FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[TORONTO, CANADA. July 26, 2024] – The Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) is proud to announce the development and adoption of new feminist bylaws. This marks a significant leap forward in the organization’s commitment and accountability to advance gender equity, diversity, inclusivity, and strengthens the voice of over 1.2 million women entrepreneurs as a political force for change across Canada.
The new bylaws have been crafted through a collaborative process involving extensive research and consultations with members, stakeholders, and experts in the feminist and governance practice fields. The work was also informed by the Ontario Nonprofit Network Reimaging Governance Report. This initiative reflects CanWCC’s dedication to actioning change.
“It’s 2024. Still, report after report points to continued low racial or other forms of diversity on nonprofit boards. The needle has hardly moved. Worse, we are now seeing evidence of rollbacks,” said CanWCC Founder & CEO Nancy Wilson.
Wilson continued, “Aspirational mission and policy statements are everywhere, but clearly negotiable when the going gets tough or when political winds change. Bylaws, in contrast, are non-negotiable. There are real consequences if you ignore them. So, if we want to be serious about diversity & inclusion and be less hierarchical in how we govern, we have to be willing to update our bylaws-not just our websites.”
Key Highlights of the New Feminist Bylaws:
1. Equity, anti-oppression, care, power sharing and anti-racism are now woven into the fabric of governance: The new bylaws include explicit measure to ensure that a minimum of 30% of board members identify as Black, Indigenous or women of colour, with a minimum of one Black, one indigenous woman as part of that 30%. In addition, at least one board member must be aged 18-35, and another must be over 65 to facilitate intergenerational dialogue. Restorative justice, trauma-informed and peer-driven healing approaches to disputes and conflicts are principles guiding dispute resolution protocols.
2. Removal of real and perceived barriers, hierarchy to participation in governance work: The CanWCC board has been expanded to 12 seats and ensures regional representation across Canada. The new bylaws also grant CanWCC members new voting rights and additional pathways to engage with governance. There are also two staff board director seats with full voting rights. This is a radical move designed to address the “upstairs/downstairs” dynamic that plagues many nonprofit boards. The aim is to facilitate broader participation in decision making, the direction of advocacy work, and the future of the organization in general.
3. Reimaging power and decision making: Typically, boards make material decisions based on a simple majority rule approach (51%). In a complex world, this is no longer good enough. Going forward, the CanWCC board will work with key principles of sociocracy, a governance system that centres inclusion, care, data gathering, and egalitarianism in decision making practices. In the new bylaws, material resolutions or motions are passed only if all give their express consent to move forward. If anyone has an objection, the group is compelled to work together to improve the proposal until all consent.
4. Redefining membership: Membership and engagement is now open to all majority women-led enterprise forms, including for-profit, nonprofit, cooperatives, informal collectives and both registered and unregistered self-employed women, which combined add up to over 2 million women founders. CanWCC is interested in serving and supporting all women entrepreneurs regardless of the legal form they decided to adopt. Wilson says “The grand challenges that women founders face, regardless of legal form, are in all cases similar.”
5. Accountable Use of New Technology: The new board structure calls for the appointment of a Privacy, Data Protection Officer at the board level to ensure the organization can stay on top of new developments and work to protect member privacy, intellectual property and other rights.
“We are thrilled to introduce these new feminist bylaws, which represent a significant milestone in our journey towards a more inclusive and equitable business environment for women in Canada,” said Catherine Chan, COO and board secretary for the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce. “These bylaws are not just about rules and regulations; they embody our core values and our unwavering commitment to advocating for and supporting women entrepreneurs.”
Chan continued, “As a result of these changes, we are now opening our board recruitment period for our 2025 – 2026 term. Term sheets and links to the application form can be found on our careers page on our website”
CanWCC invites all members and supporters to join in celebrating this important achievement and to participate in upcoming events that will go into more details about the new bylaws.
For more information about the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the new feminist bylaws, please visit https://canwcc.ca or contact hello@canwcc.ca.
The bylaw refresh project was led by pk mutch, a CanWCC founding board director. “CanWCC initially adopted a very conventional set of bylaws, similar to most startups. Since then, the organization has grown considerably, and it was time to re-imagine our approach to governance and work to align them with 21st century values and our desire for a more inclusive, decolonized, and let’s just say it, less patriarchal world.”
About the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce:
The Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) is a nationally incorporated, not-for-profit organization dedicated to advocacy, advancement, and connection for and on behalf of its members. CanWCC’s membership consists of diverse women-identified entrepreneurs and organizations that are at least 50% woman(en)-owned and led.
Media Contact:
Catherine Chan
CanWCC COO, Director, Board Secretary