The document summarizes the kick-off event for the Berkeley Board Fellows Program. It includes an agenda for the event with sessions on board governance, a panel, matching mentors and fellows, and discussions. It provides details on the program, including benefits for fellows and organizations, fellow and mentor commitments, the program year timeline, and resources available. A panel session includes lessons learned from past fellows and boards. Fellows and mentors then discuss project scopes and integrating the fellow into the board.

1. Kick-off
October 20, 2011
Haas School of Business
UC Berkeley

2. Agenda
• 4:00 – 4:20 Welcome
Berkeley Board Fellows Program
• 4:20 – 4:35 Board Governance
• 4:35 – 4:50 Panel
• 4:50 – 5:00 Matching Mentors & Fellows
• 5:00 – 5:10 Group Photo
• 5:10 – 5:30 Mentors & Fellows Discussions
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3. Welcome
Nora Silver
• Director and Adjunct Professor, Center for Nonprofit and Public
Leadership
• Co-founder and first board chair, Board Match Plus
• Author, Telling the Whole Story: Voices of Ethnic Volunteers in
America
Paul Jansen
• Adjunct Professor, Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership;
Director Emeritus, McKinsey & Company
• Board member, CARE USA
• Author, The Dynamic Board: Lessons from High-Performing
Nonprofits, McKinsey & Company
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4. (Some) Board Fellow Organizations
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5. Center for Nonprofit & Public Leadership
Center Mission
Empowering future leaders to achieve
social impact across sectors
Berkeley Board Fellows
Preparing the next generation of board
leaders
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6. Berkeley Board Fellows Growth
100 95
90
80
66 68
70
56 59
60 55
49
50
40
# Fellows
30
20
8 10
10
0
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7. Benefits
• Work at the highest level of an organization with
dynamic and experienced board members
• Understand governance and develop valuable leadership
skills
• Gain an understanding of the intersection of the
Fellows business and nonprofit sector
• Make an impact on your local community
• Gain a fresh perspective
• Leverage Haas MBA/graduate student skills
• Develop skills in recruiting and working with young
professional board members
Organizations • Mentor future social sector leaders
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8. Fellow Commitment 8-10 Hours per Month
Board Service
• Fellow actively participates as a non-voting board
member
Board Committee Participation
• Fellow serves on a board committee or task
force, usually based on the content of the project
Board-Level Project
• Fellow completes a project on a critical board
need (working in pairs when matched)
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9. Sample of Past Projects
MARKETING
• Brand audit
• Market research
• Analysis of the FINANCE
organization’s • Financial analysis of
value to clients underperforming programs
• Financial sustainability model to
OTHER determine fundraising needs
• Program evaluation • Financial reporting development
• Implementation plan for an
alumni association
• New online fundraising tool STRATEGY
• Progress reporting tools to • Strategic plan for leveraging social
inform the board on a major networking technology
organizational overhaul • Feasibility study of a new service
• Development plan for recruiting next
generation board members
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10. Mentor Commitment
Introduce
Coach Provide a formal
Guide and coach the introduction to the
fellow organization, the
board, and its work
Integrate Encourage
Include the fellow in all Encourage the fellow
board meetings and
to actively contribute
connect with key
board/staff/stakeholders
his/her perspective
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11. Program Year (October – May)
Kick-off Coaching Deliverable: Fellows Final
Session sessions Update Workshops deliverable
(October) (November) (December) (February) (Mid-May)
Regular attendance at board and committee meetings
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12. Introduction to Governance –
Why do Boards Exist?
• Hold organization “in trust” for the community
– Protect donors
– Prevent nonprofit executive abuse
– Substitute for
shareholders, customers, competition
• Legal duties of trustees
– Care (prudent person)
– Loyalty (put organization first)
– Obedience (faithful to mission)
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13. 9 Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards
• Select, evaluate
and develop CEO
• Shape, clarify • Ensure adequate
mission and financial
vision resources
• Engage actively • Lend expertise;
in strategic provide access to
decision making people
and policy • Enhance
decisions reputation of
Monitor and improve performance organization
• Oversee financial management, ensure
appropriate risk management
• Monitor performance, ensure accountability
• Improve board performance
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14. Lessons from our Research
– There are 9 clearly defined roles of a nonprofit board, with a
gold standard of performance for each
– Lots of ways boards, as entities and individuals, can help. Pick
your spots carefully to allot valuable time where needed most
– Recognize performance management as one of the nonprofit
board's core roles
– Good governance is execution, so sweat the little things: good
meeting agendas/materials, open communication, having fun.
– Invest significant time in board evaluation and continuous
improvement
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15. Types of Boards
 Organizing Board
– small, homogeneous, informal
– committed to purpose
 Governing Board
– larger and more diverse board
– committees become important
– shared authority between board and staff: board chair and
executive director are principal leaders
– transition to governing board takes at least 3 years and a lot of
staff time
 Institutional Board
– very large (35-60 or more)
– prestigious -- includes large donors or those with access to
funders
– accepts the responsibility of fundraising
– delegates some governance to executive committee
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16. Resources
• People • BBF Student and Org Guides
• Nora Silver • Other Online resources
• Paul Jansen • www.boardcafe.org
• Jay Espovich • www.boardsource.org
• Frameworks based on type of • www.bridgespan.org
project • www.compasspoint.org/
• Nonprofit Boards Class – boardbasics
Spring, 2 Wkd Days (Students) • On-going communications
• Subscriptions available for • Monthly check-ins
• Guidestar.org • Mid-term and year-end
• Boardsource evaluations
• Foundation Center • All info available at
• Chronicle of Philanthropy http://bit.ly/boardfellows
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17. Panel
• David Reimer, Haas Executive in Residence
– Board Mentor, Destiny Arts Center
• Sedora Tantraphol, MPP 2012
– Board Fellow, Contra Costa Crisis Center
• Jenni Tonti, MBA 2012
– Board Fellow, Children’s Council of San
Francisco
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18. Lessons Learned
• What worked well for you?
• What would you do differently to make
the fellowship more valuable for the
Fellow and the Board?
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19. Find your Match
• Each organization has been assigned a number
1-50
• Find your match by going to the assigned
number (Southwest Airlines boarding approach)
along the east or west wall of the room
• Proceed to the courtyard for a group picture
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20. Mentor-Fellow Discussion
• Personal introductions
• Project Scope (due November 10)
– Problem to be solved
– What information/analysis is needed
– Deliverables
– Timing
– Process for working with mentor/organization
• Integrating fellow into the board
– What kind of board is it? Members? Style?
– Getting engaged- introduction, committee
– Meeting dates
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