide to policy-making could significantly increase the Board's focus and support CNVC to more quickly create a world where people are getting their needs met peacefully.

The Board first began adopting these policies in February, 2001 and has found that this model has proved itself useful in helping Board members and staff focus on viewing every activity of CNVC in light of whether it contributes to the organization's Statement of Purpose. These policies are an ever-changing work-in-progress; the Board's current focus is to craft these policies in language that is more in harmony with the principles of NVC.

We welcome and request your support, which could take the form of learning about the Carver model yourself, offering feedback on specific policies, or by requesting that a Board member or staff member act consistently with a specified policy.

Questions and comments about these policies may be directed to past CNVC Board member Ike Lasater: email Ike.

With warmest wishes for peace,

Board of Directors of the Center for Nonviolent Communication Budapest, Hungary January 2002

Policies

There are four sections to the Board Policies:

• board governance policies
• executive limitations policies
• board and staff connection policies
• statement of purpose

CNVC Board Governance Policies

1. The purpose of the Board is to see to it that CNVC achieves its Statement of Purpose. The Board works on behalf of the life serving energy in all human beings who are using NVC as a way to create internal, interpersonal and organizational peace.

1. A. Governing Style: The Board will fulfill its role with an emphasis on (1) outward vision rather than internal preoccupation, (2) encouragement of diversity of viewpoints, (3) strategic leadership more that administrative detail, (4) clear distinction of Board and Executive Director roles, (5) clarity on the role of Marshall Rosenberg as Director of Educational Services, (6) collective rather than individual decisions, (7) pro-activity rather than reactivity. Accordingly,

1. A.1. The Board will cultivate a sense of group responsibility. The Board, not the staff, will be responsible for excellence in fulfilling its role. The Board will be the initiator of policy, not merely a reactor to staff initiatives. The Board will use the expertise of the individual members to enhance the ability of the Board as a body rather than to substitute individual judgments for the Board's values. The Board will allow no officer, individual, or committee of the Board to hinder or be an excuse for not fulfilling Board commitments.

1. A.2. The Board will carry out its responsibilities through the careful establishment of broad written policies reflecting core Nonviolent Communication (NVC) values regarding the Purpose to be achieved and means to be avoided by CNVC. The Board's major policy focus will be on the Statement of Purpose, not on the administrative or programmatic means of attaining those effects.

1. A.3. The Board will create and maintain procedures that engender the Board fulfilling its role with excellence. Such procedures will apply, for example, to attendance, preparation, policy-making principles, respect of roles, and ensuring continuance of governance capability. Continual Board development will include orientation of new Board members in the Board's governance process and periodic Board discussion of process improvement.

1. A.3.a. The secretary shall maintain current board policies with any changes from the previous version noted in italics, and indicating the date of such changes. The secretary shall distribute current policies to all board members and to the executive director. The current version of the policy shall include a listing of the paragraphs that have been changed since the prior version, and will identify the date of the immediate preceding version.

1. A.3.b. The minutes of board meetings shall include the dates, times and locations of the meetings and a record of attendance, including board members, staff, observers, etc. The attendance record shall also show which board members, if any, were absent. The minutes shall also include motions made and the results of the votes taken. The secretary shall also strive to include in the minutes information sufficient to give people in our network a sense of the issues that were discussed and the tenor of the meeting.

1. A.4. The Board will monitor and discuss the Board's process and performance at each meeting. Self-monitoring will include comparison of Board activity to policies in the Governance Process and Board-Executive Director Relationship categories.

1. A.5. The Board will create and maintain procedures that ensure a high level of vision awareness and continually refers any board activity to the Statement of Purpose.

1. B. Board Job Description: the role of the Board is to insure that what we produce assists CNVC in contributing to the life serving energy in all people. Accordingly,

1. B.1. The Board will be the link between the organization and the ownership.

1. B.1.a. The Board shall welcome observers to its meetings; inform observers of the role the Board would like observers to play, and to check whether observers are willing to agree with the Board's requests after they have heard the Board's needs for connection, safety, efficiency and clarity.

(Paragraph 1.B.1.a.1. was deleted.)

