By Lori Sterling, Governance and Nomination Committee Chair, Pearson College UWC Board of Directors

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Pearson College UWC, I would like to invite you to consider submitting the name of a talented individual who you think might be ready, willing and able to help shape the future of the College for its next half-century of educating young people of distinction from across the globe.

We are putting out the call to alumni and anyone else with a connection to or interest in the College to nominate individuals to serve an initial three-year term on the Board. Joining our volunteer-powered Board is an excellent opportunity to give — or give back if you happen to be a Pearson alum — to this unique Canadian UWC school.

We have created a handy, one-page nomination form that you can use. Please fill this out and send it, in confidence, to board@pearsoncollege.ca no later than 9 a.m. Pacific Time, Thursday, 13 August. There are three vacancies to be filled in 2020. New directors will join a group of accomplished and committed individuals representing Canada and the world. The recommendations of the Board will be presented for approval at the November Annual General Meeting.

We welcome nominations from any part of the world, and we are very keen to attract diverse candidates. The great majority of our full Board and committee meetings are held virtually – a step we took well before the current pandemic to encourage financial stewardship, representation not encumbered by geography, and diversity.

Ours is a skills-based Board, one that relies on volunteers who can bring relevant skills (and often experience) to support the Board and contribute directly to Board Finance, Engagement, Risk and Analysis and Corporate Governance committees, as well as sub-committees focusing on Education and Reconciliation. While we will consider all nominations, it would be helpful if the candidate had experience in education, finance, human resources or philanthropy. We encourage people with varied backgrounds and organizational experience to consider stepping forward.

The Board fortified its commitment to diversity in 2019 by passing the Diversity Policy for the Board of Directors at Pearson College UWC which explicitly affirms the benefits of a diverse Board and notes that this, “(provides) the necessary range of perspectives, experience and expertise required to achieve effective stewardship and management.”

Through this policy, the board is developing recruitment policies that specifically seek to include diverse candidates and demands that our recruitment practices recognize that diverse candidates may be found in a wide variety of organizations and circumstances. The policy also calls upon us to ensure candidates of Indigenous heritage are always considered when vacancies arise.

These are exciting times to join the Pearson Board. We are looking forward to the arrival of our new President and CEO, implementing a comprehensive Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan and next month, we will be welcoming our Year 47 cohort of students to a campus that has implemented COVID-19 health and safety protocols. We are already thinking about how we will celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2024.

Please take the time to consider nominating a worthy individual to join our Board by using this form. Send it to board@pearsoncollege.ca by 9 a.m. Pacific Time, Thursday, 13 August. Thank you!