Code Of Conduct & Conflict Of Interest
Board Policy
The OEC Board of Directors commits itself and its members to ethical, businesslike, and lawful conduct, including proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting as Board members. Accordingly:
- Board members will give their undivided loyalty to the mission and ownership of OEC despite any private interests.
- Board members will speak with one voice when representing a board decision. Board members will seek to understand the perspectives of other board members and will support the legitimacy and authority of the final determination of the Board on any matter, irrespective of the member’s personal position on the issue.
- Board members will attend meetings and be properly prepared for Board deliberation.
- Board members will respect the confidentiality appropriate to issues of a sensitive nature.
- When a problem is perceived or something does not make sense, Board members have a duty to inquire into the surrounding facts and circumstances and to investigate warnings or reports of Board or employee theft or mismanagement.
- Board members will scrupulously avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of OEC and any personal, professional and business interests. A conflict of interest is any interest in a transaction or decision where any board member stands to receive a benefit or gain from an OEC decision or approach. This includes avoiding actual conflicts of interest as well as perceptions of conflicts of interest.
- Board members will annually disclose their involvements with other organizations or with vendors and any associations that might be reasonably seen as representing a conflict of interest. Every Board member will annually sign an individual conflict of interest declaration verifying that they have no conflicts of interest as well as disclosing any potential conflict.
- At the beginning of each meeting or activity, Board members will be asked to disclose any interest in a transaction or decision where they, their business or their personal or professional affiliations, their family and/or significant others, employers, or close associates will receive a benefit or gain. If a conflict of interest exists, the Board member must withdraw from discussion and voting.
- Board members will not use their Board position to obtain employment in the organization for themselves, family members, or close associates.
- The Board has this policy in order to protect the integrity of OEC’s decision-making process, to enable our constituencies to have confidence in our integrity, and to protect the integrity and reputation of volunteers, staff and Board members.
Approved by the Board of Directors June 4, 2010