1. B.2. The Board will produce written governing policies that, at the broadest levels, address each category of organizational decision:

(a) Statement of Purpose: Organizational products, effects, benefits, outcomes, recipients, and their relative worth (what good for which recipients at what cost),

(b) Executive Limitations: Constraints on executive authority that establish the prudent and ethical boundaries within which the Board seeks to have all executive activity and decisions take place,

(c) Board Governance Policies: Specification of how the Board conceives, carries out, and monitors its own task, and

(d) Board and Staff Connection: How power is delegated and its proper use monitored the Executive Director role, authority, and accountability.

This sentence (1.B.2.d) is unclear to me. I'm wondering if this was the intended meaning: "How the Board delegates responsibility and monitors the Executive Director's roles, authority, and accountability." -jw

1. B.3. The Board will assess the Executive Director's performance against the Statement of Purpose and Executive Limitation policies.

1. C. Chairperson's Role: The Chairperson assures the integrity and fulfillment of the Board's process and, secondarily, occasionally represents the Board to outside parties. Accordingly,

1. C.1. The job result of the Chairperson is that the Board behaves consistently with its own requirements and those legitimately imposed upon it from outside the organization.

1. C.1.a. Meeting discussion content will be only those issues, which, according to Board policy, clearly belong to the Board (not the Executive Director) to decide.

1. C.1.b. Deliberation will be fair, open, and thorough but also timely, orderly, and kept to the point.

1. C.2. The authority of the Chairperson consists in making decisions that fall within topics covered by Board policies on Board Governance Policies and Board and Staff Connection, except where the Board specifically delegates portions of this authority to others. The Chairperson is authorized to use any reasonable interpretation of the provisions in these policies.

1. C.2.a. The Chairperson is empowered to chair Board meetings and ask any person present to facilitate a Board meeting, with all the commonly accepted power of that position (for example, ruling and recognizing).

1. C.2.b. The Chairperson has no authority to make decisions about policies created by the Board within the Statement of Purpose and Executive limitations policy areas. Therefore, the Chairperson has no authority to supervise or direct the Executive Director.

1. C.2.c. The Chairperson may represent the Board to outside parties in announcing Board-stated positions and in stating chair decisions and interpretations within the area delegated to her or him.

1. C.2.d. The Chairperson may delegate this authority but remains accountable for its use.

1. D. Board Members Code of Conduct: The Board commits itself and its members to ethical, businesslike and lawful conduct. Accordingly,

1. D.1. When acting in their roles as Board Members, Members agree to represent un-conflicted loyalty to the interests of the ownership. This accountability supersedes any conflicting loyalty such as that to advocacy or interest groups and membership on other Boards or staffs. It also supersedes the personal interest of any Board member acting as a consumer of the Center's services.

1. D.2. Members shall avoid conflict of interest with respect to their fiduciary responsibility.

1. D.2.a. There shall be no self-dealing or any conduct of private business or personal services between any Board member and the Center except as procedurally controlled to assure openness, competitive opportunity, and equal access to inside information.

1. D.2.b. When the Board is to decide upon an issue about which a member has an unavoidable conflict of interest, that member shall disclose this conflict and absent herself or himself from the vote. The Board shall determine to what extent this member participates in the deliberations.

1. D.2.c. Board members shall not use their positions to obtain employment for themselves, family members, or close associates. Should a member desire employment, he or she must first resign. This policy is not intended to apply to Board members engaged by the Executive Director on an occasional contract basis.

1. D.2.d. Members shall promptly disclose their involvements with other organizations, with vendors, or any other associations that might produce a conflict.

1. D.3. Board members shall not attempt to exercise individual authority over the organization except as explicitly set forth in Board policies.

1. D.3.a. Board Members' interaction with the Executive Director or with staff must recognize the lack of authority vested in member except when explicitly Board-authorized.

1. D.3.b. Members' interactions with public, press or other entities must recognize the same limitation and the inability of any Board member to speak for the Board except to repeat explicitly stated Board decisions.

1. D.3.c. The Board, and not individual members, shall evaluate the performance of the Executive Director.

1.E. Board Committee Principles: Board committees, when used, will be assigned so as to reinforce the wholeness of the Board's job and so as never to interfere with the delegation from Board to Executive Director. Accordingly,

1. E.1. Board committees are to help the Board do its job, never to help or advise the staff. Committees ordinarily will assist the Board by preparing policy alternatives and implications for Board deliberations. In keeping with the Board's broader focus, Board committees will normally not have dealings with current staff operations.

1. E.2. Board committees may not speak or act for the Board except when formally given such authority for specific and time-limited purposes. Expectations and authority will be carefully stated in order not to conflict with authority delegated to the Executive Director.

