Learn from the experience of our winners!
The annual Board Leadership Award not only recognizes outstanding, highly successful boards, but also provides an opportunity for all of us to learn from their journeys to extraordinary.
Presenting the Center's 4th annual Board Best Practices Video Shorts, including interviews with leaders from award winner, Out Teach and honorable mention, NVRDC.
First release: Onboarding and Board Development
Cast: Shally Stanley, Out Teach Board Chair and Patrice Sulton, NVRDC Board Member
Guest appearance: Anne Schrantz, Partner at CohnReznick, Board Leadership Award sponsor
Discover how Out Teach and NVRDC enhance Board service through comprehensive onboarding and development, equipping board members for success in their roles.
Second release: Strategic Planning
Cast: Jeanne McCarty and Shally Stanley, Out Teach CEO and Board Chair
Guest appearance: Anne Schrantz, Partner at CohnReznick, Board Leadership Award sponsor
While having a strategic plan is not a new practice, efficiently implementing and achieving the goals of one demonstrates an organization's innovation. Learn how Out Teach impressed this year's section committee with their deft approach!
Third release: Moving from a Working Board to a Strategic One
Cast: Anne Carpenter, NVRDC Board Member
Guest appearance: Anne Schrantz, Partner at CohnReznick, Board Leadership Award sponsor
The transition from a working board to a strategic one can be challenging. This video explores how NVRDC came to be intentional in their decision-making, accountability, and fundraising strategies to advance the organization.
Congratulations to the 2023 award Winner:
Out Teach
Out Teach is a national education non-profit built to inspire and prepare today’s elementary students to become the next generation of fearless innovators. Designed by teachers, for teachers, the organization delivers personalized hands-on training, collaborative partnerships, and easily accessible resources that equip thousands of teachers in schools across the US to transform the outdoors into active learning labs. They are creating a world where every student–regardless of learning ability, race, zip code, gender, or access to resources– can step into the wonder of science.
... and our Honorable Mention:
NVRDC
Founded in 2012, The Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC) is an organization dedicated to providing support and services to crime victims in Washington, DC. Their mission is to empower victims of all crimes through advocacy, case management, and legal services.
Thank you to everyone who makes this award possible:
Our selection committee dedicates their time for several months to focus on thoroughly reviewing all nominations, participating in interviews, and attending site visits.
And also to our 2023 Board Leadership Award presenting sponsor:
CohnReznick
With additional support by BoardSource.
With support and input from area experts, the Center created this award in 2011 to recognize and spotlight outstanding leadership from nonprofit Boards of Directors in the Greater Washington area.
This award distinguishes those Boards that go above and beyond recommended standards and fundamentals to bring new levels of leadership to their role, resulting in positive changes and notable successes for their organizations. To win the award, all candidates must go through an extensive selection process that includes nominations, interviews and final site visits.
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 2023 Board Award Leadership Packet and the Nomination Form.
Meet the winners of the past five years:
- 2021: Carpenter's Shelter
- 2020 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
- 2019: Martha's Table
- 2018: EasterSeals, Global Impact
- 2017: DC SCORES, Washington School for Girls
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 Education & Special Programs.
Learn from the experience of our past winners!
In 2020, 2021 and 2022 the Center presented a series of video shorts on relevant topics. The series includes interviews with leaders from award winners and honorable mentions. Videos are available to watch on demand.