ABOUT MBC Inc.
Suanne Miedema is Founder and President of Miedema’s Board Consulting Inc. where she helps nonprofit boards improve their governance with best-in-class Board Policy Manuals. With experience spanning both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors she offers a practical, user-friendly, results-oriented service to her clients. Suanne has developed a special interest and expertise in writing Board Policy Manuals which allows boards the opportunity to take advantage of best-practice governance in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Suanne works with the board to develop customized documents and she provides the follow-up necessary to ensure the board is trained and the governance system is used as it is intended.
Suanne has an MBA from York University Schulich School of Business and the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Suanne is a Certified Standards Program coach for Imagine Canada and is a member of the ICD and BoardSource with numerous governance courses and certificates from each.
Prior to establishing her consultancy, Suanne managed a multi-million dollar, multi-site organization where she gained experience developing business strategy, providing leadership, building teams and improving processes. She is seen to be a creative, collaborative problem-solver and adept at establishing and nurturing partnerships. With a strong analytical skill set, she adds value in both long and short term scenarios. Suanne is generous and civic-minded, serving charities through board leadership. She currently serves as a volunteer Director on the following nonprofit boards:
- World Vision Canada, Canada’s largest private relief and development agency
- World Vision International, World Vision’s global centre
- VisionFund International, World Vision’s global microfinance division
“Good board governance is crucial to a charitable organization’s success and sustainability. Suanne’s board experience gives her credibility and insight that will be a benefit to your organization.”
“Suanne has done an outstanding job at completely revamping MAF Canada’s Board Policy Manual and other related documents to a more concise and more practical suite of documents for use by directors with increased accessibility via a board portal. This has resulted in significant improvement in new board member orientation and governance reference and practices for utilization by our board.”
“Suanne is an experienced Board member with knowledge, emotional intelligence and a significant level of business experience. She has the talent to provide excellent training in board governance and policy for any organization.”
“Suanne conducted a thorough audit of the board’s practices and policies, and provided us with clear and actionable recommendations. Her work is highly professional, customized to the organization and eminently practical. Suanne has strengthened not only the board, but me in my role as chair.”
“Throughout the engagement Suanne displayed an exceptional level of client service and responsiveness to our evolving project needs. Additionally, she exhibited in-depth understanding of not-for-profit governance and the important role that strong documentation plays in assuring Board and Director confidence.”
“The process of implementing Suanne’s expertise into an electronic board portal for top of screen access to all our governance documents has been excellent, and one I highly recommend.”
“Suanne’s work with our Board and school helped us tremendously. Her knowledge of what is necessary, her suggestions for what would be wise to implement, along with her attention to detail and her professional and personal manner were deeply appreciated by administrators and board members throughout the three-month process.”
“The Trust has been working with Suanne Miedema over the past year and have found our partnership to be invaluable. Suanne’s strategic guidance, expert opinion and practical insights have been routinely applied by both our Trustees and myself, as Chief Staff Officer.”
“Even if a non-profit board seems to be running well, as ours at Bird Studies Canada is, how do you know if things are going as well as they should be? Particularly, as in our situation, with board members coming from across Canada and with widely varying work and volunteer experiences? Suanne spoke individually with our Executive Committee members to inform a comprehensive and confidential online survey of all directors, concerning our board policies and practices. She remains focused, has a wide range of experience, and most importantly, is a very good listener. Her concise report, with its short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations, form a crisp and practical governance reform agenda for our organization for the next two years. Now, we know exactly what to do and are confident that we are addressing the top governance priorities.”
“Suanne was instrumental in our application for certification with Imagine Canada. Her substantial knowledge of governance and the accreditation process made the experience both informative and strengthening for us as an organization. Her guidance and support ensured a smooth & efficient response and we are sincerely grateful for her excellence.”
“Suanne was an absolute pleasure to work with – kind, thoughtful, knowledgeable, patient and very, very thorough. She doesn’t miss a thing and she was great at gently guiding the whole process of Board Policy renewal. Always on-time and on budget. Highly recommend!”
“Suanne’s significant contribution to our Inclusive HR Practices Toolkit was extremely valuable, along with the wisdom and insight she shared during two national webinars! MentorAbility Canada has appreciated our working relationship with Suanne and her ongoing commit to creating an inclusive Canadian workforce! It was an absolute pleasure to work with her!”
“It was a pleasure to work with Suanne Miedema. Suanne provided Food For The Poor Canada with a comprehensive board policy and committee documentation. She is extremely knowledgeable in the charitable sector governance space. She is thorough, detailed and responsive as well as being easy to work with.”