1. E.3. Board committees cannot exercise authority over staff. Because the Executive Director works for the full Board, he or she will not be required to obtain approval of a Board committee before an executive action.

1. E.4. Board committees are to avoid over-identification with organizational parts rather than the whole. Therefore a Board committee that has helped the Board create policy on some topic will not be used to monitor organizational performance on that same topic.

1. E.5. Committees will be used sparingly and ordinarily in an ad hoc capacity.

1. E.6. This policy applies to any group that is formed by Board action, whether or not it is called a committee and regardless whether the group includes Board members. It does not apply to committees formed under the authority of the Executive Director.

1. F. Cost of Leadership: because leadership that is experienced costs less than leadership that is experienced, the Board will invest in its leadership capacity. Accordingly,

1. F.1. Board member skills, methods, and supports shall be sufficient to assure that the Board fulfills its role with a commitment to excellence.

1. F.1.a. Training and retraining will be used liberally to orient new Board members and candidates for Board membership, as well as to maintain and increase existing member skills and understanding.

1. F.1.b. Outside monitoring assistance will be arranged so that the Board can exercise confident control over organizational performance. This includes but is not limited to fiscal audit.

1. F.1.c. Outreach mechanisms will be used as needed to ensure the Board's ability to listen to owner viewpoints and values.

1. F.2. Costs will be prudently incurred, though not at the expense of endangering the development and maintenance of leadership capability commensurate with the commitment to excellence in the performance of Board members' responsibilities.

1. F.2.a. Up to $500 US per Board member per year for training, including attendance at conferences and workshops.

1. F.2.a.1. Training of Board members shall be planned yearly so as to maximize the benefit to the Center of enhanced member's ability to fulfill their roles as Board members.

1. F.2.a.2. Reimbursements to members for training shall not be made unless confirmed by the Chairperson as pursuant to the yearly plan.

1. F.2.a.3. The Chairperson shall make a report to the Board at the first meeting of the Board each year regarding the training received by Board members in the previous year and regarding the cost of the training.

1. F.2.b. Up to $5,000 US in fiscal year 2001 for audit and other third party monitoring of organizational performance.

1. F.2.b.1. The Board shall delegate one of its members to confer with the Executive Director regarding the engagement of outside fiscal auditors.

1. F.2.b.1.a. Prior to the final engagement of the fiscal auditors, the Board member so delegated shall communicate by phone or face-to-face with the chief auditor selected by the Executive Director to conduct the fiscal audit of CNVC.

1. F.2.b.1.a. 1. The Board member so delegated shall (1) introduce him or herself as a delegate of the Board, (2) provide the means for being contacted directly by the auditors, (3) direct the auditor to directly and promptly inform the delegate of any fiscal irregularities found, (4) inform the auditor that the delegate has the delegated authority to veto the engagement of the auditors and, once engaged, to suspend or terminate the auditors' services, and (5) direct the auditor to prepare a letter addressed to the Board's delegate and copied to the Chairperson and the Executive Director iterating the preceding four points.

1. F.2.b.1.b. The member so delegated shall have the authority, in his or her sole discretion, to veto the engagement of the auditors and, once engaged, to suspend or terminate the auditors' services.

1. F.2.b.1.b.1. This discretion shall be utilized in only when the member so delegated concludes that to delay in order to consult with the Board as a whole might materially jeopardize the Mission of the Center and in particular the fiscal health of the Center.

1. F.2.b.1.b.2. Immediately upon the exercise of this discretion, the member so delegated shall report to each member of the Board (1) what actions he or she has taken and (2) the circumstances, which prompted the exercise of his or her discretion.

1. F.2.c. Up to $500 US per year for surveys, focus groups, and opinion analyses.

1. F.2.c.1. The Board shall develop a plan for the effective utilization of these funds.

1. F.3. The Board shall meet face-to-face at least twelve days per calendar year, and with such telephone/video conference meetings, as it shall from time to time deem necessary.

1. F.3.a. These meetings shall be noticed and held in accordance with the bylaws of the Center.

1. F.3.b. The Board may expend up to $10,000 US per year to defray the expenses of Board members for face-to-face Board meetings.

