Latest / We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits / 269. LIVE! from Phoenix: Build Better Boards - Sabrina Walker Hernandez, Jazmin Chavez, Tammy Tibbetts, and Skyler Badenoch

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269. LIVE! from Phoenix: Build Better Boards - Sabrina Walker Hernandez, Jazmin Chavez, Tammy Tibbetts, and Skyler Badenoch · We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

• 0:01
  Jonathan McCoy: Today's episode is sponsored by feather feather provides digital marketing tools and strategies for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, including the Humane Society of North Central Florida. Stick around for the break to hear how feather power their $300 digital ad campaign that raised nearly$6,000 In just one day. Hey, I'm John. And I'm Becky. And this is the we are for good podcast,
• 0:24
  Becky Endicott: nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.
• 0:33
  Jonathan McCoy: We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.
• 0:42
  Becky Endicott: So welcome to the good community, where Nonprofit Professionals, philanthropist, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
• 0:52
  Jonathan McCoy: So let's get started. Happy Friday, Becky, what's up? Hey, John,
• 0:57
  Becky Endicott: good to see you.
• 0:57
  Becky Endicott: Thanks for coming back, everybody. We're
• 1:00
  Jazmin Chavez: glad you're here.
• 1:01
  Jonathan McCoy: Yeah, we are so excited. We just got back from the responsive nonprofit Summit, presented by virtuous. And guys, we've got like the fullest hearts from that experience. I gotta tell you, the people that converge the topics that were covered, and just the good vibes were so high, that we're like, how can we bring this to the podcast, because, you know, there was more than 2000 people that joined us. But we want to really lift these conversations, because the stuff that was talked about, we believe is game changing and meets the moment.
• 1:28
  Jonathan McCoy: And so we're calling this little series called build back better.
• 1:31
  Jonathan McCoy: And we're going to uncover over the next couple of weeks how to build a better culture, how to build better boards, how to build better storytelling, and how to tap into giving circles, which is this really beautiful way that philanthropy and community are converging. This is going to be a rich conversation. If you're sitting there. I don't care what seats you are at your nonprofit, the relationship you have with the board can make or break really the culture, the tone setting of the organization. And today, we brought together some of the most disruptive leaders,
• 1:56
  Becky Endicott: I mean, we got to introduce people that I want to tone set just for a second about boards. So I mean, our little company has been in existence for 20 months now. So we've really only lived during pandemic and even if we can say a post pandemic world. So this conversation is really rooted in what's happening right now. And we really want to elevate the board conversations. And here's some things I want you to be asking yourself and thinking about as we go through these conversations. Do our boards represent a diversity of thought of background of individuals, we're talking about cognitive diversity and lived experience?
• 2:30
  Becky Endicott: Do they represent the population of people that we are serving within our missions? And the second component to that is how are we empowering and awakening our board members passion for our mission? You know, they have other advantages other than financial, and we need to be diving into how can they flex what they have, what they know, the passion that they instill.
• 2:53
  Becky Endicott: How do we get that into the mission? So before we do that, we got to introduce these incredible guests. So John, who we're going to start out with Sabrina Sabrina Walker Hernandez, welcome up here. We are so excited to introduce you to Sabrina. She's a dear friend of ours from Edinburg, Texas and she is a 25 year coach consultant that works with small nonprofits and to raise not only more money, but really create cohesive cultures within their organizations. And so she is so wise she is so empathetic. She is the sweetest little grandma and hilarious so we're so excited that you're here Sabrina welcome.
• 3:32
  Jonathan McCoy: And we're also excited to have Skyler bad knock on the call Skyler. He was he's like the most hospitable person we know his family welcomed us over to his house for dinner last night. And we were just talking shop and talking about changing the world. And he's on the front lines. He's the CEO of Hope for Haiti. He's on some boards with build on and even locally here at the Boys and Girls Club in Phoenix, but just an incredible thought leader and incredible human so excited to have Skylar on the call.
• 3:57
  Becky Endicott: Oh, our third individual is a rock star Jasmine Chavez. She's the VP of innovation, equity and communications over at Hispanics and philanthropy and Jasmine is an attorney. She is an online strategist. She knows how to build social justice movements.
• 4:13
  Becky Endicott: And the thing that I love so much about you Jasmine is you are a dreamer. She is part of the dreamer group that in fights for the immigrant rights in this country. And so love so much that you are leading leadership and Hispanics in philanthropy.
