Marion Thomson Howell

In addition to being a leader in corporate learning and development, Marion has extensive experience in board governance and organizational leadership. She was elected as a trustee for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board in both the 2003 and 2006 elections, serving as Vice Chair and Chair of the Board. She served in same roles on the Board of Governors for St. Jerome’s University and is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees for St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener. She is also a founding director for A Better Tent City Waterloo Region an organization that provides safe shelter and support for those who are experiencing homelessness.

As a member of the St. Jerome’s board, Marion chaired a task force that proposed establishing a system of bicameral governance for the university resulting in the first senate-like body in the university’s history.

As a consultant, Marion’s work with not-for-profit boards ranges from workshops on governance in general and what directors need to be aware of to be effective stewards of their organizations to work that targets each organization’s specific needs such as updating policies, ensuring effective monitoring of the organization’s work and building relationships among board members. She presented a workshop entitled, Implementing Policy Governance, One Step at a Time, at the International Policy Governance Association (IPGA) conference in Las Vegas. She has been a part of the OESC (Ontario Education Services Corporation) team since 2011, has worked with multiple school boards across the province as well as the Ontario Ministry of Education on issues related to board governance.

In her role as Executive in Residence for Capacity Canada, she designed governance training for board directors based on gamification theory, leads a workshop for Executive Assistants who support boards and is a co-facilitator for the series, Emerging Governance Strategies.

Marion has extensive experience with public sector leadership beyond the board table as well. In one project she produced a series of modules on Municipal Leadership: The Fundamentals of Municipal Leadership, Good Government Model, and Leading to Achieve Results. She also led the project for the Ministry of Education that resulted in the guide, Multi-Year Strategic Planning. A Guide for School Board Trustees.