Project Description
NEWSLETTER | April 2023
It has been a busy start to 2023 for Positive Solutions. The end of 2022 saw the team conclude a number of governance projects, including a review of the State Library of Queensland Board, advice for the Betty Amsden Foundation, and hosting a free Governance webinar – How to Get the Most from your Board: a CEO’s Guide.
More recently, we have been busy welcoming new team members, and new clients and projects, including Townsville’s North Australian Festival of Arts, Gunnedah Conservatorium, Shepparton Art Museum, Youth NSW, and the Dalrymple Community Cultural Centre Trust, who are opening a Community Cultural Centre in Charters Towers.
We look forward to sharing more of this work with you as it unfolds across 2023, as well as highlighting our new projects as they come on-stream.
INITIATIVE INSIGHTS
Board Recruitment Webinar
Do you know how to find the right people for your board?
During this free webinar, David Fishel Director at Positive Solutions joined Windsor Group’s CEO, Dylys Bertelsen OAM, and Senior Human Resources Manager at Act for Kids, Zoe Newbury to discuss all things board recruitment.
What skills and aptitudes would your new board members ideally have, and how do these supplement your organisation? Is there an uplift in board performance if the members are paid? How can an organisation best target their recruitment to ensure diversity in board composition?
Earning a Living: The artist’s changing workplace
Positive Solutions was engaged by The Ian Potter Cultural Trust in 2021 to review the impact of the Trust’s support for Australian artists and advise on strategies for the future. As context for our advice, we prepared a scan of some factors impacting the sustainability of artists’ careers – a key focus for the Trust. With the Trust’s permission the following is an edited version of the context material we prepared, highlighting some of the issues raised by artists.
Artists have for some time forged creative pathways into interdisciplinary practice and have adopted a ‘portfolio’ approach, treating their creative ability as the kernel of a ‘business’. However, factors such as Pandemic-induced travel and event restrictions, environmental disasters, technological transformations, and increasing complexity of interdisciplinary creative projects have an impact on the creation and presentation of creative works. A question for funding agencies – both public and philanthropic – is how they can best respond in such an unpredictable environment.
2022 Webinar – how to get the most from your board: a CEOs guide
In October last year, Positive Solutions director David Fishel presented a webinar to equip CEO’s with practical ideas for engaging, motivating and harnessing your non-profit Board. With contributions from Steven Bowman, Managing Director of Conscious Governance, and Theodora Le Souquet, Managing Director of Canaria Technologies, the session provided an opportunity for participants to share their own experience and put questions to the panel.
So that the knowledge shared in this session can provide an ongoing tool for the sector – a recording of the webinar has been made available here, along with a reader companion piece sharing perspectives from board members across the sector, and a number of other additional resources.
PROJECT PROFILES
Review and assessment of North Australian Festival of Arts
Positive Solutions has been engaged by Townsville City Council to assist with the future development of the North Australian Festival of Arts (NAFA), seeking advice on organisational arrangements, scope and timing of the Festival program, and other issues. The North Australian Festival of Arts premiered in 2019. Based in Townsville and held during winter, it includes an open access Fringe festival. NAFA presents concerts, staged performances, visual arts and community art events. The future governance structure of NAFA is being explored, as well as NAFA’s vision, programming philosophy and community engagement for future Festivals.
Positive Solutions’ process included consultation with creative producers, cultural institutions, related industries, local government and audience members – and in-depth benchmarking conducted into the governance and operating arrangements of a range of Australian arts festivals.
Reimagining Billilla Mansion to open it for the whole Bayside community
Positive Solutions has been commissioned by Bayside City Council to prepare a Strategic Plan to help develop the vision for the Billilla Mansion as a community asset. The Billilla Mansion is an iconic late 19th century building with formal gardens, now being opened to the Bayside community after a range of private and educational uses. Located in the Bayside City Council area, southeast of Melbourne, the Mansion and grounds of Billilla can provide many opportunities for formal and informal community events. Positive Solutions is working with support from experienced culture and heritage consultant, Sue Silberberg, in the preparation of a practical strategic plan to frame the future programs, staffing, governance and finances for this heritage property.
Development of the Mike Carney Creative Industries Centre for Dalrymple Community Cultural Centre Trust
Positive Solutions has been assisting the Dalrymple Community Cultural Centre Trust with the establishment of the Mike Carney Creative Industries Centre, in Charters Towers, Northern Queensland. The late Mike Carney, known to many in North Queensland as the region’s leading Toyota dealer, left a building and an endowment to the Trust to set up the Community Cultural Centre. Our process has included board development and strategic planning support, as well as recruitment for the business and operational management of the centre, to further grow and develop the facility.
