Call for Board Directors

Deadline for expressions of interest: Ongoing
Download the call as a pdf here.

The Board is the governing body of the organization. M:ST’s Directors determine the mission  and vision, hire Executive Directors, steward our finances, ensure ethical integrity, and more.  We’re seeking Directors who can commit to a two-year volunteer term, with the possibility of  renewal. We encourage anyone who is asking the same questions we are (listed below) to  submit a letter of intent. In your expression of interest, please explain how you approach these  questions from lived experience and informal or formal training.

We would be honoured to receive the guidance of Elders to help us slowdown, be grateful, and  tell stories. We also enthusiastically encourage Black artists and activists to join, we need your voice. Individuals with experience in marketing and programming development are also strongly encouraged to apply. While M:ST’s operations are primarily located in Mohkinstsis|Calgary we also encourage  national expressions of interest. Board Members based elsewhere will be asked to attend 1-2 meetings in person per year, travel and accommodation expenses paid.

About our Board Culture

M:ST Board Directors are very intentional about our time together. Our meetings are  conversational and we start and end each one with a prayer. The prayer is an extension of our  land acknowledgment and an opportunity for us to get centered, reflect on the land, and remind us of our responsibilities as Treaty people. We recommend that all prospective board members review our vision+values and recent projects.

We meet once a month via the web conferencing app Zoom. Meetings are usually on the last Thursday of every month starting at 7:00pm (mst) and last between 1.5 to 2 hours. There may be additional meetings when Directors have the capacity to take on a project. Our board does not have committees so each Director volunteers to lead initiatives based on their passions and skills. We also rotate the responsibility of chairing the meetings.

How do you know if you’ll be a good fit?

If you’re asking yourself these questions and are interested in contributing to the following projects, M:ST could be the place for you!
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- We are trying to understand how to honour Treaty 7 by actively speaking and working out the dysfunctions of white supremacy.
- How can artist-run centres implement mutual aid practices?
- How can artists and arts institutions become places that co-create material and structural social change with those marginalized by the arts?
- What meaningful connections can artist-run centres make between local, national, and global artistic contexts?
- What does a healthy artist community look like? How do we resource the wellbeing of individuals who work with us?
- How to incorporate movement, embodiment, and performance into all our work both internally and externally? How do these practices intrinsically contribute to personal and collective health?

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We’re working on these projects:- Long-term engagement to transform M:ST’s programming, funding, and administrative models. This includes the structure of the board and the rewriting of bylaws.
- M:ST 10 International Residency Exchange + Gathering.
- Youth Arts Caucus pilot project.
- Experimenting with and enacting non-hierarchical governance structures, clear boundaries, and consent based relationships between coworkers, board members, artists, and our publics.

How to join the board:

Step 1 - Ask questions
If you’re not sure that board work is right for you, please e-mail the board via board@mountainstandardtime.org. Leave a phone number if you’d like to receive a call back.

Step 2 - Apply
Send us an introduction to yourself along with an explanation of why you would like to join and what skills you would bring to a Director position (a.k.a an expression of interest) by Thursday, June 30, 2022 to board@mountainstandardtime.org. Please describe your relevant lived experience and informal or formal training. The expression of interest can be sent in the form of:
- a 5 minute video (link or video),
- a 5 minute voice recording (link or video),
- one page written (pdf or doc)

Your expression of interest will be reviewed by current Directors in preparation for the AGM.

Step 3 - Attend the AGM
Prospective Directors will be voted on to the board at our AGM on Thursday July 7, 2022 at 7:00 pm (mst). The meeting will be held on Zoom and we will email you a link and meeting materials prior to the meeting. Before the vote, each Director will be asked to introduce themselves and share their motivations for joining the Board. Each voting member can vote for themselves and others.

In order to be a voting member you will need to pay our $1 membership fee. You can pay via visa or mastercard on our website, or use visa debit on our Canada Helps page. Canada Helps requires a minimum donation of $3. If you don’t have access to online payment, we can make an alternative arrangement.

You will become a Board Member if you receive a majority vote at the AGM. Immediately following the AGM, we will hold our first introductory board meeting.

Accessibility

If there are any barriers to this recruitment process that you need removed, please contact our Board President at board@mountainstandardtime.org. We will work with you to determine how to meet your needs throughout recruitment and your potential term as a board member.

We enthusiastically invite folks who are Indigenous, Black, and/or People of Colour, people who have disabilities, people of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, persons from poor and working class backgrounds, and others with the skills and knowledge to engage equity seeking communities. M:ST has a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry. Including but not limited to; anti-Indigeneity, anti-Blackness, xenophobia, transphobia, queerphobia, ableism, anti-semitism, etc.

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