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More than a year ago, I approached my friend Itai with an idea. I had sought their advice a few months earlier about a board I was planning to join. Our initial conversation had gone so well that I asked them to write an essay with me. We decided to write a guide for folks like us who were considering board service but didn’t know who or what to ask. The more we talked, the more we realized we had so much information to share that it wouldn't fit in a single post. At our very first meeting we outlined who this book was for:
Folks who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, or People of the Global Majority
- LGBTQIA+ folks
- Poor folks
We gathered the sum of our experiences from serving on and working with boards of directors. We spent months in collaboration to write and revise our advice. We hired an incredible illustrator (Trae Middlebrooks) and asked colleagues with board experience to review our manuscript.
And then we published our book! Buy So you might join a board... on gumroad.
We want everyone, especially folks in our priority audience, to read this. We hope the book finds a second audience among board members who want to know how their boards can be more welcoming. It can help them think about the answers that any prospective board member might need to know.
We priced this book for large nonprofits and institutions who can afford our advice. But organizations with small budgets can use the discount code BOARD to buy the book for $50. Our primary audience, who we want more than anything to read this book, can use discount code POWER to buy it for $1. We offer these codes on the honor system for folks who can use them. And if our lowest price is a hardship for you (or you don’t have the means to buy online), please email store@bethefuture.space for a free copy, no questions asked.
Check the book out on gumroad. If you'd like to read before you share, I've excerpted our introduction below:
introduction for So you might join a board...
Organizations rely on their board of directors to provide governance and financial oversight. The law requires nonprofits to have a board of directors to ensure they act in the best interests of the community. When done well, a board of directors is a group of folks with a diverse set of skills, backgrounds, and experiences. But like many of society’s spaces, most boards are monocultural by design, built to serve the needs of a fraction of the community. A board can include members who don’t know much about the communities their nonprofit serves. We're grateful to know that many organizations are working to change that. They know that a board of directors should be full of folks who reflect the nonprofit and its community. That might be where you come in…
This guide is for people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color (BIPOC). You may be thinking about joining a board or someone is recruiting you into one. This guide is also for folks who identify as LGBTQ+ or queer. It's for poor folks or people who don't have an absurd amount of wealth. It's definitely for people who are any combination of the above!
We have both joined and served on boards of directors. They have recruited us for our skills, for our identity, our background, and our values. We've accepted these invitations and we've declined them. We've served on boards and resigned from them. We've found deep joy in guiding the work of an organization that acts in the service of their values. We’ve gained valuable learning experiences and deeper insights into an organization, its industry, and the communities they support.
Why We Need Allies
Today, we're living in an era of american technofascist rule. If we're very lucky, you could be reading this at a time when those threats are over. But for now, many of our community members face unwanted levels of hostile visibility. People who are Black, Latine, and/or trans are fighting for their causes in spite of this attention.
This is a great time for cis and white allies to join the boards of trans- and immigrant-supporting orgs. People with these identities risk arrest, kidnapping, or worse. If you're a trans person considering service on a trans-supporting nonprofit board, please do! They definitely need that. But we can't ignore the risks that trans people and immigrants face. We need people who will be safe stepping forward—taking the heat without taking the reins.
Joining a board of directors is a great way, but not the only way, to support an organization's work. It can be so exciting to give back to a nonprofit that's helped you, your family, friends, or community. The roles board members play will look different depending on the board and organization. Nonprofits are far from being the only form of activism and civic service. But they provide safety nets for communities, the arts,
and critically important causes. These organizations face intense challenges that this moment in our history requires. They need new perspectives and skillsets to help overcome them.
Contributing in a mission-driven way can be deeply rewarding. Folks we know who have served on a board of directors have developed friendships that extended past the conference table. They’ve steered a floundering organization in a new direction or towards greater sustainability. They’ve felt more connected to people in and outside their communities. We want everyone to seek these rewards. We also want people to have a holistic idea of the common requirements, challenges, and risks. Not everyone is aware of the liability that may come with service on a board. Once you're on the board, you're on the hook for the fiscal responsibility and oversight that comes from it. You may also face dynamics that can produce stress and are not a great fit for everyone. We offer this guide in the hopes that it will help you decide if joining a board is right for you.
Buy So you might join a board... on gumroad.
Do you know anyone who might benefit from reading? Please share with them this email/page or the link above! We need all the word of mouth advertising we can get.
