Letters.

Editor's note: The following discussion of an ASSOCIATIN MANAGEMENT article took place on the ASAE International Section e-mail list.

International board representation

I just finished reading "Board Members From Beyond," by Gerry Romano, CAE, in the January 2000 issue of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT. Good content, but something it did not address is the following. I am the manager of international relations for the Financial Planning Association, an organization of 28,000 members. We have a very broad membership, in that 35 countries are represented. However, it is also shallow, considering that we only have 550 members from outside of the United States. So, the question is, how do you get international board representation in a situation like this?

International membership is only 2 percent of the whole, so realistically, we would only be able to have one non-U.S. member (board size is 17). I guess the way to go is to choose representation from the most predominant country represented in the membership (Canada). Any insights here would be appreciated.

Laura Boulet

Manager of International Relations, Financial Planning Association, Atlanta

E-mail: [e-mail] org

Laura, a couple of comments: First, if your membership is predominantly from the United States but you are trying to add depth of perspective to the board, I would not designate your only "foreign" board position as Canadian. While I count a great many Canadians as friends and colleagues, and I know that they're different from those of us south of the border, they are still pretty close to U.S. citizens in terms of their perspective, which is North American. So I don't think that would really bring the depth you are looking for.

Another way to approach it might be to define regions rather than countries, and strive to have a board representative from each region (possibly nonvoting if there are concerns about over-representation). Since your membership is close to 100 percent North American, you might look into electing "observer" board members from the other regions-- for example, South America, Europe, Asia--or however it makes sense to break it down based on your geographic distribution or where you think there is the most potential for development.

Mary McCue

Director, Interel Association Management, Brussels, Belgium

E-mail: [e-mail]

My organization was founded as an international one, with a constitution predicated on equal status among members in many countries. We have 200 members. What has worked for us is a combination of a regional strategy with a global one.

My board is composed of 19 members: 5 officers and 14 directors. Four directors are elected--one from each of four regions--by the members in the region. However, all of the other 10 director positions are at large globally, as are the positions of chair and treasurer. Our president-elect is elected on nomination of the country hosting our annual world conference, so it follows that the president and past president are also country-specific.

While U.S. and U.K. members could elect many directors, in practice they do not, preferring a global distribution. Presently, of the 19 who sit on the board, we have four from the United States, three from the United Kingdom, and one each from Brazil, Sweden, India, Bahrain, Japan, Jordan, Cyprus, Taiwan, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia. Ex officio members are from Ireland and the United States.

David Waugh

Secretary General, International Federation of Training and Development Organisations, Ltd., Washington, D.C.

E-mail: [e-mail]