Better Boards Conference 2026
Pathfinders – Governing with Courage
31 July - 1 August • Cairns Convention Centre
Presentation
From Vacancy to Value: Designing Boards People Want to Join
Janis McKenna
Founder and Managing Director, Elm Consulting Australia Pty Ltd
Janis McKenna MBA., GAICD: Founder and Managing Director Elm Consulting Australia. Janis is an award-winning consultant and business leader with over 35 years of executive experience partnering with purpose-driven and commercial organisations across governance, strategy, and transformational change. Her approach combines global commercial acumen with deep sector expertise to deliver strategic solutions that are ambitious, practical, and sustainable.
Governance and Advisory Leadership: Janis serves as a non-executive director and board advisor to organisations spanning healthcare, aged and disability care, community services, and international development. Her governance portfolio includes board directorship of Nyaho Healthcare Limited (Ghana's first private hospital in Accra) and trusteeship of the Nyaho Dove Foundation. In a previous CEO role, she has provided expert advice to two Tasmanian Ministers for Health and Human Services and served on the Tasmanian Premier's Disability Advisory Council, the Tasmanian NDIS Taskforce, and as Chair of the Tasmanian Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs.
Diverse Business Experience: Janis' consultancy expertise is informed by her active involvement in a diverse international business portfolio spanning healthcare, technology, and property development across Australia, the United Kingdom, and Ghana. Her commercial experience includes governance roles with Serenity Health Technologies, a cloud-based platform providing primary care, urgent and in-patient care, patient portal, corporate healthcare benefits administration portal and virtual care. This cross-sector experience enables her to bring real-world commercial insight and international perspective to strategic advisory work.
Recognition: Janis's leadership excellence has earned international recognition, including the 2024 International Alliance for Women World of Difference Award, the prestigious Telstra Business Women's Award (Government and Community), and the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce Business Leader of the Year Award.
Qualifications and Memberships
- Master of Business Administration: University of Tasmania - Company Directors Course graduate: Australian Institute of Company Directors - Certificate in Design Thinking: IDEO U California - Digital Transformation Sprint: International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Lausanne Switzerland - A Specialist Member of Benefolk
Not-for-profit boards face an escalating challenge, attracting capable, committed directors in an increasingly competitive volunteer landscape. While skilled professionals face mounting demands on their time, most boards still recruit reactively, focusing on filling vacancies rather than articulating compelling board value propositions that explain why exceptional directors would choose to serve.
This session reframes board recruitment as a strategic and courageous act of governance, not a gap-filling exercise. It addresses a critical governance gap - boards cannot attract the directors they need because they have never defined their value proposition to prospective board members.
Drawing on evidence-based governance practice and real-world case studies across NFP organisations, this session demonstrates how pathfinding boards craft value propositions that move recruitment from ‘seeking help’ to ‘offering opportunity.’
Participants will explore three key areas: The courage to choose well: understanding the long-term cost of rushed or availability-based appointments, and why sometimes the bravest governance decision is leaving a seat unfilled rather than compromising board effectiveness and value proposition delivery.
From vacancy to value: shifting from traditional role descriptions to contribution design that translates organisational mission into personal meaning, professional development, and strategic influence. This includes conducting a board ‘value audit’ to identify the tangible and intangible value directors genuinely experience versus what boards hope they offer.
Designing a board people want to join: creating recruitment messaging, onboarding experiences, and board cultures that communicate and deliver on the board’s value proposition.
Begin developing your own board’s value proposition using tested diagnostic questions and templates. Delegates will leave with practical tools including value proposition frameworks, recruitment messaging templates, and a strategic approach to building board capability, culture, and long-term sustainability.
When boards articulate their value proposition courageously, they attract directors ready to govern courageously, contributing to a sustainable governance ecosystem.
Master the art of the boardroom
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