Steven Schottenstein, Debby Kane, Fran Wasserstrom, President Sandy Solomon, Lenore Schottenstein, and Executive Director Jackie Jacobs.  Not pictured: Ruth Ann Blank, Heidi Levey, and Lauren Rackoff.

“If your Board was abducted by aliens, would the organization notice they were gone? Would anyone pay to get them back?” 

Tuscon-based author and consultant Hildy Gottlieb, asks these questions to underscore the importance of board training. Taking this lesson to heart, the Columbus invited its seven newest board members, Ruth Ann Blank, Deborah Kane, Heidi Levey, Lauren Rackoff, Lenore Schottenstein, Steve Schottenstein, and Fran Wasserstrom to a special orientation with veteran Foundation board members on September 12.  The training was convened in the Mel Schottenstein Board Room in the Robins Center for Philanthropy, which houses the Foundation. 

According to Foundation president Sandy Solomon, who led the session with president-elect Michael Weiss and numerous other veteran board members, new trustees can't do the job if they don't understand the job. It's unfair for the new board members to struggle to learn the job and be guessing about what's going on, even though they share the same responsibilities and liabilities.  To help new members hit the ground running, it is useful, according to Weiss and Solomon, to team up with experienced board members who can translate as needed, fill in the gaps of information not repeated at board meetings, and be available for those “dumb” questions someone may otherwise hesitate to ask.