Nominations to Nova Mutual’s Board of Directors at the 2024 AGM are now open.
The Nomination Period will run from September 22, 2023 to November 3, 2023.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Everyone on Nova Mutual’s Board of Directors is a Member and Policyholder themselves. The Board’s commitment and focus is on benefiting fellow Members, the communities served, and Nova Mutual as a whole.
Board of Director Duties
Nova Mutual’s Board of Directors works closely with the CEO and senior management to set direction and monitor Nova Mutual’s performance. They are responsible for providing oversight to senior management to ensure adherence to the necessary regulations of a regulated financial institution, as set out by the applicable governing regulatory bodies.
Specific Duties Include:
- Establishing strategic direction and setting performance expectations;
- Hiring, delegating authority to and assessing the performance of the President & Chief Executive Officer;
- Monitoring Nova Mutual’s performance and approving the financial plan;
- Communicating with Members and stakeholders, and providing leadership by supporting and promoting Nova Mutual;
- Monitoring and ensuring that appropriate and effective governance policies and practices are in place to ensure that Member interests are served and protected and that the Board is in a position to fulfill its legal role and responsibilities to Members; and
- Ensuring that Nova Mutual operates in a manner consistent with its vision, mission and values.
Our Nova Mutual Board of Directors
Catherine Akins
Director
Brad Caron
Director
Johnny Fansher
Director
Steve Gugler
Director
Eric Harrop
Vice-Chair and Investment and Risk Committee Chair
Lindsay Markle
Human Resources Committee Chair
Mark Matson
Audit, Finance & Conduct Review Committee Chair
Mary Ann Mooney
Governance Committee Chair
Michelle Spoelstra
Board Chair
Why Become a Board Member?
When you become a member on the Board of Directors, you are helping to make a difference to fellow Members, to Nova Mutual, and to communities in which Nova Mutual operates. It not only gives you the opportunity to utilize your skills but allows you to enhance and broaden your abilities as well. Nova Mutual is a provincially regulated financial institution, and the Board is responsible for providing effective oversight to ensure a stronger, more effective mutual insurance company for all of its Members.
How to Become a Board Member
Nova Mutual Board Members are generally elected for three-year terms unless there is a mid-term vacancy. Every year Nova Mutual holds Board elections to fill vacancies for expired terms or to fill other vacancies that may have occurred.
Under its by-laws, Nova Mutual’s Nominating Committee is responsible for ensuring the integrity and quality of the Director nomination and election process and for recommending to the Membership those candidates who are best qualified to serve Nova Mutual as a Director in order to have an effective Board that possesses the required competencies to protect Member interests.
"Successful candidates are collaborative, community-minded, and have demonstrated leadership and governance experience."
Nomination and Election Process
Each year, the Board of Directors appoints a Nominating Committee who is responsible for ensuring the integrity and quality of the Director nomination and election process, and for ensuring that candidates are well informed about the process. The Committee is also responsible for recommending to the Board those candidates who are best qualified to serve Nova Mutual as a Director, in order to fulfill its legal role and responsibilities on behalf of all Members.
The Application Period generally opens in early September each year and runs until the end of October or early November. The Nominating Committee may engage a recruitment firm to evaluate all applications received and recommend a short list of qualified candidates to the Nominating Committee for an interview. Interviews with the Nominating Committee will take place, usually in November, for incumbent Directors seeking re-election and for those additional candidates determined by the Nominating Committee to possess the required skills and experience. The Nomination Period for the 2024 Annual General Meeting will run from September 22, 2023 to November 3, 2023. For more information regarding candidate eligibility and the nomination process, please refer to the Candidate Information Package.
After the interview process has been completed, the Committee makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors regarding the best qualified candidates to fill the required number of vacancies. The Nominating Committee will determine which candidates are best qualified based on the required Board competencies as set out in the Board Competency Matrix. All candidates are appropriately notified. Candidates approved by the Board will be recommended to the Members for election at the next Annual General Meeting. The Notice of Meeting and associated meeting materials will provide the background and experience of those candidates being recommended to Members as the best qualified candidates.
Successful candidates, in addition to possessing the required competencies for Directorship, are collaborative, community-minded, and have demonstrated leadership experience and a solid understanding of the governance Board oversight responsibilities associated with a prudentially managed financial institution
Should you have any other questions in relation to this process, please contact the Corporate Secretary.
Candidate Application Form (To be submitted by November 3, 2023)
The undersigned hereby puts forward their name as meeting the qualifications to be eligible to be elected to the Board of Directors of Nova Mutual at the Annual General Meeting of Members to be held on March 7, 2024.