• 4:30
  Becky Endicott: And she is the person who's really infusing all of that great equity into the leadership board and Hispanics and philanthropy. Thanks for being here. Jasmine
• 4:40
  Jonathan McCoy: and Tammy Tibbets. Last but not least, she is amazing, y'all. She is new mom to baby. Oh, and we can't wait to meet you in person sometime. She is the co founder and CEO of she's the first which is this international organization that's all about educating, respecting and making sure that girls are heard wherever they're out in the world. She's also the co author of impact which is This book that added to your cart right now, if you're really looking to figure out your own personal impact in your life, how you can really get on a path for that she has given you the playbook.
• 5:08
  Jonathan McCoy: I
• 5:09
  Becky Endicott: kind of want to kick it to you, Sabrina so we can get started. You know, I want you to share a little bit about your current involvement with boards and give us just a little bit of history that you have working with boards. Well, I'm
• 5:20
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: I'm a reformer, CEO of a Boys and Girls Club, here in Edinburg, Texas. So I know we have another Boys and Girls Club person up here, I still bit bleed blue.
• 5:31
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: But I ran an organization for 20 years. And I worked with the board of directors and I really love boards of directors. And I'm probably a little oddball like that. But I think that boards are truly your force multiplier. And if you have the right board members, and work with the right people, then you can get great things done in your community and have a great impact. So I'm a true advocate of boards. Now I currently, in 2018, I retired. And I started a consulting firm from nonprofits.
• 6:05
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: And really what I want to do is train people how to fundraise with their board, because the number one thing I hear is my board doesn't do anything, or my board doesn't want to do this.
• 6:14
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: And, and I tell people, you know, we make a lot of assumptions about people who come and serve on boards. And we think they come with the tools that are needed. And oftentimes they don't, and it is our job to help them and to see, be strategic and connect things.
• 6:30
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: I'll stop talking so others can share nail.
• 6:34
  Jonathan McCoy: I love it.
• 6:34
  Jonathan McCoy: Tammy, I think it looks like your sounds on you want to go next. Yeah,
• 6:38
  Tammy Tibbetts: of course.
• 6:38
  Tammy Tibbetts: Sabrina, I love what you said.
• 6:40
  Tammy Tibbetts: It's all about having a growth mindset. So I'm Tammy Tibbets, co founder and CEO of she's the first and I have built our board from scratch 12 plus years ago, and our board has had many iterations, it's evolved so much over the last decade, and I'm really proud of the board we have today and very much in love with that board. But trust me, I've I had to learn the hard way. And I made a lot of mistakes along the way. I also served proudly on the board of trustees of my alma mater, the College of New Jersey, and my very first board seat was when I was 23 years old, and New York women in communications, a professional organization, that was the industry, I started my career in as a first generation college graduate here in New York City. They added me to their board as their first young, professional member on the board. And that was such a amazing experience for me. And I think why it's so important to give young people these opportunities to sit among powerful leaders, because that really started my passion for board service.
• 7:40
  Becky Endicott: Can you imagine being a 23 year old board members absolutely love that jazz mean? Or Skyler? I'm not sure which one of you jump in here. But come on in.
• 7:49
  Skyler Badenoch: I will just concur that it was really wonderful to have you all over last night for Taco Tuesday and, you know, talk a lot about what's going on and what's going on in your world in the nonprofit space. And I'm just so excited to be on this conversation in this conversation. My name is Skylar badnaam, the CEO of Hope for Haiti. I've been with the organization for five years. And I am very privileged to have a wonderful board of directors, we're about 15, board members strong and and I love what Sabrina said. And I think there's there's a lot of value that can be brought to helping boards become better fundraisers. And I would just add on to that and say that we've been really also focused on helping our board, learn and gain the skills on how to be better at governance and finance. Because those are two areas that are really important for boards, we actually brought in a consultant to train our board on their financial responsibilities that they've signed on to, and we found that to be really effective. And so I think there's what I love about this conversation is I think it's gonna go it's gonna be very comprehensive and, and talk about how boards you know, we communicate, how boards fundraise, but also how you cultivate steward board members as you know, the the leaders of of our organizations. Okay, all right.
• 9:03
  Jazmin Chavez: Well, good morning. Good afternoon, one of us want to start with this depending on where you are in the country. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Jasmine, Jeff was and I am the Vice President of innovation, equity communications for Hispanics and philanthropy. We are super lucky because we have an incredible, incredible board.
• 9:21
  Jazmin Chavez: Our board is predominately Latin X. And our staff is actually predominately Latin x as well.
