A new initiative in Johnson County is working to prepare people to serve as board members for nonprofit organizations.
The Community Foundation of Johnson County, Greater Iowa City, and United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties partnered up to create a Board Leadership Program to achieve this goal.
The program began on Oct. 3, with its first class discussing board basics and governance. The program is set to conclude in April 2025, with a graduating class of 29 community leaders, Shelly Maharry, president of the Community Foundation of Johnson County, said.
Senior Director of Advocacy for Greater Iowa City Mackenzie DeRoo discussed why this program was established following the long history of leadership programs created by this organization.
“We knew there was a lot of need for community leadership, as it related to serving on boards of nonprofits,” DeRoo said. “Oftentimes, community leaders did not step forward to serve because they did not feel qualified to.”
DeRoo said this type of leadership is vital to nonprofits, and in collaboration with the other nonprofits, Greater Iowa City decided that now was the time to create a program that would educate future board members.
“We’re happy to lend our resources as it relates to how we’ve planned leadership programs similar to this one in the past, and support that way,” DeRoo said. “Shelley Maharry with her role at the Community Foundation and Jennifer Banta at United Way, they work with so many different nonprofits, and so they were really plugged into that community and its leaderships.”
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Maharry said that educating people about community and nonprofit events is important to the strength of an organization.
“Having board members from a diverse background, professions, and levels of experience really strengthens the board of a nonprofit organization,” she said. “We also know that serving on a board for the first time can be intimidating, so offering a baseline training for individuals provides them the guidance and knowledge to feel confident in serving on a board.”
Maharry also shared that in April 2024, a nonprofit board fair took place at the Coralville Public Library, and the organizations there stated that they were in need of board members.
“Following that April meeting, we started meeting in May of 2024 to start planning the program. So myself, Mackenzie and Jennifer, came together and developed the programming,” Maharry said.
Nick Pfeiffer, a member of the Leadership Board Program, talked about his experience and why he joined the program.
“[It’s] really to get a good basic understanding of what a typical board position is like, but mostly to network with other people who have been on boards and have had the experience on boards so I can learn from them or how others interact to create the best practices or approach a position,” Pfeiffer said.
Pfeiffer is part of the University of Northern Iowa Alumni Board, Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development board, and the Clear Creek Amana School Board.
Pfeiffer shared that the first class really set the entire program, as it acted as a kind of high-level primer for the classes to follow.
“We need people to serve on nonprofit boards, and learning in this type of fashion can really break down a lot of the barriers you might have, or trepidations in wanting to participate on a board,” he said. “If you can take a class like this, a workshop, or leadership program like this, it can make you not afraid to jump in and be part of something special.”