On January 15, Zen Center’s Board of Directors met in an all-day retreat in the Conference Center at City Center to set goals for the year.  The goals include the following:

Fundraising

1. Increase board involvement in fundraising. Responsibility: SFZC Board Development Committee.

Financial Sustainability

1. Develop plan by year’s end for the long range financial sustainability of SFZC. Responsibility: New board task force chaired by Board Chair Larry Bye and consisting of the president, central abbess, treasurer and chair of Finance Committee.

Succession Planning

1. Strengthen institution-wide succession planning, including addressing residential quality of life issues. Responsibility: Central Abbess Linda Ruth Cutts and the AEG.
2. Officer succession planning. Responsibility:  Chair and the Governance Committee.
3. Ensure that selection of new board members advances diversity goals as well as need for fundraising and other necessary skills and interests. Responsibility: Governance Committee.

Senior Living

1. Advance “Continuing Care Retirement Center for the Wider Sangha” project. Responsibility: President Susan O’Connell and the existing Senior Living Planning Team.
2. Develop an alternative plan in the event that the CCRC project is not viable. Responsibility: Susan and the existing Senior Living Planning Team.

Organizational Committees

1. Clarification of how organizational committees function and who they report to. Responsibility: President.
2. Ensure receive regular board reports from the committees. Responsibility: President.

Sangha Communication and Involvement

1. Improve communication with both the residential community and the wider sangha. Responsibility: New board task force chaired by Albert Kutchins of the Board.
2. Increase resident participation in Board work by adding a resident to the Board.  Responsibility:  Governance committee.
3. Assess feasibility of new volunteer program focused on the offering of technical and project management expertise to the SFZC administration. Responsibility: President.

Information Technology

1. Development of an information technology plan for Zen Center. Responsibility: President working with Board Secretary Connie Cummings.

Mission Fulfillment

1. Assessment of SFZC performance against fulfilling its mission and the development of recommendations for the board.  Responsibility:  Strategic Initiative Team.