Alumni Board Member

Steering the Organization: act as a voting Board member, steering our budget, strategy, and organizational health. Attend all Board meetings (4 total, 1 per quarter). Help develop and guide strategy for the organization. Be an active contributor and lend your insights to one or more board committees. These currently include: Development/Nominating, Finance, Program/Risk. Conduct CEO performance evaluation and compensation review. Monitor and evaluate organizational health and effectiveness.

Championing our cause: Represent the organization effectively in external contexts. Seize opportunities to actively promote our cause externally. Recruit new allies: Board members, local champions, students, strategic partners, universities, staff members, and media. Share Global Citizen Year news with your network.

Generating Resources: support the board and team in generating resources for the organization. Identify new sources of revenue; help with introductions, meetings/events & follow-up. Leverage your network, connections, and relationships to help identify and develop resources. Make a meaningful, annual gift (at a level that feels personally meaningful to you). *NOTE: It’s good practice for nonprofit organizations to show that board members donate financially to the organization as it shows their commitment to the cause. We include this language in our agreements with all board members, with the understanding that a meaningful contribution can mean very different things to different members of the board. We want to make sure that finances are NOT a hindrance to an alumni serving on the board, so we share this responsibility as an illustration of the types of work board members do but understand that applicants will have varying abilities to contribute an annual gift. *

Staying Informed and Responsive: actively working to stay informed and prepared to support the board and team. Review materials in advance of meetings. All board members receive a ‘board pack’ a week before the meeting. Members are expected to read and digest the materials, and come to the meeting prepared to engage. Be available to offer timely feedback.
Stay abreast of broader trends in the field. Be aware of what themes are surfacing in the larger conversation on gap years, the educational landscape, and how this ties to our work.

We are looking for more than just hard skills; we want teammates who will add value to our organizational culture by bringing these mindsets to their work:

• Information Seeker: Investigates thoroughly to get relevant information.
• Strategic Thinker: Examines issues and plans with a long-term perspective.
• Judgment: Forms sound opinions and makes solid decisions.
• Committed: Pledges firmly to a goal, idea or plan.
• Initiative: Acts proactively to achieve results.
• Optimistic: Finds the positive in negative results or rejection.
• Assertive: States own opinions and ideas confidently without infringing on others.
• Self Confident: Believes strongly in own judgment, abilities or skills.
• Diplomatic: Deals tactfully with diverse groups of people, situations and ideas.
• Empathetic: Identifies with the feelings, ideas and attitudes of others.
• Continuous learner: driven to learn and stay current professionally.
• Ethical (with equity focus): Guided by a set of core values and beliefs to act with integrity and honesty.

The following skills are required:

• We are looking for alumni who have professional work experience.
• We are looking for alumni who finished the Fellowship on or before 2017.

Help us build on the work of previous alumni board members, and ensure that we continue to deliver programs that have long-lasting impact on the students we serve.

Who does this role report to? This role doesn’t have a direct manager per-se, but the Alumni Board Member will have lots of support from the President/COO, the Chief Program Officer, and the Director of Global Community Engagement as well as from a peer on the Board.

When are board meetings and how do I attend them? We have four annual meetings: we typically do two by video-conference, and two in-person (alternating Bay Area and East Coast), health and safety guidelines permitting. Global Citizen Year will cover all alumni costs associated with attending in-person board meetings (travel, accommodations, meals) as needed.

How long is the board term? The alumni board member will serve a one year term, with the option to renew their term each year (with Board approval) for an additional two (2) years for a term of up to 3 years.

What does a typical Board Member do? In a typical board cycle (once per quarter, or every three months or so), you will join a couple of committee meetings and a board meeting, and read and respond to a few emails from the Global Citizen Year team. Committee meetings are generally held once per quarter, ahead of those committee meetings you will read through the provided materials, and come ready to ask questions and weigh in on key discussion topics. During these meetings, you’ll likely get more “in the weeds” (or details) of the work we do . For example - in our Finance Committee meeting you may be helping us review the budget before we have a full board meeting to approve it, and thinking through the best way to get to approval.

Once committees wrap up, you’ll receive a board pack with information to read in preparation for the quarterly board meeting. You’ll read through the pack in detail, note down your questions, and come prepared with thoughts as needed. You’ll then join the board meeting, vote on any items for board approval, and discuss pressing topics with your fellow board members. In between meetings you may get requests to connect with a few staff members, email updates on board related work, requests for connections, or breaking news updates to share with your networks.

What are key considerations for success at Global Citizen Year?

• Curiosity before judgment: This is the mantra for our Fellows and Students, and it applies to staff as well. We expect each employee to lead with curiosity, be a continuous learner, and be receptive to changing their opinions.
• Equity lens: Global Citizen Year is deeply invested in living our values while centering our commitment to equity. We are all in different places on our equity journey, and we are looking for teammates who are willing and able to put a desire for equity into action.
• Problem solver vs. problem identifier: Identifying the problem is only step one; you will thrive at Global Citizen Year if you can also identify a solution, or a next step towards one.
• Innovation drives progress: Just because “we’ve always done it that way” doesn’t mean we always have to: ask yourself - is there a way to do this better? Faster? More efficiently? To generate more buy in? It’s important to ask questions and thoughtfully push back.

Location: We are open to board members joining us remotely from anywhere in the world. Our virtual board meetings are typically held between 9am-1pm Pacific Time (UTC -8), and we aim to have at least one in-person board meeting each year alternating between the East Coast and the Bay Area depending on Board Member availability.

Start date: The priority deadline for this application is March 31; the ideal start date is May 16

Compensation: We are excited to offer a stipend to compensate our Alumni for serving on our board. We will provide a $1,500 stipend for the first year, as well as paid professional development opportunities to be defined together with the board member.