Southridge School

Board Governance Project

With a new Board Chair, a recently completed Campus Master Plan, and about to embark on CAIS re-accreditation, Southridge, a co-ed, K-12 independent day school located in South Surrey, BC, engaged Berlineaton to explore “what’s next” as a Board.

Key Team Members
Ashka Wirk
Tobias Mehra
Shelly Berlin

A Profound Experience

Effective Board Governance is an essential part of a strong and sustainable independent school. The Board’s responsibility to set the strategic direction, provide financial and risk oversight and support the school leadership, among other things, are vital to any school’s success. This is especially true in times of crisis. Knowing this, we worked with the Southridge Head of School, Board Chair, and Chair of the Governance Committee to design, administer, and analyze a Board Governance Self-Assessment using our seven-driver Governance Framework

Practical Solutions

We presented a dashboard of the Self-Assessment results from 2015 to 2020 in a dashboard format using our seven-driver Governance Framework.  Then, through an online facilitated session, we worked with the Board debrief the results, surface gaps, and develop actions. 

Bolder Futures

This governance session was not only valuable in and of itself, but it also led to the development of a clear strategy for the ongoing Board governance education program for new and seasoned Board members.

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  • The knowledge and experience Berlineaton brought to the table were invaluable. From thoughtful planning to expert facilitation, their professionalism and skill led to the development of a very usable framework that our school will implement to guide generative discussions on each governance driver over the course of the academic year. Not only will the conversations be valuable in and of themselves, but they will also lead to the development of a clear strategy for the ongoing Board governance education program that will be equally important to new and seasoned Board members alike.

    Drew Stephens, Head of School,

    Southridge School

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    Ashka Wirk

    BSc, MBA, CMC, ACC
    Architect, Builder, Crystal Gazer.

    Ashka is a certified management consultant and executive coach, specializing in board-governed organizations in the education, health care and technology sectors.  

    She is an expert in using qualitative and quantitative data to guide the development of strategy, and then developing tactics and measurement systems that help ensure an effective execution.  

    Ashka’s passion is to lead disciplined, engaging and evidence-based projects that improve organizational effectiveness. To do this, she draws on her extensive and varied background in the fields of science and business. When Ashka’s not with her two school-aged children, you can find her in her gym or garden!

    Ashka is an Associate of Berlineaton’s.

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    Tobias Mehra

    BA, MSc, MIB, CMC
    Problem Solver, Ear-Lender, Globetrotter.

    Tobias is an Engagement Lead. He joined the firm in early 2019. He draws on his various academic and professional experiences in business strategy, market research and corporate sustainability to provide simple and elegant data-driven solutions. 

    Tobias discovered his passion for working with people from a diverse set of backgrounds and enjoys helping organizations confront complex challenges with simple data-powered solutions. 

    Originally hailing from Austria, he moved to Victoria in 2018. Tobias loves exploring the outdoors and loves Vancouver Island as much as he loves Austria. His newest love, though, is his daughter, born at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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    Shelly Berlin

    BA, MBA, FCMC, ACC
    Strategist, Confidante, Entrepreneur.

    Shelly is a co-founding partner of Berlineaton and has over 25 years’ experience in management consulting in strategy, process improvement and leader development.  

    She’s worked extensively with public and private sector organizations, and she is a professional facilitator, expert in the design, development, and execution of strategy. She is a certified executive coach and a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. 

    Shelly’s passion is to help leaders and their organizations achieve extraordinary success through bold thinking, courageous risk taking and disciplined action planning. Dark chocolate helps too.