1. F.3.b.1. The Board shall develop a plan for the effective utilization of these funds.

executive limitations policies

(restricting the executive director's choices)

Executive Limitations Policies

2. The executive director shall not cause or allow any practice, activity, decision, or organizational circumstance that is either unlawful, imprudent, or in violation of commonly accepted business and professional ethics or in conflict with the basic principles of NVC.

2. A. Treatment of People: With respect to interactions with people, the Executive Director shall not cause or allow conditions, procedures or decisions (1) that are unsafe, unnecessarily intrusive, or unfair, (2) that fail to provide appropriate confidentiality or privacy, or that (3) do not respect the needs of the individual. Accordingly the Executive Director shall not:

2. A.1. Use application forms that elicit information for which there is no clear necessity.

2. A.2. Use methods of collecting, reviewing, transmitting, or storing client information that fail to protect against improper access to the material elicited.

2. A.3. Maintain facilities that fail to provide a reasonable level of privacy, both visual and aural.

2. A.4. Fail to establish with those who use CNVC services a clear understanding of what may be expected and what may not be expected from the service offered.

2. A.5. Fail to provide a grievance process to those who believe they have not been accorded a reasonable interpretation of their rights under this policy.

2.B. Financial Planning and Budgeting: Financial planning for any fiscal year or the remaining part of any fiscal year, shall not deviate materially from the Board's Statement of Purpose, risk fiscal jeopardy, or fail to be derived from a multiyear plan. Accordingly the Executive Director shall not allow budgeting that:

2. B.1. Contains too little information to enable credible projection of revenues and expenses, separation of capital and operational items, cash flow, and disclosure of planning assumptions.

2. B.2. Plans the expenditure in any fiscal year of more funds than are conservatively projected to be received in that period.

2. B.3. Reduces the current assets at any time to less than twice current liabilities or allows cash to drop below a safety reserve of less than six months of operating funds at any time.

2. B.4. Provides less for Board prerogatives during the year than is set forth in the Cost of Governance policy.

2. C. Financial Condition and Activities: With respect to the actual, ongoing financial conditions and activities, the Executive Director shall not cause or allow the development of fiscal jeopardy or a material deviation of actual expenditures from Board priorities established in the Statement of Purpose. Accordingly the Executive Director shall not:

2. C.1. Expend more funds than have been received in the fiscal year to date, unless the debt guideline (to follow) is met.

2. C.2. Indebt the Center in an amount greater than can be repaid by certain, otherwise unencumbered revenues within sixty days.

2. C.3. Fail to obtain Board approval for the expenditure or encumbrance of long-term reserves.

2. C.4. Conduct inter-fund shifting in amounts greater than can be restored to a condition of discrete fund balances by certain, otherwise unencumbered revenue within thirty days.

2. C.5. Fail to settle payroll and debts in a timely manner.

2. C.6. Allow tax payments or other government-ordered payments of filings to be overdue or inaccurately filed.

2. C.7. Make a single purchase or commitment of greater than $15,000 without board approval.

2. C.8. Acquire, encumber, or dispose of real property.

2. C.9. Fail to pursue receivables after a reasonable grace period.

2.D. Emergency Executive Director Succession: In order to protect the Board from sudden loss of Executive Director services, the Executive Director may have no fewer than one other executive (or Board member in lieu of executive staff) familiar with Board and Executive Director issues and processes.

2. E. Asset Protection: The Executive Director shall not allow the Center's assets to be unprotected, inadequately maintained, or unnecessarily risked. Accordingly the Executive Director shall not:

2. E.1. Fail to make a good faith effort to protect against theft and casualty losses to at least 80 percent of replacement value and against liability losses to Board members, staff, and the Center.

2. E.2. Allow unrestricted personnel access to material amounts of funds.

2. E.3. Subject plant and equipment to improper wear and tear, or insufficient maintenance.

2. E.4. Make any purchase (1) wherein normally prudent protection has not been given against conflict of interest; (2) of over $2,000 without having considered comparative prices and quality; (3) of over $5,000 without a stringent method of assuring the balance of long-term quality and cost.

2. E.5. Fail to protect intellectual property, information, and files from loss or significant damage.

2. E.6. Receive, process, or disburse funds under controls that are insufficient to meet the Board-appointed auditor's standards.

2. E.7. Invest or hold operating capital in insecure instruments, including uninsured checking accounts and bonds of less than AA rating, or in non-interest-bearing accounts except where necessary to facilitate ease in operational transactions.

