It is rare to find an individual who uses her leadership and skills to support the community. Noella Milne is one of those rare leaders in Canada.

Noella immigrated to Canada at the age of 17. For more than 20 years, she has dedicated her career and compassion to improving the lives of women and children.

Today, Noella is a Senior Partner at Borden Ladner Gervais and sits on the boards for the George Brown College Foundation, Children’s Aid Foundation, Street Kids International, and UNICEF Canada. She is also a valuable contributor to the CBDC’s ‘Get On Board’ program. Milne recently spoke with us about the way she approaches her board career – with passion.

CBDC: Did you chase your first board position or was it offered to you? What board was it?

Noella Milne (NM): My first board position was with the Children’s Aid Foundation. They invited me on to the Board, as I had worked with them giving legal advice on a pro bono basis for a couple of years before that.  I got to know the staff, the cause and the children they served. Since my passion is children, especially under-privileged children, it was a perfect fit!

CBDC: Your focus for your board positions is on the non-for-profit sector. Where did the passion to sit on these boards come from?

NM: I made a decision early on in my career to only seek out not-for-profit board positions. This was a strategic decision on my part as I felt that given my career as a lawyer, I would be dealing mainly with for-profit organizations and businesses whose main purpose was the generation of profit. I felt strongly that my extracurricular activities should be focused on helping individuals who were less privileged and had no one to fight for them, such as the young children we serve at the Children’s Aid Foundation or the poverty-stricken children around the world who are served by organizations such as UNICEF and Street Kids International, whose boards I also sit on. The passion to sit on these boards sprang from my upbringing in India where I saw much inequality and powerlessness among the poor and resolved that one day I would be in a position to effect change and work towards leveling the playing field for those born without opportunity.

CBDC: One of your passions seems to be helping women get ahead. What do you think of the diversity of boards in Canada? Are we getting better?

NM: My passions definitely revolve around helping young women and girls get ahead in this world.  I’ve long felt that women are disadvantaged in the work force and more generally in our world, especially minority women and girls who are underprivileged.  Because of my bias towards helping the underdog, I have focused my efforts on helping young girls and women get ahead in this world.

I think that we have a long, long way to go in Canada with respect to achieving diversity, be that with women or with minorities on boards, including not-for-profit boards. However, the not-for-profit boards have made greater strides in achieving diversity and are way ahead of corporate boards in this area.

CBDC: Do you find more CEOs/Presidents in Canada are going to the Board for advice and guidance?

NM: With the current climate in North America there is a heightened focus on good governance. I do believe there is much more emphasis on board involvement and good governance and therefore CEOs and Presidents are being forced to rely more heavily on their boards.  Meanwhile, board directors are paying much more attention to their fiduciary duty as board members and are much more aware about avoiding conflicts of interest and good governance generally.

CBDC: What is the time commitment you give to your board positions?

NM: I am extremely involved and committed to my boards. I try not to miss a single board meeting if I can help it, and I find that my time commitment to my boards is increasing year by year. There are some weeks where I find myself devoting about 25 to 35 percent of my work week to the boards I sit on, which means I have to catch up with my legal billable work on the weekends.

CBDC: When you choose an organization to be a part of what do you look for?

NM: With respect to the organizations I choose to work with, it is very important to me that they work with the underprivileged in our society and/or around the world. If those organizations focus on women and girls in particular, I am even more attracted to them.  I also greatly enjoy working with organizations like George Brown College as they do serve a large immigrant population and they are particularly geared towards leveling the playing field for new immigrants by giving them a “leg up” through education.  UNICEF Canada and Street Kids International fit what I am looking for very particularly as my efforts can reach children around the world who are underprivileged. Through the Children’s Aid Foundation, I feel pleased that I am able to reach children who are underprivileged right in my backyard and meet with young women who I can mentor directly because they happen to be right here in Toronto.

CBDC: What do you think boards are looking for from directors? Has this changed in the last few years?

NM: In the not-for-profit sector, I have seen a huge shift from boards being governance boards towards boards looking to their members to be fundraisers and “door openers”; they are looking to their board members to introduce the organization to large donors and to open the doors to corporations that could be large supporters and sponsors for their projects.

What is evident is that there is a major shift from governance boards to fundraising boards and while boards do look for experience in governance from their directors, I think if you as an individual can bring both elements to a board, you will be seen as a very valuable board member in this tough economic climate. Directors that can facilitate large philanthropic gifts for any not-for-profit organization are very much in demand today.

CBDC: What do you bring to a board position?

NM: I think personally what I bring to a board is my ability to leverage the experience that I’ve accrued over the past 20 years sitting on various boards. I can also leverage my relationships and my networks for the boards I sit on.  The more boards you sit on, the more information you gather, the more experience you gain, the more people you meet and the cross-pollination could be very beneficial for the organizations whose boards you sit on.

It is not only important that a board member raise money for the organization they serve, but they should be an amazing ambassador for the organization, and they should connect that organization to people that can help them in different ways that could be much more significant than simply raising dollars. This would include getting recognition for the organization you sit on, raising awareness for the organization, or obtaining free services such as free communications and branding advice, free public relations/advertising space, free legal or accounting advice for the board. Another valuable service you could provide to your board is introducing the board to potential strong board members through your personal connections.

CBDC: If you have one piece of advice to someone starting their board pursuits, what is it?

NM: With respect to any advice I could give to people who are just starting out looking for board positions, I would say that it is very important to get to know the organization first and to offer your assistance in any capacity in order to get to understand the way the organization works and also to allow them to get to know you. This would include sitting on any committees that the organization has, such as a Fundraising Committee, an Events Committee or an Investment Committee.

Secondly, raising money for an organization is a very effective way to get that organization to notice you and would greatly influence their decision to make you a future board member. What is important is that you spend some time thinking about which organizations you want to target – which cause is close to your heart. It is much easier to work hard for an organization that is aligned with your beliefs, your principles and your interests.

However, it is important to note that skills that are attained by sitting on any board can be used across the field with any board. Nevertheless, there is nothing as rewarding as working with a cause that is aligned with your heart. People, who witness me juggling my career, my kids and my innumerable board commitments, often say to me – “how do you do it?” – To which I respond – “how could I not?!”

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