Governance Study

The Governance Study, co-led by Sunita Nigam and Robin Sokoloski, is one of the Knowledge Sustainability Teams of the Staging Better Futures/Mettre en scène de meilleurs avenirs Partnership. These teams, which also include Knowledge Synthesis, Archiving, and Knowledge Mobilization, serve and steer the project regarding matters that affect all participants and beneficiaries. 

The Governance Study works in close collaboration with SBF/MSMA’s Co-directors, its Governance Committee, and its Student Caucus, the latter of which is in the process of being created by two student participants in SBF/MSMA, namely Irina Betzabhe Gonzalez Guadarrama and Shawn DeSouza-Coelho (planned for early 2025). Once a freelance artist caucus and a contract faculty caucus are created (planned for 2025-2026), the Governance Study will also work in close collaboration with these caucuses.    

Broadly stated, “Governance encompasses the system by which an organisation is controlled and operates, and the mechanisms by which it, and its people, are held to account.” (Governance Institute of Australia). It refers to the system by which an organization operates and to structures, practices, and policies that an organization has established to:

• assign decision-making authority, accountability, and processes; 
• establish an organization’s strategic direction;
• oversee the accomplishment of its mandate;
• monitor its ethics and mitigate its risks;
• report on its performance in achieving its mandate and respecting its commitments to steer ongoing improvements.

Overall, the work of the SBF/MSMA Governance Study is to:

1. Observe the work of SBF/MSMA at all levels to understand existing governance mechanisms, strengths, challenges, and needs.
2. Develop governance structures, policies, and practices (for approval by the Governance Committee) that align with the project’s mandate and commitments to community-driven research, decolonization, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and restorative justice. 
3. Support (through consultation and observation) the regional clusters to collaboratively develop bespoke working agreements, conflict resolution processes, harm mitigation measures, and other governance mechanisms that are locally appropriate to their relationships and needs.  
4. Support the student caucus and (eventually) the freelance artist and faculty caucuses in creating mechanisms through which their expertise and needs can be effectively integrated into the governance of SBF/MSMA. (2024-2026)  
5. Learn about the values that participants wish to center in their work through the facilitation of a values exercise across SBF/MSMA. (2025-2026)
6. Develop a values-driven governance framework for SBF/MSMA through an iterative research design process in close consultation with the Governance Committee. (2025-2026)
7. Organize all governance structures, policies, and practices created through the Governance Study into a toolkit of resources related to aspects of project governance for use by project members and beyond. (2025-2026)  
8. Monitor and research its own work of conducting a Governance Study for SBF/MSMA, including lessons learned and wise practices, to mobilize this knowledge within and beyond the project. (2024-2026)  

The two central questions guiding the work of the Governance Study are:

1. What kinds of governance structures, practices, and policies are most consistent with SBF/MSMA’s commitments to community-driven research, decolonization, anti-racism, 
2. equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, and restorative justice?  
3. What kinds of methods and practices for developing governance structures, practices, and policies are most consistent with SBF/MSMA’s commitments to commitments to community-driven research, decolonization, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, and restorative justice?  

The Governance Study’s current membership includes Julie Bérubé, Irina Betzabhe Gonzales
Guadarrama, Sunita Nigam, Nicole Nolette, Robin Sokoloski, Shawn DeSouza-Coelho, Jennifer Roberts-Smith, and Robin Sokoloski.