Category Archives: Board Leadership

A question for our disrupted times: Will well-meaning white people be able to change?

Posted on by David Grant

Last year’s Dodge Board Leadership Series wrapped in the spring with a workshop titled “Turning Learning into Action,” with an emphasis on addressing systemic racism in all aspects of our society. Even at that time, we were wondering, “What sort of … Continue reading

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Dodge TA: Building the board you need to grow in tumultuous times

Posted on by Laura Otten

Pennsylvania went into “lockdown” first. Within a week, New Jersey, and New York had followed suit.  My conversations with board members and executive directors started on March 13, the day Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf announced that the Commonwealth would go on … Continue reading

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Dialogue across difference: Engaging with polarized perspectives

Posted on by Beth Zemsky, Dodge Board Leadership Facilitator

In this time of increased polarization, there is interest and concern about how to have productive conversations with colleagues, friends, family, and loved ones about diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice issues. By utilizing an intercultural developmental approach, we can … Continue reading

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Hiring the Executive Director: Keystone of board responsibility

Posted on by Laura Otten, Dodge Board Leadership facilitator

Embracing new leadership models: Free Press and Free Press Action recently announced Craig Aaron and Jessica J. González will lead the organization together as co-CEOs, saying in an email announcement, “We see clear benefits in sharing responsibility for the organization’s … Continue reading

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Board Leadership: Reaching consensus

Posted on by Allison Trimarco

What does it really mean to reach agreement in a group? Many nonprofits operate with the goal of consensus in mind – the idea that we should work together to reach decisions that everyone on our team can support. This … Continue reading

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Technical Assistance: Choosing to change board culture

Posted on by Laura Otten, Technical Assistance Faculty

Diversity has been the talk of, and about, boards for a long time, albeit with more talk than action. Boards of nonprofits remain, according to BoardSource’s 2017 Leading with Intent: Overwhelmingly white Pretty evenly split between male and female, but … Continue reading

Posted in Board Leadership, Diversity, equity, inclusion, Nonprofit, Philanthropy, Technical Assistance | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

How and why your organization’s culture and values matter

Posted on by Laura Otten, Technical Assistance Faculty

Ensuring a clear, strong mission statement and equally solid core values are two of the most important policies that a board is ever asked to create, as these are the core ideology  the defining elements  ̶̶  of an organization’s culture. … Continue reading

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Introducing: Our new, streamlined Board Leadership Series

Posted on by Wendy Liscow, Technical Assistance Director

For more than a decade, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has provided a comprehensive Board Leadership Series free of charge to our grantees to ensure nonprofit boards and staff access the training, resources, and peer-to-peer mentorship that enable them to accomplish organizational … Continue reading

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Board Leadership: Want a Stronger, More Diverse Board? Start Here

Posted on by Laura Otten, Dodge Technical Assistance

Diversity on boards has long been a hot topic. While it has always been a best practice to have a board of directors that is reflective of your constituency, too few have lived up to that best practice. In the … Continue reading

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Pro Bono Partnership Pundit: Sorting through the dreaded 501c3 reporting obligations

Posted on by Christine Michelle Duffy, Pro Bono Partnership

Paperwork. Reporting requirements. I know. This isn’t a very captivating topic. But many tasks that nonprofits need to attend to aren’t captivating. But this is an important topic, one that if ignored could put your nonprofit at significant risk of … Continue reading

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Pro Bono Partnership Pundit: Board Performance and Inertia

Posted on by Kent E. Hansen

I tend to be uncomfortable with change. I know I am not alone. People’s resistance to change has spawned many different uses for the word “inertia” that have nothing to do with physics. There are cognitive inertia, business inertia, organizational … Continue reading

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Board Leadership: Relationships Among the Parts

Posted on by David Grant

Faithful readers of the Dodge Blog know that I have repeatedly urged practitioners in the social sector to “plan backwards” from a shared vision of success, using qualitative assessment rubrics as a tool. If you make time for the process … Continue reading

Posted in Board Leadership, Collaboration, Leadership, Nonprofit, Philanthropy, Technical Assistance | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pro Bono Partnership Pundit: How to Spot and Address Conflicts of Interest in the Board Room

Posted on by Dodge

We’ve all seen the headlines about possible conflicts of interest in the news lately, in stories of national interest and importance.  The topic is also important for all nonprofits to understand and address properly, regardless of whether those organizations’ activities … Continue reading

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Board Leadership: Financial Projections Help to Flesh Out Scenario Plans

Posted on by Hilda Polanco, Board Leadership Facilitator

Allison Trimarco’s post “Living in (and Planning for) Interesting Times” does an excellent- — and practical — job of walking organization leaders through the process of scenario planning in conditions of uncertainty. As Allison says — “The right time to … Continue reading

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Board Leadership: Living in — and planning for — interesting times

Posted on by Allison Trimarco

Staying on Track in an Unpredictable World We’re just a few weeks into 2017, and it already seems hackneyed to talk about how unpredictable the world has become. It’s not surprising that many nonprofits are already experiencing stress from the … Continue reading

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