• 9:25
  Jazmin Chavez: And part of my role is to really make sure that we are really connecting talent pipelines into board leadership, right? So really looking at the ways in which you're not just practicing inclusion, but what are the ways in which that Sabrina I think mentioned earlier, how are you actually practicing belonging, right and making sure that as communities of color are coming onto your board, because there's no shortage of talent and leadership and money in our communities to join your board?
• 9:50
  Jazmin Chavez: You're actually creating a space that is beyond welcoming, but it really is rooted in belonging and making room for their expertise, their talent, their connections to rise to the top.
• 10:00
  Jazmin Chavez: So I'm really excited to be here and kind of get the conversation going.
• 10:06
  Jonathan McCoy: Okay, love that tone setting each of you have done. It is about belonging. And I do think there's a moment in time that we're talking about a new type of board, a modern board that's meeting this moment. We've weathered a lot as a society as people, and obviously, our organizations.
• 10:21
  Jonathan McCoy: And so Tammy, I want to lead with you to just talk about what is the landscape now, what does a modern fundraising boy look like today?
• 10:27
  Tammy Tibbetts: Yeah, I'm so glad that you're beginning with this question. And the first thing I think about is how boards historically, you know, you would imagine they're old, white, and no diversity, people who could write checks. And today for a board to be progressive, and effective and impactful, it's essential that there is a diversity of how people self identify of the industries, they represent the skills that they have, the resources that they can bring to the table. And yes, you probably do want a couple of board members who are values aligned, who can write those big checks and have networks who can do the same. But you should also be thinking about, you know, who is that younger person who can't do that, but really knows how to inform a social media fundraising strategy, and maybe can bring an influencer to support the organization, I've seen influencers put a donation sticker up and in 24 hours raise over $10,000, for she's the first, you know, $5 at a time, which is amazing. Or, in our case, that she's the first we have two girl board members who represent our programs. And while they are not directly involved in asking people to give money, or in donating cash themselves, they are the first ones to say, let me speak at an event and tell people how the work of she's the first has impacted my life. And that's the reason that people ultimately want to support. So there's so many ways to get your board members involved in fundraising, without them needing to have to write that big check themselves.
• 12:04
  Tammy Tibbetts: So the sooner that boards can kind of expand the way they think of the profile of a board member to ensure that those who sit on the board, first of all, have what they're offering is aligned with what the nonprofit needs. And it's not just adding people every time someone's job title excites you. But really thinking about who has the lived experience that connects authentically with the mission, those people are going to be amazing ambassadors, and just naturally, that's going to bring funding and resources into your organization. Holy smokes,
• 12:40
  Becky Endicott: that was fantastic. And I just want to give a little shout out. I mean, talk about modern fundraising boards, I mean, Tammy, and she's the first living their values by putting girls on their board, young girls around the world who are giving rise to their voice to their bet on this organization, I think of another organization in a perfect world foundation. Not only do they have Quincy Jones, the famed musical producer on there, but they have a ton of young children that are on their board as well, because the collective of the voices ensures that representation truly does matter and is lifted. So before we go to our next question, we got this incredible question by Laura in the chat. And I want to pitch it out to our panelists here. And it says traditionally, we have chosen our board members through a pool of volunteers. Is that a practice? We should continue? Who wants to take that one?
• 13:34
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: So, you know, I always say board members that are close to your organization is a good thing, right? And when people question, why is that a good practice? I say a practice is something that works for you, your organization and your culture. Just because it works at one organization may not mean that it works at another organization. But if I had a pool of volunteers who fit the criteria of what I needed for my board, whether they were strategic thinkers, visionaries, they represented different industries, I would be so happy, I would not be you know, it will. It will be like a pool that you could pick from, as long as you have a group of volunteers that are diverse, right? You already know they're passionate about your mission because they volunteer the organization. They have diverse working experiences and background and all those other things. I think it's a good thing. If it is working. You don't have to break it right.
• 14:34
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: Just because you found out there's another practice. That's just my opinion. I would love to hear what others have to say.
• 14:42
  Tammy Tibbetts: I agree with you Sabrina on what I might do to add like posting the role at like you would a job description. Here's what we expected this board member and then have the even the volunteers that you know really well have them apply for it. And this also there's sometimes awkward situations where someone really wants to be on your board. Word but you love having them as a volunteer, and you don't really want them to be a board member with, you know, legal responsibility. If you put them through this process, then it's not all on you. And you can kind of show that this is a board decision. And here's, you know, the steps, if you want to show you're serious to go through it. But of course, like start with that pool of passionate volunteers you have and let them be the first to apply.