2. E.8. Fail to prudently invest funds, which are in amounts greater than operating capital, pursuant to policies proposed by the Executive Director and approved by the Board.

2. E.9. Unnecessarily expose CNVC, the Board, or staff to claims of liability; or endanger or allow any staff member, contract workers, or consultants to endanger CNVC's public image or credibility, particularly in ways that would hinder its accomplishment of mission. Accordingly, the Executive Director shall not:

2. E.9.a. Fail to educate staff, Board members, and others associated with CNVC, how their conduct might prompt claims of liability or endanger CNVC's public image or credibility.

2. E.9.b. Fail to develop a life serving Code of Ethics intended to engender a safe and nurturing environment for all who are involved in CNVC sponsored programs.

2. E.9.c. Fail to develop and implement a set of procedures that fosters adherence to the life-serving Code of Ethics.

2. F. Compensation and Benefits: With respect to employment, compensation, and benefits to employees, consultants, contract workers, and volunteers, the Executive Director shall not cause or allow jeopardy to fiscal integrity or public image. Accordingly, the Executive Director shall not:

2. F.1. Change his or her own compensation and benefits.

2. F.2. Promise or imply permanent or guaranteed employment.

2. F.3. Establish current compensation and benefits that deviate materially from the geographic or professional market for the skills employed.

2. F.4. Create compensation obligations over a longer term than revenues can be safely projected, in no event longer than one year, and in all events subject to losses in revenue.

2. F.5. Establish or change pension benefits so as to cause unpredictable or inequitable situations, including those that (a) incur unfounded liabilities, (b) provide less than some basic level of benefits to all full time employees, though differential benefits to encourage longevity are not prohibited, (c) allow any employee to lose benefits already accrued from any foregoing plan, or (d) treat the Executive Director differently from other full time employees without Board approval.

2. G. Communication and Support to the Board: The Executive Director shall not permit the Board to be uninformed or unsupported in its work. Accordingly, the Executive Director shall not:

2. G.1. Neglect to submit monitoring data requested by the Board (see policy on Monitoring Executive Director Performance) in a timely, accurate, and understandable fashion, directly addressing provisions of Board policies being monitored.

2. G.2. Let the Board be unaware of relevant trends, anticipated adverse media coverage, material external and internal changes, and particularly changes in the assumptions upon which any Board policy has previously been established.

2. G.3. Fail to advise the Board if, in the Executive Director's opinion, the Board is not in compliance with its own policies on Governance Process and Board-Executive Director Relationship, particularly in the case of Board behavior that is detrimental to the work relationship between the Board and the Executive Director.

2. G.4. Fail to marshal for the Board as many staff and external points of view, issues, and options as needed for fully informed Board choices.

2. G.5. Present information in unnecessarily complex or lengthy form or in a form that fails to differentiate among information of three types: monitoring, decision preparation, and other.

2. G.6. Fail to deal with the Board as a whole except when (a) fulfilling individual requests for information or (b) responding to officers or committees duly charged by the Board.

2. G.7. Fail to report in a timely manner an actual or anticipated noncompliance with policy of the Board.

2. G.8. Fail to supply for the agenda all items delegated to the Executive Director yet required by law or contract to be Board-approved, along with the monitoring assurance pertaining thereto.

2.H. End Focus of Contracts: The Executive Director may not enter into any contractual arrangements that fail to emphasize the Center's Mission and Desired Outcome (Statement of Purpose), and secondly, the avoidance of unacceptable means. Accordingly, the Executive Director shall not:

2. H.1. Fail to prohibit particular methods and activities to preclude grant funds from being used in imprudent, unlawful, or unethical ways.

2. H.2. Fail to assess and consider a potential contractor's capability to produce the results we seek.

board and staff connection policies

Board and Staff Connection Policies

3. The Board's sole official connection to the Center's operations will be through the Executive Director.

3. A. Unity of Control: Only decisions of the Board acting as a body are binding on the Executive Director.

3. A.1. Decisions or instructions of individual Board members, officers, or committees are not binding on the Executive Director except in rare instances when the Board has specifically authorized such exercise of authority.

3. A.2. In the case of Board members or committees requesting information or assistance without Board authorization, the Executive Director can refuse such requests that require, in the Executive Director's opinion, a material amount of staff time or funds, or are disruptive.

