COCOA Steering Committee

COCOA is BFA's Culture of Care and Open Accountability program. BFA Leadership kicked off the program with a series of listening sessions, led by Sarah Clegg, an external consultant, to gain a deeper understanding of our BFA culture and explore ways to improve it. A full report was submitted in September 2022 and shared across the division. The recommendations were many and fell under one of the following themes:

• Continuous Support and Development of Personnel
• Accountability and Transparency
• Employee and Community Engagement
• Open Communication

To foster open communication and improve engagement, the BFA Leadership Team established the COCOA Committee. This committee works in partnership with the BFA Leadership Team and plays a crucial role in ensuring the success of the program. The committee’s primary focus is to ensure active participation, leadership accountability, consistent measurement of achievements, and ongoing improvements based on feedback. 

The COCOA Committee plays a role in assessing whether the program is achieving these goals, providing valuable insight into its effectiveness. It is comprised of employees from across the division and operates independently of any specific reporting structure. Importantly, the committee has the full support of division leadership, which will ensure the program is both successful and sustainable.

The BFA Leadership Team created a set of defining objectives for the COCOA program, designed to identify ways to achieve immediate impact as well as longer-term cultural change. These defining objectives are: 

• Communicative accountability standards progress
• Develop strategic leaders
• Strengthen employee recruitment and retention (talent management)
• Build a community/break down silos
• Create a regular division communication plan and cadence
• Ensure the project is well coordinated and delivers results (project management)

Two or three BFA Leadership Team members are co-champions for each of these defining objectives.

Committee Charge

The committee is charged to serve as a sounding board for the BFA Leadership Team, helping to ensure the right objectives are in place, progress is made against the objectives, and results are shared across the division. The committee's charge is to also represent the views of their respective units, providing feedback on how well the COCOA program is being received. The committee's assistance will include, but is not limited to, the following tasks:

• Review the defining objectives, understand their intent, and provide feedback as to whether or not the defining objectives will meet the goals in the COCOA report. It is expected that the committee will meet monthly during the first quarter of 2023 to achieve this aim.
• The committee's role will then shift to evaluating the success of the defining objectives, and providing feedback as to if they are meeting the desired aims. The committee will work with the leadership team to develop a process for evaluating success.
• A key role for the committee members will be to listen to staff in their respective units, gain feedback as to how tactics are being received, and spot barriers to the program's success.
• Assist with community-building events.
• The leadership team will provide the committee with regular updates on program progress, soliciting feedback from the committee as needed.

Chair

The Chair will be the Chief of Police/Assistant Vice President for Security. The Chair will convene the meetings, approve agendas, and preside at all meetings.

Membership

Members will be chosen by the Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs and BFA staff member who are  interested in serving, to reflect perspectives from all levels of the organization and adequately represent each unit within the division.

Meetings

Meetings will be called by the Chair. The group will meet monthly to begin with, focusing on ensuring the defining objectives are set and in progress, then two or three times a year for a thorough review and feedback process. It is expected that the committee may join one or several leadership team meetings, to help provide valuable feedback and insights for program success.

For more information or questions about the COCOA Steering Committee, please contact the committee chair by clicking on their name in the table above.