• 15:22
  Becky Endicott: I love all of that. If nobody else wants to jump in, I just want to say that we have a term over it, we're for good for these individuals.
• 15:27
  Becky Endicott: And we call them rabid fans. And sometimes they're not exactly what you would expect in a traditional sense of nonprofit.
• 15:34
  Becky Endicott: They're not necessarily your event volunteers coming in, they may not be coming into your office, they could be passionate rabid fans on social media, they could be doing crowdfunding out on their own, they could have a massive network of influence. I love what you said Tammy earlier about, you know, seeing young professionals that come and just tap their networks for $5 A piece uniting into 10,000. I think the peer to peer fundraiser, the crowdfunding is such a booming part of our business that we cannot underestimate. So thank you for those excellent tips. And I want to transition a little bit to talk about the current landscape of what boards look like in our sector. And I think we have a graphic on there. I'm not sure if we can get no to pull that up. But we want to talk about, you know what diversity looks like on boards because they really don't represent and resemble the rest of America. So nonprofit boards by race 78.6% of nonprofit boards are white, yet the US population is 60.3% 4.2% of our boards are Latino American, while 18.5% is represented in the US population, African American population and on our boards, 7.5% versus the 13.4% that represent in our communities.
• 16:58
  Becky Endicott: And then Asian Americans represent only 2.6% of nonprofit boards versus the 5.9% here, and this is all US stats. And so sorry if we didn't put a global bent on that for our friends that are tuning in around the world. But to me that underlines and underscores a problem and some work that we have still to do. So I would love for anybody to talk about how you've seen those sort of deltas really manifest within different organizations, you know, positive or negatively and maybe just mean, I'll kick that to you first.
• 17:34
  Jazmin Chavez: Yeah, thanks so much. I mean, I think the numbers really speak for themselves in terms of like, how bleak the situation is in terms of diversity on boards. And also like going beyond just like race, I mean, you're also looking at making sure that the board is inclusive of various gender identities, right, transgender, bipoc LGBTQ, you know, trans masculine trans fam, gender neutral, but then also now like neurodiversity, right, and disability. So it is also going beyond what is the way in which you could expand it so that you're actually adding more of like those lived experiences that you're talking about? I think one of the things that it impacts organizations is that you have a very limited scope with 95% of your board is predominantly white. So especially if you're a philanthropic organization, nonprofit organization, and if you're a nonprofit organization, serving communities of color, your board should reflect the communities that you serve, because that is going to be able to guide the type of work that the community is asking for. And it should be a human centered, kind of like approach to your board so that your strategy, your fundraising, everything is authentic to what the community needs, right. And so if you don't have that, and I don't say this is all the time. But if you don't have a good balance of that, it could definitely impact even as a funder, how we fund organizations, if you are Latinx serving organizations, but your boards are white, we are really going to question as to why there isn't more Latinos or people of color on your board. I think one of the things that organizations can do, and I highly recommend, and I spoke a little bit about this earlier, is before you look at bringing on people of color, like Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, whatever it is, you really need to do a culture assessment and a climate check of your board. Is this a board that is rooted actually in equity and the same principles that you value in equity injustice? If it isn't, people of color that are coming on to the board, and I've experienced this, I'm coming onto boards?
• 19:28
  Jazmin Chavez: It's a very, it's not openly hostile. It's not micro aggressions. But there's this term by Reshma minicam called white body supremacy. It's very real. And it's the way in which white bodies actually impact bodies of color of brown bodies, black bodies, when we enter physical or even now virtual spaces, right. So for a board to stop or an organization to stop and say, Is this a welcoming climate, for me to bring on people of color is super critical and I don't mean, again, nobody's being outright racist. It's none of that. But it is moving beyond ally ship and into like an anti racist framework. So that people of color feel comfortable, they feel seen, and they feel that they can actually contribute to the board. Right, I think that's the number one most important thing. I think the second thing is take a look at where you are actually pulling your talent from. So there are a lot of leadership talent organizations out there that are pulling Latinx, black talent, Asian American talent to serve on boards. So you know, kind of pause for a moment and try to think through where do you need to pull from to be able to pool that type of talent into your board that really represent the communities that you serve, or at least the perspective that you're trying to serve. And then third, be able to provide not not everybody has served on a board, right. So like a board, one on one orientation, that just gets some of the understanding of like, Robert's Rules, this is the give get right, that will go a long way in making sure that they feel fully comfortable in that space, so that they can actually like contribute in a real way. Those are the top three things that I really tell organizations to focus on. Because the talents there. I think there's a myth that communities of color that we don't give at that level, that's not true. We have money, Latinos have money. African regularities have money, you know, but we're really looking at where are we going to make the best impact and where we're all talents really go further.
