“Our main responsibility [on the governance committee] frankly, is nominating and populating the board with the kind of people that we need to have on there. And when we do that, we’re talking about…things like racial diversity, gender diversity, age diversity, region diversity, getting people from different parts of the country. So that is a really big part of what we do.” -Harry Kunze
My guests today are Harry Kunze and Dan DuPee. These men have a long-standing board relationship with the Coalition for Christian Outreach. Dan is a former President of the CCO and most recently served as Interim President. Harry has a longstanding board relationship.
I’ve gotten to know these two men over the past year as our firm has helped them with their President search. And it was through this work with the CCO that I thought their story of board development and revitalization was something worth passing on to the next generation of nonprofit leaders.
Thanks again for listening to the Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership With Tommy Thomas podcast. If you’re listening to an app that lets you leave a review, please do so. Many of our listeners come to us on the recommendation of a friend or a colleague. If you’ve heard something today worth passing on, please share the show with others.
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“You have to be able to populate your committees.” -Dan DuPee
Show Notes
[1:57] – Dan PuPee gives us a brief understanding of the mission and vision of CCO, and we learn what drew Harry Kunze to the CCO.
[3:57] – Dan reveals what brought him to the CCO.
[5:14] – We hear a little context for the history of the board of directors from Dan.
[7:10] – Harry shares an alternative perspective about the board of directors.
[8:18] – What size board did Dan and Harry have in the beginning?
[9:09] – This is what caused Harry and Dan to rethink boardsmanship at the CCO.
[11:25] – Harry recalls the benchmarking they did to form a perspective on how the board ought to operate.
[13:38] – We learn what Dan and Harry landed on for an ideal size of their board.
[14:40] – How did Harry and Dan decide to have a governance committee?
[16:42] – What does the committee structure look like today?
[19:52] – The conversation shifts to term limits.
[22:00] –This is how the surplus responded to the downsizing of the board.
[22:56] – Dan discusses the term of the Board Chair.
[24:04] – These are the words and phrases that describe the best Board Chair Dan and Harry have ever observed.
[26:39] – Dan responds to a quote about having a pleasant irritant on the board.
[29:38] – Harry segues to a Pittsburgh-based board and ponders how to get regional diversity.
[31:45] – Tommy wraps up the conversation.
“I think within a group of 18 people, you’re just going to have some people who are naturally a little bit more likely to raise uncomfortable perspectives from time to time; and that’s a good thing to have happen.” -Harry Kunze
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