Board of Directors Volunteer Position

Counterpoint Counselling and Educational Cooperative Inc. (Counterpoint) is a non-profit community agency dedicated to increasing safety for women and ending violence in intimate relationships. We are seeking new volunteer Board members for our 11-person Board of Directors and are looking for people who are passionate about addressing violence against women through community-driven efforts to build a safe and equitable society.

The position requires a commitment of 2-3 hours per month to attend Board meetings and contribute to strategic decision-making. Board members are also asked to participate in one Board committees which may entail meetings or other kinds of work. As a cooperative, Board members have the opportunity to be involved in a range of aspects of our work.

Counterpoint’s mission is to increase safety for women, and end violence in intimate relationships. We are unique as we are one of the few agencies in Toronto who work directly with abusive men to increase women’s safety. We believe that the use of violence and abuse in intimate relationships is an individual choice. We also understand that widespread and long-held social values and systemic barriers, normalize power imbalances between women and men, and these can result in a range of abusive behaviors.

We accomplish our goals by providing socio-educational programming for men who have been criminally charged and are court mandated to attend the Partner Assault Response (PAR) program. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, an integral aspect of this work is our Partner Contact Program where specialized staff offer support and advocacy to the women partners of men in the PAR program. The Partner Contact Program includes a weekly Women’s Support Group, Supporting My Sisters- a peer support network created during the pandemic that hosts an active web site and activities, and a new legal education project called “ Learn the Law ‘, intended to help survivors understand the criminal system. Counterpoint has a strong history of advocacy regarding the criminal system, community-based research initiatives on key issues related to violence against women and community education/action responding to emerging issues related to prevention of intimate partner violence ( IPV).

Our 17 staff include 3 full-time staff, men’s program facilitators who deliver the 12-week PAR groups , and the 3 partner contact staff.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of non-profit governance,
• Some understanding of Intimate Partner Violence and the community agencies working to address this issue
• Experience and / or interest in fund development
• Strong communication and collaboration skills

Additional assets include.

• Skills / experience in finance, legal issues, Human Resources, IT
• Some familiarity with criminal law (including policing and probation)
• Lived experience of Intimate Partner Violence or work experience in this sector

Commitment:

• 2-year term (renewable)
• Monthly board meetings plus committee participation
• Estimated 2-5 hours/month

If you are interested in learning more about Counterpoint, please visit our website at www.counterpoint.coop.

If you are interested in joining the Board of Directors. please contact our Board Chair, Vivien Green ( email vivien.green@teksavvy.com). If possible, please forward a cover letter explaining your interest together with your resume.