2025 Woodsworth Elections: WHAT MAKES A GOOD CANDIDATE? 
Elections Committee (nominate@woodsworthcoop.ca)
Nominations for November’s co-op elections are now open.
A reminder that Woodsworth can’t function properly if members don’t step up at election time to fill the open positions, especially on the Board of Directors.
Here are a few qualities that we believe make a good candidate to run in each of our elections:
• You care about your home.
• You have a willingness to learn.
• You understand the importance of cooperation, achieving compromise, and working constructively with other members for the benefit of Woodsworth.
• You are respectful and reliable.
• You follow the rules outlined in the co-op bylaws and policies.
• You respect decisions that are the result of properly constituted votes.
Board of Directors:
CHF Canada says this about co-op governance — “A strong Board of Directors is key to a healthy co-op. Board governance is the cornerstone of success for housing co-ops. When we don’t get governance right, we put everything else at risk.”
TESTIMONIAL from long-time co-op powerhouse Jane Rubel:
Thanks, Elections Committee, for getting volunteers to share their experiences in The Weekly. I’ve worked on many committees over the years, and I have to say my favourites have been The Landscape Committee and The Board.
Two wildly different experiences. Landscape is, hands down for me, the most positive committee to be on. Complete strangers will stop and compliment you, and the whole co-op can see your efforts. It doesn’t matter if your hands have never touched earth before, either – absolute beginners are welcome.
But being on The Board is, by far, the most rewarding. You and six other members work together to do the best that you can for the co-op for a couple of years. It’s the group with the most responsibility, arguably the most difficulties to deal with, but it is also the very best way to get involved in the co-op. Learn how this place runs, see your own efforts contribute to the welfare of almost 500 people and work with our employees, the office and maintenance staff. From the inside, where decisions are made.
And you are one of the people making those decisions. (But don’t forget – you are a volunteer group, and not expected to have all the answers; just do your best!) You become one of a select group (literally) of people with core co-op knowledge. You’ll see this place with new eyes – I really recommend it! And it’s a nice thing to put on a resumé, to be a voluntary board member of a successful co-op…