Certain decision-making, such as approval of small and follow-on disbursements, are delegated to committees of the board and fund officers. An Advisory Council, comprised of senior business and financial leaders in British Columbia, has also been convened to assist directors and officers at Working Opportunity.
Currently, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors is Ken Georgetti who is also the President of the BCFL. The President and Chief Executive Officer is David Levi.
In 1995, Working Opportunity had a staff complement of almost twenty persons.
The legal definition of an eligible Working Opportunity investor is a British Columbia resident with continuing employment (of twenty hours a week, at least). Such common (Class A) shareholders ascertain their rights if they also retain their investment for no less than eight years. The fund will repurchase shares earlier, without penalty, only in the event of an investor's death, bankruptcy, layoff or other involuntary job loss, or disability causing her or him to become permanently unfit for work.
From the beginning, Working Opportunity directors preferred a method of shareholder recruitment that was professionally-managed and conducted at arms-length from the fund. Consequently, like Working Ventures, it embarked on the alternative approach of commissioning hundreds of investment dealers and brokers, including mutual fund distributors. Provincial sales campaigns are organized and supervised by four "lead" national and regional securities firms and their agents.
The fund has devised a co-ordinated strategy for soliciting and subscribing organized workers as well. This includes the use of Working Enterprises Financial Services and the delivery of promotional packages by unions affiliated with the sponsor to members through the mail, at work sites, at labour meetings, and through other means. This strategy has paid off well for Working Opportunity. It is estimated by fund officers that about 35 percent of shareholders — or over 5,200 — are union members.
Like Working Ventures, Working Opportunity pursues voluntary payroll deduction plans without legislative support. In 1993, several large crown corporations and British Columbia Gas, agreed to offer such plans to employees totalling over 10,000 once they had been approached by their respective unions (only a small portion of employees have availed themselves of this option so far). Fund directors intend to give payroll deduction greater emphasis in future.
Recruitment of fund shareholders must abide by rules and regulations enforced by the British Columbia Securities Commission.