For Member Agencies
Tripartite board orientation packet
Role descriptions, recruitment for all three sectors, conflict policy and meeting cadence.
Resource detail
Every Community Action Agency is governed by a tripartite board: one third elected public officials, at least one third low-income community representatives, and the remainder private-sector and community leaders.
The three sectors
- Public: elected officials or their designated representatives
- Low-income: democratically selected representatives of the people served
- Private: business, faith, education, health and civic leaders
What a new member needs in the first 90 days
- Mission, history and the Community Action promise
- Programme portfolio and funding sources, including CSBG requirements
- The current Community Needs Assessment and community action plan
- Budget, audit and the board's fiduciary duties
- Conflict-of-interest policy and signed disclosure
- Meeting calendar, committee structure and attendance expectations
Recruiting low-income representatives well
Use a documented selection process, remove practical barriers such as meeting times, transport and childcare, and give new representatives a peer mentor on the board. Representation is a compliance requirement and the reason the governance model works.
Official sources and further reading
Source: CSBG Act tripartite board requirements and CSBG Organizational Standards.
Related resources
- Toolkit
Community Needs Assessment toolkit
Timeline, survey bank, focus-group protocols, data sources and board presentation template.
Open resource - Guide
CSBG Annual Report data preparation guide
Module-by-module walkthrough, common validation errors and submission timeline.
Open resource - Checklist
Fiscal monitoring and single-audit readiness checklist
Documentation standards, allowability review and corrective-action tracking.
Open resource - Template
Intake and case management workflow templates
Screening scripts, referral routing and follow-up cadence for bundled services.
Open resource