• 21:24
  Jazmin Chavez: So
• 21:27
  Jonathan McCoy: hey, friends, this episode is presented by virtuous and they just happen to be one of our favorite companies. Let me tell you why.
• 21:32
  Jonathan McCoy: You know, we believe everyone matters. And we've witnessed the greatest philanthropic movements happen when you see and activate donors at every level. And here's the thing, virtuous created a fundraising platform to help you do just that. It's much more than a nonprofit CRM.
• 21:48
  Jonathan McCoy: Virtuous is committed to helping charities reimagined generosity through responsive fundraising, which is simply putting the donor at the center of fundraising, growing giving through personalized donor journeys, and by helping you respond to the needs of every individual. We love it because this approach builds trust and loyalty through personalized engagement. Some like virtuous, maybe a fit for your organization. Learn more today and virtuous.org or follow the link in our show.
• 22:17
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• 23:11
  Becky Endicott: Now let's get back to this amazing conversation.
• 23:20
  Jonathan McCoy: I love what you said there. And something was also resonating in my head when we had Anna Marie, are you Loggos, who's the CEO of hip on the podcast, but she challenged us that, you know, we keep coming back to the bravery that it takes to be in leadership, that we really have to look at ourselves and say, Do I need to get my seat up? You know, is this a position that I'm seeing the inequity here? Is this the right move to actually either add seats and not just one seat, but maybe multiple seats? So people can come in together and be more representative? Or do we need to take a hard look to see if someone actually needs to give up their seat to someone else? And so this question is coming through the chat that what do we do about board terms?
• 23:56
  Jonathan McCoy: You know, what, if you have a board that's, you know, been around for a long time, how do you really encourage that? How do you get move people along the line, but actually get some healthy turnover on the board?
• 24:08
  Jonathan McCoy: Would love to kick it to the panel to answer.
• 24:10
  Skyler Badenoch: I'll just jump in there and say I think more terms are critical to the health of the organization. And we have board terms and we're we stick to them. And it's it's allowed.
• 24:20
  Skyler Badenoch: It's also put a little bit of pressure and in a good way on our board leadership to go out and find new diverse board members. And then one thing I just want to add in and I feel really strongly about this, it's not just about having people of color on your board, but it's definitely about having a diverse board in the in the executive leadership positions on the board. So you know, and I've seen this firsthand, or the head of our governance and nominating committee is a Haitian American. And I feel like that's been to our benefit in him. He's really driven the process with our board leadership with our executive committee and bringing on new diverse board members over the last few years. ers.
• 25:01
  Becky Endicott: Love that example. Does anybody else want to jump in on that question?
• 25:02
  Becky Endicott: Sabrina?
• 25:04
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: I do, because I have a difference of opinion. And I know this is i This is not a best practice. But I believe in board terms, I absolutely do. The board had one year, two year three year terms, but I truly feel and it's been proven that if people are producing, I think they claim their spot, and they deserve to be there and they continue to produce, then they should be allowed to serve. So for example, the way our bylaws was set up, again, we have one year, two year three year slot, there was no rolling off, you if you didn't do good, everybody knew came in your one year, you didn't do good, we didn't invite you back. If you were three year slot, and you performed and your term was up and the Governance Committee wants to renew your three year slot than they did.
• 25:57
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: So I have board members that served for 15 years. That is not the norm. I understand that. But as I from the seat that I sat in, as long as people were producing, and there was organizational history there, it was a good thing for my organization. Understanding that that that is not the norm. I just wanted to put that out there. There are there are some other things that people do.
• 26:27
  Becky Endicott: Sabrina, you know, us we're all about let's have throw all of the spaghetti at the wall, we want to see what sticks. And I just think, again, what you all just did right there. That was diversity of thought, diversity of experience. And that is why we have to have the bravery to have these conversations. And we've had a lot of board conversations on the podcast. And one of the recurring themes that we've heard from our community is, gosh, the power dynamics, and nonprofit are so stringent. And we as staff don't feel like we have nearly the power that our boards do. And so and I can even feel the trepidation probably from people are on this call, you know, is this is a really heavy topic. But this is the way that the modern world is going.
