Help important decisions survive leadership change.
Indigenous-led, practical support for First Nations boards and governing bodies. CHMI helps connect meetings, decisions, responsibilities, records and follow-through while building the capacity of a designated local coordinator.
The place where the work begins
MTG-001
What was approved and why
DEC-017
Who owns the next step
ACT-021
Where the evidence remains
REC-033
Governance knowledge is more than a collection of files.
Important knowledge is created every time a board meets, makes a decision, assigns responsibility, responds to an opportunity or reviews unfinished work.
When a leader, coordinator, board member or advisor leaves, the documents may remain—but the reasoning, relationships and next steps can become difficult to follow.
Information may be spread across minutes, email, folders, portals, personal knowledge and different systems. New leaders can inherit records without inheriting the full context needed to understand them.
SmartSync grew from practical experience supporting First Nations boards through recurring governance cycles.
Help today’s leaders work clearly while helping future leaders understand what happened, why it happened and what remains unfinished.
Practical support for First Nations governance environments.
CHMI’s primary focus is First Nations boards, economic development corporations, trusts, committees and other governing bodies seeking additional governance-continuity capacity.
1
Knowledge depends on one person
A change in staff or leadership risks taking important context with it.
2
Information is scattered
Minutes, records, actions and supporting material live in different places.
3
Follow-through is difficult to see
A decision exists, but responsibility and completion are not always clear.
4
New members need context
Records may be available without the history needed to understand them.
5
A coordinator needs support
The organization needs a practical process, protected time and training.
6
Control needs to remain local
The organization wants clear authority over its information and systems.
Indigenous-led and Nation-respecting.
CHMI is Indigenous-led by Gabrielle Ollinger, who brings first-hand experience supporting First Nations boards through repeated governance cycles.
CHMI recognizes that First Nations do not all govern in the same way. SmartSync does not arrive with one model that every Nation must adopt.
SmartSync supports local authority. It does not replace it.
Building capability that remains local.
Technology alone does not create governance continuity. CHMI works with a designated local coordinator and helps that person develop a clear and repeatable way of working.
1
Maintain the governance calendar and meeting rhythm
2
Prepare agendas, materials and participant information
3
Record decisions, responsibilities and follow-through
4
Keep clear records locations and support appropriate access
5
Prepare information for review, transition and handover
THE TOOL
Technology
The service
Capacity-building
The outcome
Governance continuity
A practical and bounded starting point.
The process starts by understanding what already works and agreeing on the authority, people, information and systems that belong within the scope.
Readiness conversation
CHMI learns about the organization, governing body and immediate continuity concern.
A conversation does not commit the organization to a pilot.
Board Continuity Readiness Review
A practical review of roles, meetings, decisions, records, access, change and local capacity.
This is not an audit and does not grade the board or its decisions.
Scope and authority
The organization and CHMI confirm the governing body, coordinator, participants, records, systems and limits.
Authority and information boundaries are agreed before implementation.
Six-week stabilization pilot
Where readiness supports proceeding, CHMI may support one board through a suitable live or representative practice cycle.
A founding pilot proceeds only after technical requirements and responsibilities are confirmed.
Handover and next steps
The pilot concludes with documented findings, handover information and a proposed 90-day plan.
Continuing support or custom work requires a separate agreement.
A governance continuity service supported by technology.
SmartSync is CHMI’s governance-continuity service framework, supported by a technology platform that is currently being assessed and developed.
It is intended to help keep important relationships visible among meetings, decisions, responsibilities, evidence, deadlines, changing roles and handover.
SmartSync does not make decisions for the organization or decide which record is official.
One connected line of sight
A simple view of the continuity relationship SmartSync 2.0 is intended to support.
Design direction only. These technical relationships will be represented as operational only after they have been built and tested.
Designed around clear authority and responsible access.
CHMI’s intended operating principle is that the client retains control of its approved records and determines how SmartSync may interact with them.
Client-administered environment
The client continues to administer its own Microsoft environment where that model applies.
Approved records location
The organization identifies where authoritative records are kept.
Limited, authorized access
SmartSync receives only the access needed for the agreed service.
Revocation and handover
Access, export, restoration and offboarding are intended to be clear and testable.
Three connected ways to protect organizational memory.
Decision Continuity™
Keep the history surrounding an important decision understandable—from the original issue through approval, responsibility, implementation and later learning.
Governance Continuity™
Keep meetings, decisions, responsibilities, records and follow-through connected through consistent practice.
Leadership Continuity™
Help incoming leaders understand relevant history, current responsibilities and unfinished work without preventing them from choosing a new direction.
A careful path toward SmartSync 2.0
The existing SmartSync environment is a demonstration and development environment.
CHMI is completing a technical baseline assessment to establish what is working, what is partially configured, what remains conceptual and what must be completed before a paid founding pilot can safely proceed.
SmartSync 2.0 is intended to be a focused, purpose-built governance-continuity application with fewer plugins, automation layers and technical connection points.
A development plan or demonstration does not establish that every proposed capability is already operational.
Experience that connects governance and implementation.
CHMI combines practical governance-coordination experience with historical experience operating board portals and Microsoft 365 records workflows.
We understand that the difficult part is rarely just creating another place to store documents. The real work is helping people establish clear responsibilities, consistent practices, reliable follow-through and practical handover.
We begin by listening and avoid presenting a proposed capability as proven before it has been tested.
Repeated meeting cycles, agendas, board materials, minutes and follow-through.
Practical experience organizing and handling controlled board information.
Historical operation of authenticated board portals and Microsoft 365 workflows.
Training and supporting a local coordinator as part of the service.
Governance continuity, explained.
The ten-part series explores CHMI’s thinking about Decision Continuity, Governance Continuity, Leadership Continuity and the developing SmartSync framework.
Choose a place to begin.
Each brief explores one part of governance continuity. Select a cover to open the interactive flipbook.
Use the viewer controls to enlarge the text or enter full-screen mode.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 01
Decision Continuity Infrastructure™
The structure that keeps decisions, context, records, responsibilities and follow-through connected over time.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 02
SmartSync Continuity Services™
How CHMI provides practical support for stronger and more consistent governance continuity.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 03
FirstLedger™
An exploratory look at why Nation-defined value should remain visible and connected over time.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 04
Nation Readiness™
What an organization should have in place before implementation begins.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 05
Governance Operating Rhythm™
How meetings, decisions and follow-through become part of a clear and repeatable working cycle.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 06
Decision Continuity™
How the history, context and follow-through of a decision remain connected throughout its life.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 07
The SmartSync Continuity Loop™
How each governance cycle can strengthen organizational knowledge and future work.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 08
The SmartSync Ecosystem™
How participants can work together while the Nation remains at the centre and retains control.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF 09
SmartSync Governance Maturity™
How clear roles, connected records and repeatable practices can strengthen continuity over time.
APPENDIX A
The SmartSync Framework Collection™
A visual guide to the connected frameworks that support the SmartSync governance continuity approach.
Clear answers before the work begins.
Let’s begin with a conversation.
If your governing body is experiencing leadership change, scattered information, unclear follow-through or heavy reliance on one coordinator, we would be pleased to learn more.
A conversation does not commit your organization to a pilot. It is simply an opportunity to discuss what is happening now and what the organization wants to strengthen.