Board Development: Onboarding & Orientation - Building Connection, Confidence, and Contribution

How do we help new board members feel welcome, understand their responsibilities, and contribute meaningfully from the start of their board term? Through intentional onboarding and training!  

Effective onboarding connects people to the organization’s mission, culture, and work while preparing them for their important governance role. In this webinar, participants will assess their organization's current orientation practices, explore a practical first 90-days onboarding pathway, and identify ways to connect each member’s strengths, interests, and lived experience to create meaningful board contributions, so board members feel welcomed, valued and mission-committed. We will also examine how ongoing learning opportunities for the collective board strengthens the entire board.

Through a guided self-assessment, real-world scenarios, and action planning, participants will identify practical improvements they can adapt to their organization’s size, structure, and resources. 

Learning Objectives
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Assess current onboarding practices. Use a practical checklist to identify strengths, gaps, and priority improvements in the new board member experience.
• Design a first 90-days onboarding pathway. Outline a sequence of learning and relationship-building activities that introduce essential governance documents, mission and strategy, organizational finances, board culture, and member responsibilities.
• Connect individual strengths to meaningful engagement. Identify opportunities that align members’ skills, interests, lived experience, and availability with committee service and other board responsibilities.
• Plan for continuous board learning. Identify ongoing development practices and select one improvement to implement, with a clear owner and timeline.

 Speaker Information: 

Terry Trafton, MS, LPC, NCC

President, iBossWell, Inc.

Terry’s passion is partnering with organizations to develop leaders, strengthen teams, improve operations, and build healthy organizational culture.  With more than 25 years of experience across business, nonprofit, government, healthcare, and mental health settings, Terry specializes in strategy development and implementation, business operations, emotional energy intelligence, and individual and team development. Terry’s community-based leadership roles include serving as Secretary of the Health Forward Foundation Board and Past Chair of the Missouri Mental Health Foundation Board. He recently completed five terms on the Greater Lee’s Summit Healthcare Foundation and Scholarship Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the Planning Commission for the City of Lee’s Summit and Chair-Elect of the National Speakers Association–Kansas City Chapter. Terry is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the International Association for Strategy Professionals (IASP) Nonprofit Community of Practice Committee. In June 2026, Terry presented a masterclass on Emotional Energy Intelligence at the IASP Global Conference in Canada.

 
About iBossWell, Inc.
Established in 2001, iBossWell is a strategic planning and organizational development firm that helps organizations align their mission, vision, and values with the people, culture, and operations critical to achieving desired results and impact. 

Refund Policy: 

Cancellations will be accepted for a full refund at least 3 business days prior to the program. No cancellations will be accepted after that date, as registrants will be able to receive a session recording and a copy of presentation slides/materials.