HWFC Governance
Honest Weight Member-Owners who invest time in governance provide a critical service, as do those who serve in the store. Our Co-op cannot survive without either.
Governance includes participating in Membership Meetings, serving on committees and being elected to serve on the Board of Directors or the Governance Review Council (GRC), or appointed to the Bylaws Panel.
While the Membership has ultimate authority over HWFC, as described in the Bylaws, through governance Member-Owners determine what decisions are brought to the full Membership for approval.
Member-Owners propose and enact policies and through our collective governance, along with management and employees, have responsibility for the store’s day-to-day operations.
We look forward to your participation in Honest Weight governance by attending Membership, Board and committee meetings, governance workshops, or listening to the presentations below. Please consider whether you or someone you know could serve the Co-op with time investment in cooperative governance.
Previous governance workshop topics and presentations: Check out the information in the workshops presented on this page. There is much to learn!
Cooperative Governance at HWFC
In this Evelyn Wright presentation you will learn about what it means to serve on the Board, Committees of the Board, the Governance Review Council, and Bylaws Panel. The presentation covers different roles and responsibilites of these governance entities and new ways you may consider investing your time, making a positive difference for the Co-op.
Held Thursday, February 10th, 2022
2022 Workshop Slide Presentation click here
What Boards Do! The Sequel
A Deeper Dive into Board Responsibilities, Best Practices, & Facilitating Conflict Resolution
presented by Evelyn Wright on behalf of the HWFC Elections and Nominations Committee
Evelyn summarized the role of the Co-op Board of Directors, discussed how our Board fits into Co-op governance, and ended with a panel discussion including Honest Weight Board members.
Held Saturday, March 7th, 2020
What Boards Do! The Sequel- Presentation with audio
View the slideshow without audio here
Roles & Responsibilities of Honest Weight’s Board
Evelyn Wright’s initial governance presentation which focused on learning about what Co-op Board members do. In addition, Evelyn explained the roles of Management and Staff, the Membership, and other governance entities to share “how it works” at Honest Weight.
Held Thursday, March 21, 2019
2019 Workshop Slides Click here
Testimonials are great! Anonymized from real member-owenrs like you and me...
- I “like” governance because it is a critical role that has to be done. If not me, who? If not now, when?
- I like serving in governance at the co-op, because it gives me a chance to get to know and creatively contribute to the big community of people that includes Member-Owners, Staff, customers, and those outside of HWFC who rely on HWFC's involvement, presence, and influence in the Capital District. In governance, I get to meet and work with interesting people, with their unique insights, experiences, and perspectives, and I get to influence and create value-driven policies and solutions that help make a positive difference in our community. I believe that the best solutions in any democratic effort incorporate the diversity of ideas and voices of the individuals who create the solutions and who the solutions are intended to affect, and participating in governance at HWFC offers that possibility.