3. B. Accountability of the Executive Director: The Executive Director is the Board's only link to the Center's operational achievement and conduct, so that all authority and accountability of staff, as far as the Board is concerned, is considered the authority and accountability of the Executive Director.

3. B.1. The Board will never give instructions to persons who report directly or indirectly to the Executive Director.

3. B.2. The Board will refrain from evaluating, either formally or informally, any staff other than the Executive Director.

3. B.3. The Board will view Executive Director performance as identical to organizational performance so that organizational accomplishment of Board-stated Purpose and avoidance of Board-proscribed means will be viewed as successful Executive Director performance.

3.C. Delegation to the Executive Director: The Board will instruct the Executive Director through written policies that prescribe the organizational Statement of Purpose to be achieved and describe the organizational situations and actions (Means) to be avoided, allowing the Executive Director to use any reasonable interpretation of these policies.

3. C.1. The Board will develop policies instructing the Executive Director to achieve certain results, for certain recipients at a specified cost. These policies will be developed systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels and will be called the Statement of Purpose.

3. C.2. The Board will develop policies that limit the latitude the Executive Director may exercise in choosing organizational means. These policies will be developed systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels, and they will be called Executive Limitations policies.

3. C.3. As long as the Executive Director uses any reasonable interpretation of the Board's Statement of Purpose and Executive Limitations policies, the Executive Director is authorized to establish all further policies, make all decisions, take all actions, establish all practices, and develop all activities.

3. C.4. The Board may change its Statement of Purpose and Executive Limitations policies, thereby shifting the boundary between Board and Executive Director domains. By doing so, the Board changes the latitude of choice given to the Executive Director. However, as long as any particular delegation is in place, the Board will respect and support the Executive Director's choices.

3. D. Monitoring Executive Director Performance: Systematic and rigorous monitoring of the Executive Director's job performance will be solely against the only expected Executive Director job outputs: organizational accomplishment of Board's Statement of Purpose and organizational operation within the boundaries of Board policies on Executive Limitations.

3. D.1. Monitoring is simply to determine the degree to which Board policies are being followed. Data that do not do this will not be considered monitoring data.

3. D.2. The Board will acquire monitoring data by one or more of three methods: (a) by internal report, in which the Executive Director provides information regarding the degree to which the Board's policies are being followed, (b) by external report, in which an external, disinterested third party selected by the Board assesses the degree to which the Board's policies are being followed, and (3) by direct Board inspection, in which a designated member or members of the Board assess the degree to which the Board's policies are being followed.

3. D.3. In every case, the standard for assessing the degree to which the Board's policies are being followed shall be any reasonable Executive Director interpretation of the Board policy being monitored.

3. D.4. All policies that instruct the Executive Director will be monitored at a frequency and by a method chosen by the Board. The Board can monitor any policy at any time by any method, but ordinarily will depend on a routine schedule.

Schedule of Monitoring

[Note: As reporting policies are developed, they will be added to the schedule of monitoring.] statement of purpose

CNVC Board Statement of Purpose

4. The vision of CNVC is that all people are meeting their needs and resolving their conflicts in a peaceful way. In this vision people are using NVC to create and participate in networks of worldwide, life serving systems in economics, education, justice, healthcare and peacekeeping.

4. A. A 'critical mass' produces demonstrable shifts in world culture towards the values of NVC and we use/suggest this is 1% (of world population).

4. A.1. There is a thriving, chaordic life-serving network.

4. A.1.a. The people and organizations in the network are connecting with themselves and others in harmony with the process of NVC.

4. A.1.b. Structures necessary for the network to thrive are in place.

4. A.1.c. Everybody in the network is satisfied with their access to the opportunities to learn the skills and develop the spiritual consciousness required for the network to thrive.

4. A.1.d. People who are integrating NVC into their lives and want to invest their energies in contributing to CNVC.

4. A.1.e. People are giving in harmony with the process; the financial resources necessary for the Statement of Purpose to be fulfilled are available.

4. A.1.f. A team of people identifies these donors and makes connections with them that enables the gifts to be given in harmony with the principles of NVC and provides feedback to the donors informing them of the life-serving consequences of their gifts.

4. B. 'Using NVC' means that people consciously utilize the skills successfully in their life.

4. C. 'Using resources in a life-serving way' means that regarding expenditures of resources, those who make decisions make a good faith effort to gather relevant information and consider the needs of all parties concerned.

End

Click here to return to the main CNVC Board page.