Board Life Matters is a national sounding board designed to inspire and engage the next generation in nonprofit board service.
BoardSource posed the following question to one of our newest board members, Maya Enista, CEO of Mobilize.org: What does “governing towards the future” mean to you? We received a thoughtful and inspiring response that is included below. We hope to gain more insight on Maya’s thoughts during the BoardSource Leadership Forum; she will be one of the panelists at our closing session, “A Conversation That Really Matters: What Does It Really Take to Govern Into the Future?”
This year’s BoardSource Leadership Forum will introduce two new programs to honor the innovative and transformative work that nonprofit boards are doing to help position their organizations for success and “Govern Toward the Future.”
On Board Life Matters, we talk a good deal about board service. But in addition to being interested in board service, many of you also work for nonprofits. Recently, my colleague Vernetta Walker and I were delighted to contribute a chapter to Darian Rodriguez Heyman’s new resource, Nonprofit Management 101, which features practical insights and tips for those new to the nonprofit sector or looking to expand their expertise. (more…)
Are you a nonprofit leader interested in learning more about governance?
I’m excited to announce that BoardSource will be accepting applications for the 2011 Judith O’Connor Memorial Fund Scholarships for Emerging Nonprofit Leaders. Created to honor the legacy of former BoardSource President and CEO, the late Judith O’Connor, the scholarships enable emerging nonprofit leaders to participate in the annual BoardSource Leadership Forum to deepen their governance knowledge.
By Danielle Henry
BoardSource is looking for the views of next generation board members. If you’re under 40 and are currently serving or have served on a nonprofit board, we’d like to hear from you.
1. What was your primary motivation to get involved in nonprofit board service?
2. Prior to serving on a board, what was your biggest fear about board service?
3. What resources did you seek to help prepare you for board service? How did you find these resources?
4. What aspects of the board recruiting and orientation process were most helpful to you?
The following post by Linda Crompton, President and CEO of BoardSource, originally appeared on the Transformative Governance blog on August 19, 2010. To hear more about what Linda has to say about Transformative Governance, visit http://boardsource.wordpress.com/
One of the “hot topics” in nonprofit governance conversations these days is the subject of young people in the sector. In fact, the discussions have been going on for quite some time now; for the past couple of years, conferences have featured “Next Gen” sessions and streams comprising panels discussing the importance of young people in the nonprofit world of the future. It seems to me, however, that much of the discussion about what this generation brings to the table has focused on the predictable: “social media,” “monetizing Twitter,” “fundraising through networking.” While it is obvious that those born into a technologically connected world will be much more likely to see the opportunities that technology represents, and will indeed eventually solve the puzzle of transforming online visits into sales, I think to concentrate the discussion on those topics alone is to miss a vitally important benefit that younger workers bring to the workforce or the boardroom: They are adept at navigating a rapidly changing world.
By Kaylan Somerville
When I think about the unique leadership I bring to the proverbial boardroom table, I shudder. I don’t like the term “leadership.” I think of juniors and seniors, the big I and the small U — more respect to some than others. Leadership is not bad in and of itself; it’s actually quite majestic, but what it has come to connote seems contrived. (more…)
On November 10-11, 2010, BoardSource held its annual conference, the BoardSource Leadership Forum, in San Francisco. One session focused on “Accelerating the Future of Board Leadership: Strategies for Engaging Next Gen Leaders Now.”
A distinguished panel set the scene. It featured Marcus Chung, board member, Net Impact; Maya Enista, CEO, Mobilize.org; Helen S. Kim, consultant and co-author, Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership; and Liz Cutler Maw, executive director, Net Impact.
The participants then formed groups, each assuming the perspective of a particular stakeholder group (board chairs, governance committee, board members, chief executives, NextGen leaders) to consider the following question: How can your stakeholder group accelerate the recruitment of and engagement of young leaders (roughly defined as leaders under age 40) on boards?
Here are some of the ideas generated by the participants. (more…)