• 27:09
  Becky Endicott: And, you know, especially when I look at Gen Z and their value systems, inclusivity is a core value of them. And so we really do to your point, John, about bravery, need to lean into this bravery is a muscle, we just have to keep working it out. And so, Tammy, I want to kick this question to you, for anyone that's listening right now. And they're kind of feeling the angst of oh my gosh, this is the elephant in the room that I need to address with my board when we're building and moving toward more inclusive boards. And we're challenging the systemic norms that have existed within the nonprofit sector, give give all of our listeners in the community out there, some tips or some insight about how they can navigate sort of these difficult and tenuous conversations with their board members?
• 28:36
  Tammy Tibbetts: Yeah, I think what's really key is reminding yourself that don't just save these conversations for when it's time to have the quarterly board meeting. In fact, don't.
• 28:46
  Tammy Tibbetts: Whatever you're talking about, you never want surprises to come up in a board meeting, you want to put the time into connecting one on one with board members in small groups, because then people feel less like they're on the spot. They're less defensive, you can have, you can call them in and you can say, this can I've seen happen a lot generationally with older board members who didn't realize the way that they phrased something was actually quite offensive.
• 29:11
  Tammy Tibbetts: And if that was to be brought up in a meeting with everyone, you know, it would be a case of white fragility, they'd become really defensive, and it wouldn't be a meeting that moved the organization forward.
• 29:26
  Tammy Tibbetts: Whereas if I had a side conversation with that person, and explained why that comment wasn't appropriate, and said, you know, hey, you know, I recently read this book called me and white supremacy, I think you would get a lot of value out of it. Why don't we do a little book club with some of the board members and then bring in a facilitator at our annual board retreat so that we could talk about these challenging but very critical issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. And I think that, that has always been a strategy that has worked for me is to make people feel comfortable, when they don't feel like everyone's staring at them and broach those topics in small groups so that when we come together, everyone's in the right mindset and we can as an entire group, make sure that we're being mindful of in our case, you know, the student board members, if they're being quiet, are there are the older board members, inviting them into the conversation and thinking like how do we make sure everyone is participating in this and look out for who is who is being quiet and you To what Jasmine said, it's all about we have to, we can't just look on our website, like we all have different faces, we have to have a culture of belonging where everyone really feels comfortable speaking up and challenging the organization and its leaders to be better.
• 30:48
  Jonathan McCoy: I'd love to like transition to the inspiration piece. Because, you know, we're all, you know, facing the need to grow our financial resources to get people activated in fundraising. And that's a big component of most of our boards.
• 31:01
  Jonathan McCoy: What's some practical advice? I mean, as we think about how do we inspire boards to become more fundraisers, I would love to kick it to the group to kind of lead this off, what have you seen that really worked for you,
• 31:12
  Skyler Badenoch: there's a couple of weird things that we do to activate and inspire our board. And, and really the, the first thing is about, about really connecting your board to your mission, and providing them with the resources so that it's very easy for board members at a dinner party at a at a conference within their, you know, at their workplace with their colleagues to be able to say, Oh, look at look at what I'm part of. And here's an example of the impact this organization is making. So, you know, a good example of that, right now we're doing a big campaign called like for Haiti, and we're getting our entire board rallied around this idea of walking, hiking 10 miles in solidarity with patient school children, who often walk really long distances to access education. And the opportunity for our board is to hike, to talk about it to post to share.
• 32:01
  Skyler Badenoch: And we provide them with this toolkit, so that they don't have to do very much work besides walking 10 miles and sharing with their friends. But that's making it simple, and making it easy and making it inspiring, and also connecting it to the mission, I think is really important. Last year, our board raised I think they raised about$36,000, during our hike for Haiti. And and so it's it's a it's a rallying cry for us. And it's an it's an opportunity for our board engaged and, and it's just one thing that we do to keep our board activated.
• 32:33
  Becky Endicott: I gotta give you some props, right there, Skylar, because the experiential component of that creates such connectivity. I mean, as chief storyteller, I would be all over talking about what did that mean to you? How did that change your outlook? How did that feel? How did that make you see the mission and action and I just think about the ripples that can occur with something like that happens, because all of a sudden, they're not just reporting out on the things that they heard at the board meeting, you know, or, you know, financial goals, were saying, I went, I went to the front lines, this is what I saw. This is what I learned. This is where I was humbled. And again, the power dynamic shift of that is so empowering. So big props on that. Anybody else want to jump in there?
