Apr022010
Gen X, Gen Y and Board Leadership
Filed under Uncategorized by admin at 12:59 pm on Apr 02 2010
In the Boardroom: Who's at the Table?
We've been following an interesting discussion online about the participation (and lack thereof) by Gen X- and Gen Y-ers on not-for-profit boards. The dearth is undeniable; BoardSource's Nonprofit Governance Index 2007 shows the percentage of board members under the age of 30 at only 2 percent. (The 2010 Index is forthcoming.)
Kicking off the discussion was a blog post titled "Why Don't More Members of Gens X and Y Join Boards?" by Emily Heard. The original post offers perspectives on the issue from both older and younger generations, and the ensuing comments on the post began to unpack some of the reasons such underrepresentation exists.
On the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Web site, Rosetta Thurman posed a more pointed question—and answer. "Do nonprofit boards really want younger members?" Thurman writes. "If you go by the numbers, the answer is a resounding 'no.'" She also speculates as to why young people are underrepresented on nonprofit boards, and the dozens of comments following her post gives deeper insight into the issues.
When Peter Brinckerhoff joins the conversation in a follow up post on his own blog, he challenges one of the reasons commonly cited for the lack of younger board members: fundraising capacity. "Just look at the texting response to Haiti, " Brinckerhoff writes. "Younger people bring huge networks of friends and associates with them. They (and their friends) are nearly bottomless resources of volunteering and donations—even if only in small amounts individually."
This issue of board leadership is a critical one for all of us to consider—whether we are currently at the table or not. We hope you will read these original posts AND the comments, and add your voice to the conversation in the comment section below. —TWT
