Board Leadership Award

The purpose of the Board Leadership Award is to strengthen and promote nonprofit organizations by acknowledging exemplary governance in the sector and providing a process that encourages all to learn and improve. The Award also strives to lift up the principles, criteria, and best practices that represent exemplary governance.

At the Center, we believe the benefits of competing are well worth your time and effort, but don’t take our word for it. Hear what past participants have to say.

"Listening to our board members talk about our strengths, our commitment to innovation and racial equity, our intentionality around strengthening our governance processes was beyond encouraging. Having these conversations and then putting our responses down on paper has both provided clarity and elevated the board’s collective appreciation of each of our members and what we’ve accomplished together. That was really heartening."—Carpenter's Shelter

"The application process for the Board Leadership Award has been an opportunity for reflection, a rare moment to take stock and connect the dots on actions that brought us to where we are today—to see how far we have come, how effective our Board development has been, and how important this strategic and consistent effort to build and manage the Board is to ISPU’s success.” — ISPU

“Through the application process, we appreciated the opportunity to pause and reflect. Perhaps most significantly, it was helpful to take stock in Martha’s Table’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, as the application forced us to delve into this area. ” — Martha's Table

“Putting this application together gave us a moment to reflect, appreciate, and recognize how robust our Board operations are now, the effort that went into getting to this place, what is still left to do, and - more specifically - what tasks the Board must undertake to continue its growth into the future. All of these practices documented in one place is a great resource for our current Board and will undoubtedly be extremely valuable to new Board members.” — DC Scores

The competition is open to any 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Washington metropolitan area is defined as:

• District of Columbia
• Maryland: Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.
• Virginia

Two-thirds of the Board members must have served on the Board a minimum of one year as of the application due date. All examples and explanations used in the nomination must have occurred during the Executive Director or Board members’ tenure, and must not exceed five years past. Internal nominations must be made in cooperation with the current Executive Director. External nominations must be made in cooperation with the Board Chair and the Executive Director.

Winners of this award must wait a minimum of three years to re-apply.

One winner is selected and will receive a $10,000 grant, community exposure and training opportunities for the organizations’ board and executives from BoardSource and the Center’s Training Hub.

Up to two organizations are also selected as honorable mention recipients and receive a $1,000 grant each, as well as communication exposure and training opportunities for their board members and executives from the Center’s Training Hub.

The Board Leadership Award nomination fee for nonmembers is $150.  There is no charge for Center members.

The competition incorporates a three-part judging process that includes a part one written application and fact sheet, a part two interview for semi-finalists, and a part three site visit for finalists.

To learn more about the award process and application details download the 2026 Board Award Leadership Packet and the Nomination Form.

Meet the winners of the past five years:

• 2025: CARECEN DC
• 2024: America's Charities
• 2023: Out Teach
• 2022: Friends of the Library, Montgomery County
• 2021: Carpenter's Shelter

Hear winners share their experiences in our Best Practices Video Series and as a Center member, you can also access successful tools and practices in the members-only Resource Center.

The selection committee is a group of local leaders in the nonprofit, foundation, corporate and government sectors. The committee’s purpose is to read, review and evaluate all applications for the award. Commitment includes in-person attendance at a minimum of three committee meetings, two site visits and the award ceremony.

Participation on the selection committee provides an excellent opportunity to make new connections and see first hand exceptional practices in action. To learn more or express interest in joining the selection committee, contact Sean Sweeney, Director of Operations.