Board of Directors Member

Tamarack Institute

Conrad Grebel University College | 140 Westmount Road North | Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6

Board of Director Job Posting Acknowledging land, past truths, current commitments and accountable futures.

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth, we honour and acknowledge that our work occurs across Turtle Island (North America) has been home since time immemorial to the ancestors of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. We recognize that, in this territory, Indigenous rights holders have endured historical oppression and continue to endure inequities that have largely resulted from the widespread failure of non-Indigenous treaty people to hold up their responsibilities. We acknowledge those who came here as settlers — as migrants either in this generation or in generations past — and those of us who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and enslavement. We pay tribute to ancestors of African origin and descent and thank them for their contributions towards transforming systems in ways that promote everyone’s sense of belonging and safety.

Overview of the Position

Tamarack is seeking passionate and strategic individuals to join our Board of Directors. As a Board Member, you will play a key governance role in advancing Tamarack’s mission and stewarding its long- term sustainability and impact. You will work alongside a dynamic group of leaders committed to values of collaboration, equity, humility, and community-led change. You will provide strategic guidance, fiduciary oversight, and community leadership that supports Tamarack’s long-term success. You will work closely with fellow Board members and the CEO to steward our mission and values, offering leadership to staff during a time of growth and opportunity.

Key Responsibilities

● Attend and actively participate in quarterly Board meetings and one annual retreat ● Monitor organizational performance and progress against our strategic goals ● Provide insight and leadership in areas such as governance, financial oversight, risk

management, equity, or strategy ● Champion Tamarack’s work in your networks and communities including promoting the

organization's purpose and identify new funding opportunities ● Support onboarding and mentorship of new Board members ● Serve on at least one Board committee (e.g., Finance, Governance, Resource Development,

Equity and Reconciliation etc…) ● Ensure compliance of By-Laws and organizational policies ● Participate in an annual Board self-evaluation and Board reports as needed ● Ensures that new Board member orientation process is in place in partnership with Tamarack’s

CEO’s and/or senior leadership

Tamarack Institute

Conrad Grebel University College | 140 Westmount Road North | Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6

About Tamarack

Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement works to end poverty in all of its forms - economic poverty but also the poverty of our connection to other living things and to one another. We support people to develop the skills, mindsets and networks to collaborate for systems change. We support place-based collaborations to impact community-driven dimensions of poverty (e.g. youth employment, climate poverty, belonging) at a whole-of-community scale. We take what we learn from people and places to contribute to public policy and narrative change. We have seen that local communities / place-based collaboration impact outcomes at the local scale and are important aspects of change approaches at other scales. Over the next three years, the Board will champion the role of place-based collaboration both for how it reduces economic poverty, climate poverty, loneliness, polarization, unemployment and other outcomes across entire municipalities and region AND for how it contributes to all other approaches to social change. The Board will help us identify and explore new revenue models and to grow our social enterprise. The Board will support our work to work with communities to evolve and move forward a public policy and narrative agenda that enables communities' contributions. The Board will champion our explicit commitments to equity, anti-racism, and reconciliation.

Tamarack Principles

Community Connections: We strengthen connections and collaborations between diverse people, organizations and sectors to grow and align our capacity to make a difference.  Place Matters: We focus our efforts on places where people live.  Hope and Optimism: We focus on the possible and our collective potential for making positive change.  Equity and Inclusion: We engage and elevate the voice of those most impacted by issues who have the greatest insight into possible solutions.  Courage and Learning: We ask difficult questions about the systems and structures which hold people and communities back and engage in peer-to-peer learning to build our capacity.  Action and Impact: We emphasize action and focus on impact. 

Ideal Candidate We are looking for individuals who bring:

● A commitment to Tamarack’s mission, vision, and values ● Lived experience and/or deep knowledge in one or more of the following:

○ Poverty reduction ○ Climate justice and community transitions ○ Indigenous ways of knowing and reconciliation ○ Governance, law, or finance ○ Philanthropy, fundraising, or grantmaking ○ Systems innovation or policy change

Tamarack Institute

Conrad Grebel University College | 140 Westmount Road North | Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6

○ Digital transformation, AI, or impact measurement ○ Experience in community or network-based leadership ○ A collaborative and respectful approach to decision-making

● Leads with an equity lens and able to uplift equity-deserving populations ● Chair and/or Vice-Chair Board experience considered an asset ● French-English bilingualism conserved an asset

We actively welcome and encourage applications from people who identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, neurodivergent, youth, living in poverty, francophone, minority religious groups, newcomers to Canada, primary language other than English, and those from rural or underserved communities. Equity and lived experience are critical to our collective wisdom.

Board Term and Support

● Term: 3 years ● Volunteer position; eligible expenses associated with participation are reimbursed ● Onboarding, mentorship, and accessibility supports provided ● Board members are expected to attend at least four meetings per year and actively participate

in Board committee work

Time Commitments ● Board Meetings occur quarterly and during the day (currently 1-3pm ET) ● There is an annual in person retreat

○ The 2026 retreat is scheduled for end of April 27-May 1 2026 ● Committee meetings usually occur and range from monthly to quarterly based on the

committee needs (online) ● Attend Tamarack offerings (free of charge), ie, webinars, cohorts and events when available to ● Estimated monthly hours: 4-6h. This can fluctuate based on the time of year and committee

involvement.

Application Instructions Please submit your resume and a cover letter explaining your interest in the role, how your experience aligns, and what you feel you bring to the role.