How to join a nonprofit board

If you can’t tackle a hard problem full-time (yet), consider joining a charity’s board.

In 2016, as a senior design leader in Silicon Valley, I had founded companies and led design at several startups before becoming a design partner at Google Ventures. Despite a rewarding career and salary, I felt a growing desire to contribute more to problems that really matter. I wasn’t ready to leave Google, but I wanted to find a way to do something meaningful alongside my full-time role.

During a vacation in Peru, I met several local designers, including Jordi Tambillo. Over a dinner of anticuchos, I asked Jordi and his friends about exciting local tech projects. They enthusiastically recommended a nonprofit called Laboratoria and its founder, Mariana Costa Checa. Laboratoria empowers women from underserved backgrounds in Latin America by training them for tech careers and securing long-term employment, thereby driving upward economic mobility. Even then, the organization was already achieving significant success.

Laboratoria founder Mariana Costa Checa on stage with President Obama and Mark Zuckerberg in 2016

Jordi introduced me to Mariana and her co-founder, Herman. I soon visited the Laboratoria campus in Lima to meet the founding team and a class of young women learning front-end development. During our subsequent conversation about Laboratoria’s goals, I was particularly impressed by their success criteria. They didn’t just track graduation rates; they carefully monitored the placement rate of women in high-earning tech roles, as well as their long-term pay growth. Unlike many nonprofits, they weren’t content with merely doing “some good.” They were maximizing their impact to actively reshape the technology sector across Latin America.

Over the following year, I stayed in close contact with Mariana and her team, facilitating connections in California and contributing donations. When Laboratoria established a U.S. charity, they invited me to join the inaugural board. I accepted immediately and served for the next six years — the maximum allowed by their smart two-term limit — helping to steer their strategic direction.

What is it like on a nonprofit board?

In my experience, a nonprofit board functions similarly to a corporate board but with a few distinct priorities. Boards typically meet on a fixed schedule; for example, Laboratoria’s board met every two months.

• Focus on strategy. Your primary responsibility is to maintain a high-level perspective. While the internal team handles day-to-day operations, the board evaluates whether the organization is meeting its broader strategic objectives. My friend Sam Nguyen who is on the board of Resonate Arts points out: “As a digital trustee, my role is to help each organization understand where technology can support its operations and its mission.”
• Ensure financial prudence. Is the nonprofit using its money wisely? You’ll have to put your business hat on and think strategically about money and how to put it to use most effectively while safeguarding the precious money that has been donated to the cause.
• Uphold ethical and legal standards. The board ensures the organization maintains high ethical standards, particularly during challenges. When facing difficulties, the board must prioritize what is right over what is easy or merely protective of the organization.
• Provide connections. Your professional network is a valuable asset. At critical junctures, you can leverage your connections to bring specialized expertise into the organization.
• Fundraising. It is common for all nonprofit board members to share responsibility for fundraising, whether through direct contributions or by leveraging their networks — a notable difference from many corporate boards. If you are not sure what your obligations are, it is best to ask up-front.
• Support and evaluate the CEO and other leaders. Leadership is challenging. The board holds the CEO accountable while simultaneously supporting their success through prudent advice and being available. Rochelle King, a former VP of design at Netflix, told me that one of her major contributions to the boards she’s on is to offer leadership coaching, like teaching how to hire-and-fire, be a great manager, delegate tasks etc.
• Run workshops Facilitation is a core design skill, especially at the senior level. Several of the designers that I spoke with for this article told me that they sometimes get called on to lead internal workshops for the board or for part of the charity they work with.
• Design or product. You might be surprised, but your core skills as a designer or product manager aren’t the key to being a great board member. I sit on a corporate board and was on the Laboratoria board for six years, and I rarely brought my craft skills to bear directly. What mattered was strategic judgment.

“In my current capacities, I support financial management, planning, funding, facility construction of a new school, executive hiring, and I focus on scholastic AI policy.”

