Steering Committee Structure

Steering committee composition

The Coalition decided in 2018 to have 7 Sectors form a Steering Committee (SC) and are the voting members of the SC. Other members of the Coalition, namely the Director of the Health Department and the Impact Norwood Program Director are also members of the SC without a vote.

The Sectors of Law Enforcement and Schools are considered permanent members of the SC, until the Coalition determines further changes need to be made. These 2 Sectors shall remain as voting members, leaving 5 other Sectors to be elected onto the SC by the Coalition as voting members.

If it is determined that additional Sector(s) shall remain on the SC either temporarily (less than a year) or permanently (1-year term) and the Coalition membership votes as such, those SC members serve without a vote. This may be necessary for a specific and critical issue being dealt with by the SC or Coalition, so some continuity may be necessary.

The Coalition shall strive to ensure every Sector has a representative. The Sector representative can change and that is OK and healthy for the overall Coalition. Even if on the SC, a Sector representative can change to fulfill their term on the SC or fulfill the needs of that meeting.

The responsibilities of the Steering Committee are mainly to oversee the organization’s goals and to be directive of the activities to be implemented, after receiving direction from the Coalition membership. Formed standing committees are also required to provide input to the Steering Committee to ensure the goals are achieved. The SC typically meets once a month. Meetings can be changed by the SC Chair or Program Director, in consultation with the SC Chair.

Each member of the Steering Committee serves for a term of 3 years (except for Law Enforcement and Schools), after initially being elected to either a 1-, 2- or 3-year start-up term by the membership, so that terms are staggered going forward.

After a Sector representative serves out their term, it is recommended that other Sector representatives be rotated/elected, so that all Sectors serve on the Steering Committee at some point. This is important for the Coalition to get the most out of the organization, to allow others to contribute directly in the running of the coalition, and to show all members that we take the involvement of everyone seriously and are always looking for new members to bring forth new ideas and how to complete our goals to have the best IMPACT.

Involvement takes many forms, so individuals should not feel left out for not being on the SC. It is the Coalition that gets the actual Town work or Town activities up and running and maintained for the benefit of those in need.

The Program Director shall maintain and deliver to the membership an up to date list of Sector representatives, the Steering Committee members, and their associated terms.

Sixty (60) days prior to the end of a Steering Committee member’s term, the Chair of the organization & Steering Committee shall review the Sector Representation and make recommendations to the Steering Committee on possible changes going forward. The advance timeframe will allow for input and discussion with other potential Sector representatives.

The Steering Committee shall make their recommendation(s) to the overall coalition membership at the annual meeting in May to formally make changes to the Steering Committee. The Coalition membership shall also elect for one year, a Chairperson to oversee the meetings of both the membership and the Steering Committee. If the Chairperson does not come from one of the elected SC Sector members, then he/she shall also be a non-voting member of the SC.

The Vice-chair of the Coalition is not an automatic member of the Steering Committee unless voted onto the SC by the Coalition Membership for a specific purpose. The Vice-chair would serve as a non-voting member of the SC, unless he/she is one of the elected Sectors to the SC.