Dear OHS Members,
At the 2025 Annual General Meeting, the OHS membership adopted a new Strategic Plan (2026-30) which prioritizes expansion of support for our members through capacity building programs and resources.
In response to the strategic plan’s objectives, the Society is launching a new Capacity Building Initiative which will deliver two unique training and education series per year. Each series will feature a variety of sessions focusing on a defined theme relevant to heritage sector not-for-profits, volunteers, and professionals. Sessions will be delivered by subject-matter experts through virtual meetings and workshops. Each series will also be accompanied by a set of expertly-curated resources and templates made available to all participants.
The Society is currently rebuilding its website to include an OHS Resource Library, where all of the session recordings and accompanying resource packages will be stored for ongoing member access. We look forward to launching the new website and the resource library this summer. In the meantime, we are very pleased to be launching the first capacity building series of 2026:
Series 1: Governance & Succession Planning
Led by Benjamin Miller of the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN), this first series is designed to help OHS members expand upon their understanding of roles and responsibilities as not-for-profits, their legal and regulatory obligations, how to run effective meetings, and how to engage in ongoing succession planning to develop better continuity and sustainability within the organization. Our first session in this series will be held on April 28:
Session 1: Governance 101
April 28, 2026, 4:00–6:00 PM
This online workshop will cover the rights and roles of members, directors, and officers, paying particular attention to the roles of the conventional officer positions (chair, treasurer, and secretary).
To register for the first session, please email OHS staff by April 27th: ohs@ontariohistoricalsociety.ca.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Other Upcoming Sessions (Dates TBA):
Session 2: Meetings 101
This workshop will cover the 5 “W”s of board membership and the process of board meetings and members’ meetings from a legal point of view.
Session 3: Succession Planning
This session will be a hands-on workshop going through the steps for creating a succession plan, building a pipeline of leadership, and preparing a transition document. The session will also touch on more granular needs, such as obtaining a company key and getting access to company accounts.
Session 4: Office Hours (An Open Workshop with Benjamin Miller)
Members will be invited to bring their specific questions and examples to discuss and work through with Benjamin Miller.
Benjamin Miller (he/him) is a staff lawyer on the Nonprofit Law Ontario project where he focuses on the legal needs of nonprofits and charities. Over the past 8 years, Benjamin has answered thousands of nonprofit law questions, developed and delivered hundreds of workshops, and developed online interactive tools, including a bylaw builder for the ONCA. Benjamin holds a JD and MPP from the University of Toronto and an MA in political theory from the University of Ottawa.