Associate Vice President of Governance Content Creation

BoardSource is a nationally recognized nonprofit focused on strengthening nonprofit leadership at the highest level – the board of directors. With more than thirty years of experience, BoardSource is at the forefront of nonprofit board leadership, research, and support. They provide leaders with an extensive range of tools, resources, and research data to increase board effectiveness, strengthen organizational impact, and serve as the national voice for inspired and effective board leadership.

BoardSource now seeks nominations and applications for its inaugural Associate Vice President of Governance Content Creation (AVP). This newly created role will be instrumental in expanding our thought leadership on effective nonprofit board governance and increasing the quality and quantity of resources we offer to the social sector. The AVP will bring their deep knowledge of the sector and nonprofit governance, as well as a commitment to community-centered approaches to help lead our work to co-create and amplify expertise and resources that advance effective approaches to nonprofit governance across the sector – from small, grassroots organizations to large, philanthropic institutions. The work of the AVP will operationalize our Theory of Practice, advance Purpose-Driven Board Leadership (PDBL), and center equity as a core value. They will directly manage the Director of Governance Strategy and the Director of Governance Networks & Innovation and will work in close collaboration with other BoardSource staff to fulfill their responsibilities.

ABOUT BOARDSOURCE

BoardSource envisions a world where every social sector organization has the leadership it needs to fulfill its mission and advance the public good. For the last several years, BoardSource has been on a journey of transformation. This transformation is grounded in community – and an understanding that if they are working towards a more just social sector, they must center those who are most impacted by injustice in all aspects of their work. To achieve this, BoardSource will go beyond working for community and shift towards working in community – because those closest to systemic challenges have the most grounded perspectives and innovative solutions needed for change.

While BoardSource used to be primarily focused on meeting the technical support needs of individual boards, it is now a more complex and impactful organization that marries this technical support for boards with a strong leadership voice advocating for necessary change in social sector board leadership, particularly to center racial equity and shift power toward the communities served by nonprofits.

To realize this vision, BoardSource grounds itself in these four pillars:

• Listening: Developing organization-wide mechanisms for gathering data, gleaning best practices, hearing diverse perspectives, and receiving feedback will expand and deepen our knowledge.
• Learning: A culture of continuous learning, which seeks new information to evolve and shift thinking, will allow BoardSource to remain at the forefront of current challenges, trends, and innovations in governance.
• Co-creation: By learning from and partnering with those closest to the systemic challenges, we aim to address and leverage BoardSource’s thirty-plus years of governance experience. We will develop innovative tools and practices that reflect the collective wisdom of our sector.
• Expertise: Expertise rooted in humility, listening, and learning will enable BoardSource's knowledge to be co-created and far-reaching. Our resources will capture the complexity of our continuously evolving field and deliver tailored solutions to meet leaders where they are.

The lens through which they will carry out this work is racial equity and an understanding that boards are one of the most powerful levers for change, equality, and justice. In this moment of great challenge and possibility, they know that their work to support and empower boards is critical, and they feel that call to action every day in their interactions with nonprofit leaders on the front lines of change.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE AVP

The Associate Vice President of Governance Content Creation will bring a purpose-driven, innovative, and collaborative approach to strengthening and expanding BoardSource’s thought leadership across the sector, developing new and improved resources that are tailored and responsive to the dynamic and diverse needs of social sector organizations.

Thought Leadership

• Work across the organization and with our members and external partners to develop ideas, frameworks, models, and strategies that build on our 35+ years of experience to advance good governance across the sector.
• Develop, identify, and implement various strategies to amplify our thought leadership across the sector and solidify BoardSource as the recognized authority in nonprofit board governance.
• Stay abreast of trends, policies, and approaches that impact nonprofit board governance.

Co-Created Expertise & Content Creation

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of efforts of Directors to engage members, partner organizations, philanthropic institutions, and other leaders across the sector in identifying, developing, and amplifying expertise on nonprofit governance practice.
• Develop and oversee an ongoing content creation strategy that supports BoardSource’s sector-wide thought leadership goals, incorporates co-created expertise and learning, and drives the pace and impact of BoardSource’s thought leadership and related resources.
• Lead efforts to engage multiple platforms and formats to disseminate our content and resources, e.g., guides, toolkits, articles, videos, live and on-demand, etc., to ensure our content and resources are tailored, responsive, and approachable to diverse audiences.
• Help inform and ensure our content is aligned with BoardSource’s brand.
• Continuously assess and evaluate BoardSource’s resources to ensure alignment with PDBL, our Theory of Practice, and our core values.

Collaboration and Team Management

• Manage and support the Director of Governance Strategy and the Director of Governance Networks and Innovation, ensuring strategic alignment of programs, workplans, and activities, and providing guidance, accountability, and professional development opportunities.
• Collaborate with other BoardSource teams to ensure thought leadership and resources align with organizational goals and priorities.
• Collaborate with other program team members to share learnings and implement findings to create new and improved resources and supports for the sector.

Communication and Dissemination

• Develop and deliver presentations, reports, and other communications to disseminate our thought leadership and resources.
• Represent BoardSource at conferences, workshops, and other events to share insights and foster relationships with sector leaders.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• 7+ years professional work experience in the nonprofit sector, with at least 5 years of management experience.
• Expertise in the field of nonprofit board governance, including both traditional and innovative approaches.
• Deep understanding of the philanthropic sector and drivers of change within it.
• Alignment with BoardSource’s mission and values, with the ability to bring a lens of humility, listening, learning, and co-creation to all aspects of the role.
• Experienced in bringing a community-centered approach to the design, implementation and refinement of programs that serve to strengthen the health and impact of nonprofit organizations.
• Experienced with delivering content in a variety of ways, utilizing different adult education modalities, and seeking creative and innovative ways to develop and deliver trainings, resources, and tools.
• Strong understanding of diversity, inclusion, and equity with a deep connection to social justice, grassroots, or advocacy organizations.
• Proven cross-functional leadership and success in aligning programming with organizational goals.
• Strong people leader who brings a coaching and asset-based orientation to work with their team and colleagues.
• Experience partnering with marketing and communications to leverage digital marketing strategies, such as Search Engine Optimization, to elevate the accessibility and visibility of online resources.