Jackie Wolven

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Messy Inclusive �Boards that Work

Look Around Your Board… Does Everyone Look Like You?

First. You are all doing fantastic.

Smashing it for the Prize

I would rather have a bear.

So, Let’s Talk About You.

Then, Let’s Talk About Your Community

Now, Let’s Talk About Your Board

Don’t assume everyone agrees about what diversity and inclusion mean for the board. Before asking “How do we become more diverse?” boards must ask �“Why do we need to become diverse?”

And Are You Ready To Do Something Different?

Step One: Do a Survey

Survey Your Community + Board

• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Sexual Orientation
• Cultural Identities
• Age
• Disabilities
• Learning Styles

• Relationship Status
• Property Owner
• Renter
• Lives in Your District
• Works in Your District
• Has a Business in Your District

• Personal Economic Resources
• Parents of Children Under 18
• Caregivers to Parents
• Digital Abilities
• Mental Health Needs

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Step Two: Start Having Conversations

Get Your Organization Ready

• Are people who don’t look like you comfortable serving on the board?
• As leaders, your influence extends beyond your own demographics. Does the board consider issues beyond its own demographics when it sets policies and makes decisions for the organization?
• What could the board do differently to become more inclusive and welcoming?
• What could the board do differently to address the needs of communities that are different than them?

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Get Your Organization Ready

• Discussing race, culture, ethnicity, gender, and even age and generational issues in the boardroom may ignite personal awareness and, for some, discomfort.
• The simple truth is that most people develop prejudices and stereotypes from friends and family at a very early age.
• To think about diversity objectively requires intellect, energy, integrity, and time.
• Your board members must consider if they are ready as individuals and as a group to identify, confront, and work to eliminate their personal biases, blind spots, and prejudices as well as those embedded in the board and organization’s culture.

Step Three: Make Changes

What Diversity + Inclusion Might Look Like for Your Organization

• When are your meetings?
• Do you allow/have children at your meetings?
• Can you incorporate hybrid meetings?
• Are you training your teams on technology? Not everyone is a digital native.

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What Diversity + Inclusion Might Look Like for Your Organization

• Lead meetings through asking questions and making space to include all voices (versus just the familiar voices)
• Do not assume your role as an ally. Instead, admit that you don’t have all the answers, commit to the long-term effort, and then regularly ask questions like, “What do I need to know?” and “How can I help?” and “What can we do together?”
• Keep a check on your and the group’s unknown behavioral habits, especially when the habits are to take over meetings or speak longer than a normal, expected time. Create deliberate space for more voices.

What Diversity + Inclusion Might Look Like for Your Organization

• Encourage your board to undertake intermittent training on inclusivity and equity. Make space for known voices on social justice and allow for a Q&A session from your team so that information doesn’t get passed one way.
• Do not make your team members from demographically diverse backgrounds hold “lunch and learn” sessions about their lived experiences. Instead, learn about identities other than the ones familiar to you on your own, and build open space to dialogue and share general perspectives later.

Why is this worth it?

We Build WITH �Not FOR Our Communities.

Lastly. You are all doing fantastic.

We want to hear from you!

Help us make the Main Street Now Conference even better by sharing feedback on your conference experience.

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Tell us about your favorite sessions and speakers, what you found most valuable, and what you’d like to see next year.

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Look out for the post-conference survey to be released on Wednesday via email and on mainstreetnow.org.  

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Jackie Wolven

Follow me on Linked In�Jackie Wolven

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Messy Inclusive �Boards that Work

Jackie Wolven

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JackieWolven.com

Jackie Wolven

Director, Main Street Eureka Springs

Consultant, Facilitator, Speaker Nationwide

@JackieWolven + Jackiewolven.com

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