GOVERNANCE SPOTLIGHT
Organisational and governance development for Gunnedah Conservatorium
Positive Solutions has been engaged by the Gunnedah Conservatorium to provide our expertise in the area of organisational development. The Conservatorium has recently been granted a significant uplift in funding from the NSW Government – and now needs to gear up its processes and staffing to deliver an increased range of activities. We have worked with several of the NSW Conservatoriums on governance and planning, board training, and with Queensland Conservatorium on market research and planning. Positive Solutions’ process includes board workshops and round-table consultations/focus groups with students, teachers, parents, and staff. Future organisational planning is informed by benchmarking of other Australian conservatoriums.
Board training and strategic planning support for Shepparton Art Museum
Positive Solutions is working with the Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) to lead board induction and training, and facilitate the Museum’s strategic planning process. Board workshopping will include consideration of the future relationship between the operating company and the SAM Foundation – and overall corporate structure. This follows on from our previous involvement, consulting on the establishment of SAM as an independent legal entity to accommodate growth for the redeveloped gallery.
Soils for Life governance review
Positive Solutions began working with Soils for Life in May 2021, providing a comprehensive governance review. Positive Solutions also assisted Soils for Life in identifying the appropriate skills for potential board members, such as farming/regenerative, fundraising and governance skills. Our engagement with Soils for life has recently recommenced as we guide the board recruitment process, and draft documentation to support the Board and the specialist Board Committees.
Board effectiveness review for Youth NSW
We are currently working with Y-NSW (Previously YMCA NSW) to review board effectiveness—ensuring board processes, skills-base and documentation are serving the organisation well. ‘The Y’ are a keystone non-profit in the youth space, and one of the largest and oldest such organisations in the world. The Y are passionate about nurturing potential and providing safe spaces where young people can grow, learn, move and thrive.
Board and chair evaluation for State Library Queensland
In 2022, Positive Solutions completed a board and chair evaluation for the State Library of Queensland. The skills and positive performance of the Board allowed the review to focus on refining and streamlining board processes—focusing on ways to improve operations, increase external advocacy and strengthen relationships with the SLQ Foundation.
Betty Amsden Foundation
Positive Solutions is supporting the Trustees of the Betty Amsden Foundation with a refresh on clarity around the scope of the Board’s work, and the priorities for the Trust in the short and medium term.
WOW UPDATES
Director Cathy Hunt appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia
We are delighted to announce that Positive Solutions Co-Founder and Director Cathy Hunt has been appointed a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia within the Australian honours system for significant services to arts and culture, and to women. Cathy has delivered many projects in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong across the cultural sector from organisational and policy development to feasibility studies for new facilities.
Cathy has written two Platform Papers—A Sustainable Arts Sector: What will it take, and Paying the Piper: There has to be a batter way—and contributed to the Griffith Review (link). For the past seven years she has led the development of the WOW (Women of the World) Festivals in Australia working with our friend and colleague Jude Kelly at the WOW Foundation in London.
We would also like to congratulate all artists and arts administrators who have been recognised this year including Richard Evans AM and Lynda Dorrington AM.
‘A Glimmer Of Hope’ for ‘Impact Investing in the Global Creative Economy’
Cathy Hunt’s latest article, ‘A Glimmer of Hope’ has been published in Creativity, Culture & Capital’s third essay collection ‘Impact investing in the global creative economy’.
The piece offers Cathy’s reflections on the recent federal election, and the opportunities it could bring to rethink the paradigms and funding models that underpin the creative economy.
TEAM UPDATES
Goodbyes and welcomes
At the end of 2022, we farewelled two of our support staff—Amy Cavanough, who is moving on to a Community Experience Coordinator role at the University of Tasmania, and Marisa Georgiou, who joined the teaching and research team at QUT’s School of Public Health and Social Work. Their research and sector expertise have been a great contribution to our recent projects.
Joining the team in 2023, we welcome Melanie Tasker, an accomplished administrator and graphic designer, coming from a background of working with social enterprises & businesses who do good.
And we’re welcoming back Noam O’Reilly. Noam was a project officer with Positive Solutions from 2018 to 2021. They took a brief break to pursue a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) to complement their BFA (Hons 1M), offering a cross section of arts sector knowledge, along with policy and governance best practice.
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