They Mean Well
When executive directors and board presidents talk to me
about their boards of directors, they often begin the conversation with, “they mean
well, but…” What follows is an array what they don’t do, what they say they
will do, that they aren’t engaged, that they don’t show up, and on and on. Every one of the particulars that follows the
but, regardless of what it is, reveals one hard fact: meaning well isn’t enough. In fact, meaning well can be downright
dangerous to a nonprofit. It all depends
upon the impetus Read more
Lessons from the Past
The first textbook read by my students in my Masters class in governance is on the history of governance in this country. Several students were surprised to learn that the roots of modern day nonprofit governance go all the way back to colonial days, with the establishment of the board for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first American Board.
Institutions of higher learning came next, most notably Harvard (founded in 1636), William and Mary (1693) and Yale (1701). But all of the students seemed equally Read more
