29 September 2023
Council met on 1 September to formally consider the 194 written objections received to our governance changes. Council took the decision to defer full consideration of the objections until after the AGM on 6 September when the newly elected Council members took up their positions and wider engagement with the membership had taken place.
This week, we held our first Council meeting of the 2023/24 session, where we briefed new Council members on the background of our governance changes and discussed them more broadly as a leadership group. The briefing included the opportunity for Council members to hear directly from our external independent advisor on the reforms and to ask any questions.
We are now able to move forward with our plans to engage with the wider membership on the governance reforms. In October, we will begin a process to communicate the need for change and the details of the reforms to members and enable them to share their feedback. Our engagement plans will include better explanation of the plans to members through our communications channels and a series of webinars where members can learn more, ask questions, and share their views. We will also hold in-person sessions at key events and conferences that are taking place this autumn such as our Life and GIRO Conferences in November. Council members will attend many webinars and in-person sessions to hear directly from members to inform our future discussions.
Our member engagement will continue on an ongoing basis, and at Council at the end of November, we will continue our discussions on the governance reforms. We will meet again in December to formally consider the 194 written objections received.
Council this week also agreed the Terms of Reference for a new Council Working Group, chaired by Peter Tompkins, which will lead our work on planning the future of Council. This is one of the most exciting parts of our governance reforms, as it will look to shape an inspiring vision for how Council will be an influential voice leading the IFoA into the future. We hope to begin actively consulting with members on this in early 2024.
I hope you can see from these activities that we are taking the objections Council has received to its governance reforms seriously, and that we are moving forward in a way that actively engages the wider membership and ensures that all Council members have the information they need to make considered decisions.
Kalpana Shah
President