Director Application
Thank you for your interest in a position on the board of Clean Calgary Association (CCA), a non-profit, charitable, non-governmental, urban environmental organization. Please read the following information about
- The director nomination schedule
- CCA’s history, mission, and programs
- Directors’ duties and responsibilities
Should you decide to submit an application for nomination, please complete the questions at the end of this page. You will receive a confirmation upon receipt of your application.
If you are interested in any additional CCA documentation including CCA’s by-laws, business plan, governance policies, goals and objectives, current directors’ contact information or financial statements, please contact the Executive Director, Natalie Odd, at 403-230-1443 ext. 229.
Director Nomination Schedule
Monday, March 31st – Director Application submission deadline. Please submit your application on-line on or before Monday, March 31st. CCA membership is a requirement for all directors. As such, we ask that you mail a cheque in the amount of $50 (the cost of a yearly individual membership) made out to “Clean Calgary Association” at the same time that you submit your application on-line.
First week of April - Successful nominees will be contacted and will be asked to present themselves for nomination at the CCA Annual General Meeting (April 14th).
Monday, April 14th – CCA Annual General Meeting. New directors will be elected to the board. The Annual General Meeting takes places in the evening at the Jack Singer Lobby
Clean Calgary Association History, Mission and Programs
About Clean Calgary Association
Clean Calgary Association is an urban environmental non-profit charitable organization. Our mandate is to empower Calgarians to create healthy homes and communities through environmental education, products, and services.
Clean Calgary Association was established in 1977 with a focus on minimizing litter. Over the past 30 years, Clean Calgary Association has evolved and expanded to address a wide range of environmental issues with an emphasis on solid waste reduction through re-use, recycling and composting, and water conservation. Clean Calgary Association receives support from and has numerous partnerships in the private sector, the municipal and provincial government, as well as other local environmental non-governmental organizations.
Clean Calgary Association is an award-winning organization that is recognized as a leader in environmental education and community-based environmental initiatives, particularly in the areas of recycling and composting. Measuring our impacts and retooling our strategies are key elements of all Clean Calgary Association projects, which as based on community-based social marketing concepts.
Clean Calgary Association operates three complementary program areas: environmental education, environmental products, and environmental services. An overview of the components of each program area follows.
Environmental Education
Information Services
Clean Calgary Association is known as a hub for environmental information and resources in Calgary. Clean Calgary Association staff responds to thousands of telephone, email, and personal environmental inquiries each year, many of which are redirected to us by the municipality.
Master Composting Course
This intensive six week course provides in-depth information about how to compost effectively, waste management issues and solutions, healthy soil and water conservation. Master Composting graduates make a commitment to mentor others who are beginning this activity.
Composting Workshops
Clean Calgary Association staff tailors and delivers composting workshops for a wide range of people and groups who are just starting to compost and are interesting in learning the basics.
Tailored Environmental Presentations
Clean Calgary Association delivers environmental education to elementary schools, community groups and private companies covering a wide range of topics.
On-line Environmental Guides
Clean Calgary Association researches and writes guides on a variety of topics that are made available to the public and used in the private and public sector.
Environmental Services
Industrial and Commercial Waste Reduction Services
The Calgary Material Exchange (CMEX) is a unique and highly regarded program that assists companies throughout Calgary to divert industrial, commercial and construction waste going to landfill. The CMEX works to build relationships between companies and provide opportunities and information to facilitate exchanges of material for reuse and recycling. The CMEX staff work directly with each company at a personal level to meet the unique needs of the company. By providing the contacts and resources necessary to find alternative disposal solutions, CMEX staff empowers each company to be more responsible with their waste. Along with personal and direct services, an on-line exchange, http://www.cmex.ca provides companies with a convenient medium to list materials and products that are available or wanted for exchange.
Waste Measurement Toolkit
Through their work in the private sector, CMEX staff identified the need for a standard methodology that companies could use to accurately assess the volume of their various waste streams without having to undergo a formal waste audit. A software application, a Waste Measurement Toolkit, was developed that is already in demand and will be piloted in early 2008.
This Toolkit would be very effective in measuring the volume of certain waste streams (diverted and not diverted) at events such as festivals.
Waste Wise Community Outreach
In 2006 Clean Calgary Association selected a large, diverse, mature community, Dalhousie, in which to plant the seeds of a neighbourhood initiative. The objective of the program is to create a “composting community” where neighbours help one another to reduce their waste to curb by diverting a large volume of their “garbage” to their backyard composter. This program has entailed delivering the Master Composter course in Dalhousie, identifying and nurturing more than 100 participating Dalhousie households, matching mentors to households, ongoing encouragement, information, visits to participants, and compost audits to measure waste diversion impact. This program surpassed its goals for participation level and waste diversion in the first year.
School Composting Systems
Through the partnership developed with West Dalhousie School during the first year of the Waste Wise program, Clean Calgary Association was able to help the school set up a composting system in their Nature’s Place Garden. Recognizing and addressing schools’ special needs within this pilot project has led to numerous other requests from schools. Clean Calgary Association is now building capacity to deliver composting education and systems (hand made from reused wood and designed for small people) to these schools in 2008.
Environmental Products
The EcoStore
Launched in 2004, The EcoStore provides Calgarians with access to a wide range of environmental products to enable them to reduce their eco-footprint. Clean Calgary Association staff is selective in the products we carry in terms of their purpose, recycled content, place of manufacture, and “recyclability”. The EcoStore endeavours to provide customers with a very positive, interactive experience as well as all the information and education that they seek to effectively use our products or otherwise modify their behaviour. Customers also provide us with useful information.
Annual Rain Barrel Sale
Clean Calgary Association partners with the City of Calgary Water Resources Business Unit to stage a rain barrel sale each year. Thousands of rain barrels are sold at three locations around Calgary where staff and volunteers provide Calgarians with information about rain barrel installation and other ways to conserve water.
Directors’ Duties and Responsibilities
Clean Calgary Association’s Board of Directors is a volunteer governance board that serves to guide the executive director and staff who in turn carry out the day-to-day operations of the organization.
The fundamental functions that the directors fulfill are to:
- Develop the organization’s strategic plan;
- Ensure the financial health of the organization through fund development strategies;
- Approve the yearly budget as prepared by the executive director;
- Update by-laws and board policies as needed; and
- Employ, evaluate, give authority to, and provide resources for the executive director.
Principal Responsibilities of a Director
1. Must have an active CCA membership and be committed to CCA’s vision.
2. Attend monthly meetings, January to June (inclusive) and September to December (inclusive), including the Annual General Meeting, which is held in April. Additional meetings will be required for committee and special work.
3. Come to meetings prepared to discuss and make decisions about CCA policy and direction following the Carver model of governance. (Information and agendas are sent out ahead of meeting dates).
4. Be willing to serve on at least one committee that reports back to the board.
5. Participate in fund raising events including the casino, rain barrel sale, and composter sale. When possible, volunteer at other Clean Calgary Association events to share our mandate.
6. Engage interest and financial support from responsive individuals and corporations to ensure support for CCA’s programs.
7. Read and understand CCA’s governance documents and business plan.
8. Commit to two years of duty.
9. Actively work at recruiting new members and directors for CCA.
I, _____________________ wish to apply for the position of director on the Clean Calgary Association Board of Directors. I have read and understand the above information which outlines the nomination schedule, CCA’s organization’s mandate and programs and states directors’ duties and responsibilities.
I understand that this completed application must be submitted on-line on or before Monday, March 31st, to the Clean Calgary Association Board of Directors for consideration as a director nominee.