— Geoff Barnes, Head of Design at Tavus

“It might be surprising given my current design role but I’m often engaging with the executives around budgeting, roadmaps, and forecasting.”

— Erin Cassali, Senior Director of Product Design at Xero

How to find a board or advisory role

There isn’t a perfect framework for finding a nonprofit that will take you as a board member or advisor. You can’t exactly replicate my story with Laboratoria in Peru. And most board and advisory roles aren’t listed on jobs sites (though sometimes they are). But some of the steps that worked for me will be useful to you too:

1. Identify the right type of organization. Brainstorm and consider where your specific skills and passions intersect with a sector’s needs. You will be better prepared to recognize an opportunity if you have already researched the landscape.
2. Expand your network. Leverage existing connections, send introductory emails, and attend industry events. Subscribing to a nonprofit’s newsletter is an excellent way to stay informed about their initiatives and gatherings.
3. Demonstrate immediate value. The most direct path to a board seat is proving your utility. Identify organizations you admire, inquire about their current strategic objectives, and offer specific expertise to help them reach those goals.
4. Open the dialogue. Board seats are rarely offered immediately. View your initial outreach as the start of a long-term relationship that may lead to a formal role over time.
5. Be direct. Don’t be afraid to state your interest. Clearly saying, “I’d love to be considered for a board position,” can be the catalyst needed to move the conversation forward.

“I never got a role until I started pointing out to people that I was open for board roles.”

— Erin Cassali, Senior Director of Product Design at Xero

Most articles about board roles will tell you to be very strategic to find your first board role. However, none of the designers who I spoke to for this article landed their first board seat by targeting a specific charity. They had a vague sense of what interested them and then an opportunity came up through their social network and they they took it. For instance, Rochelle King, a former VP of design at Netflix, met another mother through a “mom’s group” in her area — that mom happened to work at a fantastic human rights org and Rochelle ended up taking a board seat there after months of conversations.

As my friend Desigan points out, it would be better for inclusion if more board roles went through an open process (like a hiring process), but realistically that’s unfortunately uncommon. However, there are some organizations that connect candidates to open board positions. Sam Nguyen told me about Reach Volunteering, a group in the UK that connects volunteers with charities. Sam joined the board of Resonate Arts this way and speaks highly of Reach Volunteering. I don’t personally have experience with any of these but similar orgs exist in other countries: Catchafire (USA), VolunteerMatch (USA), MovingWorlds (Global), GoVolunteer (Australia), Volunteer Canada, and Volunteering New Zealand.

One piece of advice that every design leader told me: “Be really clear and ask what the board wants from you.” It’s critical to be transparent with what they want and what you can offer. Ask particularly about time commitment and money (some boards require members to donate money themselves or to solicit donations from their network).

An advisory group is another way to contribute

Joining an advisory group is another excellent way to contribute to a charity with less responsibility. I currently serve on a tech advisory board for Our Future Health, a major genomics project in the UK. I met the CTO, Marko, through a mutual friend, and we bonded over public health technology. Once a quarter, I join a diverse group of technologists and ethicists to discuss the project’s current priorities. As the only user experience designer, I provide guidance on product direction, user research, and methodology. I even assisted in interviewing candidates for their Chief Product Officer role.

Advisory boards typically have a lower barrier to entry and fewer formal responsibilities than a full board seat. These groups are often subject-specific, and a nonprofit may manage several. The charities senior staff will often ask the advisory board members for input on key issues and ask for help mentoring staff, interviewing during a hiring process, or giving guidance based on their area of expertise. For instance, Our Future Health was recently considering how to re-engage their audience with real health data that was collected when people joined the program, so the advisory board debated data security around health data, ethics of sharing personal health data back to individuals, and the user experience of re-engaging people who hadn’t heard from the organization in over a year. We had a lively conversation.

Much like a board, there often isn’t a clear pathway to join an advisory group. Connections are the key. Network, be useful, and put yourself out there. An advisory board position can also be a stepping stone to joining a board, if you want it to be.

