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Joining Nonprofits’ Boards Can Advance Young Professionals’ Careers

This is an underrated bit of guidance for ambitious professionals in their first decade of a career they love. Where your career path leads from here will be shaped as much by your professional growth outside the office as inside it in years to come. 

Be a volunteer leader
Don't leave this to fate. Seek out learning opportunities now that will one day make you a capable manager, senior executive — or even owner! — and maybe a better person too. Suggestion: Volunteer in a nonprofit organization whose mission you identify with and work toward getting a seat on its board of directors.  

What will you gain? An expanded network of contacts for one. Leadership skills for another. That’s a benefit of watching more experienced directors in action. Communicating with and, when necessary, persuading people who disagree with you is an essential skill that separates top-tier executives from everybody else. Exposure to new ideas and approaches enriches your capabilities at your own job and that gets you noticed. Serving on a board also helps you cultivate so-called “soft skills” such as emotional intelligence, problem-solving, adaptability, time management and organization. 

Seek out a board member or the nonprofit organization’s executive director to express your interest and ask questions. Or if you know someone who’s an active member, ask them to introduce you. Be prepared to communicate your passion for the group’s mission and what you can offer as a volunteer or as a board member. Hint: Dedication and reliability count for a lot. Organizations that rely on volunteers never have too much help.  

Work your way up to a board seat
You may want to get to know the organization before committing to joining its board. The organization will almost certainly want to get acquainted with you before appointing or nominating you to its board. One good way to do that is to volunteer for a committee, taskforce or other project and demonstrate your sincerity.  

Be careful not to overcommit. Ease into new obligations so that you can still manage your job and the rest of your personal life. We’re not disregarding the value of serving on corporate boards. It’s just difficult for today’s midlevel professionals in their forties or even younger to get on them. Many corporate directorships are filled by older, more experienced businesspeople, namely current or retired CEOs and senior executives in their late fifties or sixties. 

Youth adds diversity to boards
But age is increasingly recognized as a desirable component of diversity for boards in the nonprofit world. Some have begun recruiting younger members. In a 2022 blog post, the Mills Legal Clinic of Stanford Law School recommended nonprofits ask younger staff members for recommendations, post to networking sites such as LinkedIn and reach out to young professional organizations. Washington, D.C. has such an organization called ynpndc. The D.C. based nonprofit SOME (So Others Might Eat) has a Young Professionals Network of volunteers aged 21 to 40 that has raised $3 million to help city residents get out of poverty. 

Ambitious people with eyes on their futures might look to opportunities to serve on the boards of local charities, hospitals, community colleges, social or business-focused organizations or educational groups in their fields. 

You’ve no doubt heard the adage about choosing a career: “Find your passion.” It applies to extracurricular pursuits that can enhance your career too. Try to find something that excites you.