Expanding the Volunteer Leadership Pipeline

The change on the board since then has been substantial. The number of board nominees rose from 20 to 35 between 2020 and 2022, Meadows says, and the average age of board members has decreased by 10 years since the bylaws change was adopted. The board is also approaching gender parity, and nearly half of its members are nonwhite.

Meadows credits the transformation not just to the bylaws change but to more aggressive work by the nominating committee to recruit board members with necessary competencies.

“We’re being more intentional around recruiting,” she said. “We’re recognizing that there are certain experiences and perspectives that are valuable, based on our strategy. Our strategy helps us define the knowledge and expertise we’re looking for in leadership. Making that connection was huge.”

Audits and Early Starts

To ensure a diverse talent pool when board nominations roll around, associations need to be constantly on the lookout for future leadership prospects. That process ought to begin practically from the time a person becomes a member, says Nikki Haton Shanks, CAE, a strategist at Association Laboratory Inc.

“Where it starts is individuals showing up and showing interest,” she said. “That can be attending the annual meeting for the first time, or being an award recipient, or reaching out individually to a staff member and saying, ‘I’m looking for opportunities, how do I get involved?’”

Shanks notes that associations need to pay close attention to the environment they’re creating for those potential early volunteers. Do they feel encouraged to reach out in the first place? Does the association have meaningful and flexible roles for them when they do? Shanks recommends that associations conduct an audit of their volunteer opportunities to surface biases and roadblocks that can stand in the way of a diverse leadership pipeline.

“A holistic review of all your potential opportunities and approaches is really beneficial,” she said.

That review, she adds, should consider what kinds of strategic and decision-making skills the volunteer roles require. Then, when it comes time for volunteers to advance to board work, nominating committees will have a clear picture of what competencies a potential board leader brings to the table. That process also lowers the incidence of tokenism, recruiting well-qualified, diverse candidates to the board, rather than elevating underprepared volunteers to high-end roles solely to fill diversity gaps.

“You don’t want to be selecting somebody because of a symbolic effort to visually indicate diversity, without any regard to their competence,” Shanks said. “In the context of ethical aspects of creating a diverse pipeline, that’s one area you need to make sure to address. You discount your other DEI efforts if you put someone on a committee for visibility’s sake only.”