A path to full-time work on a hard problem

A board seat is a powerful way to give back from a strategic level. However, I always recognized that the nonprofit’s internal team owns the bulk of the execution. It was fun and meaningful to be on Laboratoria’s board, but their own team deserved 99.99% of the credit for their successes.

For me, the board seat at Laboratoria was the beginning of a path toward full-time mission-driven work. After three years on the Laboratoria board, I left my main job at Google Ventures to join the public health nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives, where I co-led their technology initiatives for eight years.

I hope you find a way to contribute through a board or advisory role. When the time is right, perhaps you too can transition full-time into solving the world’s most important challenges.

“As I invested more time into nonprofit boards, I became more excited about the impact I was having. Eventually, I decided to focus all my time working on social good instead of continuing on the corporate path.”

— Rochelle King, former VP of Design at Netflix

Advice for new board members?

“Your perspective matters even before you feel like an expert”

Sam Nguyen, a designer who does Product & Venture Strategy at pharmaceutical company Bayer says: “Be curious, listen actively, and trust that your perspective matters even before you feel like an expert. The strongest board members ask thoughtful questions, stay open to learning, and work collaboratively rather than assuming they need all the answers. Keep returning to the organisation’s mission and the people it serves — and don’t hold back your ideas just because you’re new to the table.”

“Due diligence is your friend”

Jeff Barnes, Head of Design at Tavus, and ex-Googler says: “Make sure you understand the nature and requirements of the work up-front. Talk to other board members before you sign up. Board service can be incredibly gratifying but also emotionally taxing and time-consuming. As with any significant undertaking, due diligence is your friend. Once you commit, serve with joy and intensity. And maybe most importantly, establish success metrics, exit criteria, and succession planning intentions as early as you can. Too many servants let their noble commitments become albatrosses simply because they never planned to pass the baton.”

“Direct experience is not required”

Rochelle King, a former VP of design at Netflix told me: “Don’t rule yourself out from getting involved with an organization even if you don’t have direct experience in that area. For example, I’m completely unqualified to work at the Center for Justice and Accountability, the human rights organization whose board I serve on. I don’t have a legal degree or any human rights experience. However, as senior design leaders, we have many skills that are both relevant and transferrable to board work. The biggest problems that non-profits are trying to address are often complex and systemic. These solutions require synthesis across multiple industries, areas, and disciplines. They also need clear articulation, judgement and critical thinking. Bringing skills that you’ve honed in your own industry to a different space can be hugely valuable to both you and the non-profit you are serving.”

“Who are you are willing to give up your time for?”

Desigan Chinniah who serves on several boards and advisory groups (including with me on Our Future Health) told me: “You should first better know what sorts of organisations you are willing to give up your time for. What sector, what mission and why it matters to you. Spend sometime researching and create a shortlist of organisations that you believe meet your criteria. Look at who in your networks has either worked for or had experiences within these orgs or similar orgs. Talk to these folks. It’s a bonus if they are or have been on the board of that org itself. Or perhaps they know others that are. Even if you don’t know anyone mention it or your desire to be on a board to people within these worlds. They’ll sometimes surprise when opportunities arise as opposed to you seeing them only when listed.”

Rochelle (see above) gives similar advice: “Choosing a non-profit to work with requires a different approach than finding a job. In tech, we often think about committing to a company for the next 3-5 years. We evaluate our next job based on where we think we can get the biggest, fastest personal ROI for our time (e.g., designing for the most users or earning a bigger salary). With non-profit work, you’ll want to pick a cause that you genuinely care about and can imagine staying involved with for the next 20-30 years. Because of that, sometimes focusing on a niche cause or organization that genuinely speaks to you is better than choosing one that simply has bigger ‘reach’ or a ‘name brand’. The challenges in these spaces often take decades to address so you want to plan for that long term commitment. If you put in that investment, you’ll derive a lot of value from seeing how you can support an important cause over a sustained period of time.”