• 33:20
  Jazmin Chavez: Yeah, I think another part I saw a question come through. And it kind of ties back to this in terms of the role of the board in the strategy formulation, or strategic planning versus senior staff. And I think that's another way to keep the board really kind of invigorated in the mission of the work is invited to be a part of the strategic planning, not necessarily to lead it. But to be able to inform it, still have your senior staff and or your you know, your all staff really kind of outline the vision of what the work is. But we have found, at least for our organization, our board is pretty actively involved in terms of helping us frame what our strategic planning our strategic vision is for the next couple of years. And not because again, they're going to lead it, but because it helps them feel like they're actually a part of helping us grow this next chapter of our work. And then they have a responsibility to help us ensure that we have the right resources to be able to meet that right. And then of course, when we gather for our board to convenience, we gather around three times a year, we make them fun, so we take them to dinner, we have a great time afterwards, we dance, we celebrate, we start every meeting talking about the joy in their personal lives. And we share the joy of how we're doing in the organization. And so it really turns into a very familial type of setting where we're invested in what's happening with them. They're invested in what's happening with us. And they're really informed about what we're doing, and we understand what's happening with them. So also, they're just people to, you know, show him a good time, have a good time, share your stories, go join together, and have them be a part of your strategic vision of the work so that they're also bought in and committed.
• 34:51
  Becky Endicott: This is our second panel today. And that's the second time I've heard the word joy come up. And I wonder how many of us are thinking about infusing joy into our work. I mean, we are on the frontlines of solving some of the world's largest crises and problems. And we need to constantly remind people of the hope of the joy that exists in that. So I love that reminder and Jasmine, we're going to need to see some video proof of the board members dancing because that is amazing. Anyone else want to jump into this before Tammy or Sabrina? Yes,
• 35:21
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: I just I didn't want to jump in and I wanted to say just some simple things that you can do is make sure your board is equipped.
• 35:28
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: That means educate them. Start off with a good recruitment packet of recruitment process, a good orientation, and back to board meetings, making them fun, but not only making them fun, but making them impactful. You know, maybe start your board meeting off with some mission moment, have clients come in and say how this organization has helped me, whether that's via video or in person, or whatever you can do. The second thing you could do for board members around fundraising engaging is make it easy. I heard scholars say, you know, they just have to, they just got to walk the 10 miles, he didn't make them think of what to say on social media.
• 36:09
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: He gave him scripts, they've given them a social media posts, sample all of this, make it easy for them. And then at the end of the day, like Jasmine said, we're all people, we I serve on several board, hold me accountable, I will say I'll do something. And I might not intentionally, I will forget, because I'm pulled in 1001 different directions. But if you are a CEO, random organization, Call me. Call me develop that relationship with Me remind me what I said I was gonna do and hold me accountable. There is no, there's no power struggle, in that sense with your board members, you are there to hold them accountable. They appreciate that. You know, so make sure that you are doing those things.
• 36:59
  Jonathan McCoy: Yeah, they're so wise. And I want to give you the chance, because I think you let us into kind of the last question we'd like to throw to y'all is, you know, each of y'all have served on boards or actively serving on boards, what's really worked to activate you, you know, what is that connective tissue that makes you wanna, like, just jump in, and really respond to the needs. So I'll kick it Skylar, you go first, what's really worked for your personal engagement.
• 37:20
  Skyler Badenoch: To me, it's the personal relationship with the team and the organization.
• 37:23
  Skyler Badenoch: Obviously, the mission is going to be important. But you know, as a board member of the the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsdale here, part of my my dedication is to the CEO, and I really love going out and meeting with him and learning about his work and hearing from him. I also, I mean, I learned a ton from him, but my loyalty is there. And so to me, I think if you can, if you can develop those types of relationships with your board members, I use a lot of what I've learned from from Ivan at the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsdale and with my board, and just create those relationships meet meet your board members for lunch, take them to dinner, have those build those relationships, because it's going to make you know, the ask when you say, hey, now I need you to walk 10 miles, it's gonna make it a lot easier.
• 38:11
  Skyler Badenoch: They're gonna do it because they like you
• 38:13
  Jonathan McCoy: bring him to Taco Tuesday, basically, is what you're saying? Always, always.
• 38:16
  Becky Endicott: Just me. What about you?
• 38:18
  Jazmin Chavez: I mean, I think it's similar to what Skyler was saying. I mean, I'm looking at the mission. I'm also looking at the need, right in terms of being able to understand that how am I bringing my network my like people capital to be able to raise awareness around an issue I just finished serving on rural migrant ministry, which is an organization that supports farm workers in upstate New York. And so for me, it was being able to bring awareness of farm workers around the country have awareness of the issues that they face, but also fundraising support, not just from philanthropy, but from my own relationships as well. And also on the policy side. So I used to work in New York City government. So being able to also bring a political perspective and strategy in terms of how do we move legislation to protect farmworkers. So I'm looking at ways in which again, my talents can really support the mission and the vision of the board and the organization and the communities that they're trying to advocate for.
