Information about Nominations to the Executive Committee

Are you interested in nominating a suitable person as a candidate for election to the Executive Committee of the New Zealand Buddhist Council for a one-year term?

Every organisation that is a current Member of NZBC has the right to nominate a person as a candidate for election to the Executive Committee, but is not obliged to do so.

Here’s how the process works.

1. Nominations. Nominations from representatives of Members must be received by the Secretary of NZBC by the due date, which is about two weeks before the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

A nomination must include the name of the person nominated, the Yana that they are nominated for, confirmation that they are willing and able to serve if elected, and the name and organisation of the person nominating them (as the representative of a Member organisation).

If your organisation already has someone serving on the Executive, you may nominate them again if they are willing to serve for another year. Or you may wish to nominate someone else from your Yana.

2. What is required of each person serving as an Executive member. The Executive Committee is an active working group. Each person serving must be willing to do a share of the work that the Committee collectively agrees to undertake.  We hold at least 6 meetings a year. Meetings are online using Zoom video-conferencing, or single issues may be decided by email. Agendas for meetings, minutes, and other supporting documents are held online in Google Drive. 

If someone is considering whether to accept nomination and unsure if they would be suited to this work please contact the Chair or Secretary to discuss what they might usefully bring to NZBC. 

3. The election process. During the AGM representatives of Members elect up to nine positions on the Executive Committee, three positions for each of the three major Yana or vehicles of Buddhism – Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana.

Candidates are nominated for one of the Yana. If three or fewer nominations are received for any Yana then the candidates for that Yana will be declared elected. If more than three nominations are received for any Yana, then an election will be held to fill the three positions for that Yana. All current Members are then eligible to vote for three people for each Yana with more than three candidates. If elections are needed ballots will be emailed to Members by the Secretary, after the due date for nominations. Votes should be emailed to the Secretary and received before the AGM.

4. Additional appointments and key roles. The Executive Committee may appoint up to five additional people to the Executive, to add skills and representation if necessary. The Executive elects key roles of Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and decides on roles for others including Webmaster.

If you are interested in more details, the NZBC constitution has relevant sections and is on this website https://www.buddhistcouncil.org.nz/constitution/

update: 22 May 2026