Board Members R Us

I recently left an organization that had a very active board of trustees. They were heavily involved in nearly all organization decision making, which made sense 20 years ago when it was all volunteer run, but was quite challenging when we had 12 full time staff.

I ultimately left the organization in large part because of their influence. Not because trustees shouldn’t be involved in major decisions - that can be a great thing for an organization - but because our trustees didn’t represent the people we served, so their decisions were often shortsighted and, let’s be honest, biased.

I had a board member ask why the parents we served didn’t buy their children organic food, or why they didn’t put their kids in private schools when “there are plenty of scholarships.”

I had a trustee tell me that they didn’t believe in mental health, and another tell me that when people don’t speak English, they “don’t deserve” to access services.

These experiences made me really appreciate nonprofit organizations who actively seek out and recruit board members who represent the people they serve. I am prioritizing that in my next job search.

- Anonymous