• 39:09
  Becky Endicott: Oh, I love that.
• 39:09
  Becky Endicott: And it just feels better when it's that natural when it's that inclusive. And I feel like we're not having to rage against, you know, the old patriarchy of the way that we have always been building our board. So okay, Tammy, what about you? Well,
• 39:25
  Tammy Tibbetts: ever since the pandemic, I think it's been a blessing and a curse that our meetings have gone virtual. So on the flip side, on the good, positive side, we've been able to have more regional and global diversity on our board of directors. And we mean in the mornings on Eastern Standard Time to accommodate all the different time zones as best we can. But this does make it tougher to form the kind of emotional connections that came from meeting in person so regularly as we did before. So as a result, we really keep top of mind, what are the milestone moments where you can really rally people to show up in person. So maybe that's around your annual fundraiser when your organization if you do global work, invests in bringing leaders in from different countries to speak, if your work is more local and in the community, that's easier to get the in person presence, but I find even with staff, you know, if you don't have girls, women, whoever you serve internationally, at where your headquarters are in the United States, how can you as Skylar said, connect your board to the staff members. So we have Have a our staff is now remote. But we have a retreat in the beginning of June where we're flying everyone to a retreat center in upstate New York. And before we go, we've said already sent an invitation out to our board of directors, especially those who are more clustered around the New York City area to come meet for drinks beforehand, so you can meet the new staff, people were flying in staff from our Nairobi office as well. And it's something that is, you know, put on the calendar very far in advance so people can plan for it, and they're so excited. So that those are the moments we're going to take advantage of, to really surprise and delight them and give them an experience that powers their passion for the year ahead.
• 41:13
  Becky Endicott: Okay, Tammy, you said something that I don't want anybody to miss. So you've cracked the window on this, and I'm throwing it wide open staff.
• 41:17
  Becky Endicott: Interaction with board is absolutely critical. That is something that we need to be breaking in our cultural norms of not having our staff come in and interface because our staff, whatever their position are, they are in their zones of genius. You know, it is not the executive directors role to explain every single component of the board. And if we can empower staff to go in and teach, train, educate the board on what they can do, that is going to also pay dividends and cultural vibrancy. And as a recovering major gift officer myself, I would also say that that is an incredible cultivation tool, as well, that is going to plant seeds that will germinate later in the future with that donor and that volunteer. Okay, Sabrina, bring us on home. Well, there's
• 42:05
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: so much discussion happening. And my mind was going in 51 different directions. And so I guess I'm bringing it home, I've served on several boards. And I very fortunate right now to be the first black person to serve on the resume of South Texas history. They never had a black person served before. And goes kind of takes us back to the beginning. And they purposely recruited me and very happy about that. We're opening up an exhibit called the unserved and Underground Railroad, which is going to blow South Texas mind wide open. But to go back to what they do as a board member, they made it very inclusive. But as their CEO report, this is this is the whole point of compensation, their CEO report, I never had to do a CEO report.
• 42:54
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: When I was a CEO. I was blessed.
• 43:00
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: I know that. But he does. But what he does with a CEO report, and it's something I've learned and I'm putting into my my toolbox is he designates 15 minutes for the board is 24 of us to break up into groups of four and talk, he puts two questions up to generative questions, which I really like.
• 43:21
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: And then we talk in that 15 minutes timeframe, and talk about how to answer those questions. And then we come back to the table and report back out. And I thought that was genius. And I really like it. So if that's a practice that anybody wants to steal, go right ahead and steal that because I leave those meetings, invigorated, I really do because my mind is working. And I'm and I'm producing with some great people in the room, and they make me feel included as well.
• 43:52
  Sabrina Walker Hernandez: So goes back to that feeling of inclusion.
• 43:56
  Jonathan McCoy: Sabrina, there's gonna be so much stealing happening from this conversation, and we're here for it. We love each of y'all. We're so sad. We're at the top of the time here today. But just as Jasmine said, people are just people reach out to their amazing panelists, they have got such great wisdom and insight, we rounded up all the resources that we're for good.com/rns and you can get connected to everybody. We've got their LinkedIn profiles, all of that and notes from today. So thank you so much for being here. This has been such a good discussion.
• 44:22
  Jonathan McCoy: We appreciate each of y'all.
• 44:26
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• 44:28
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• 44:59
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