Board members are sometimes so hard to find, and nonprofits often invite people they know to fill this chief volunteer role. This session is focused on assisting participants with seeking and confirming new, highly engaged, diverse board members through a variety of creative recruiting and relationship building techniques to find fresh prospects with the expertise and a desire to serve. This session will include new places to find board members, how to encourage board members to take a more active role, and questions of board composition and diversity.

This program is open to all nonprofits and the fee is $25.* While not required, this session is intended for one Staff member to attend with one Board member. The cost is $25 to include both members.

Parking is free. *Scholarships are available for nonprofits who want to attend but need financial assistance.

Presenter Mara Winters, Maryland Nonprofits Board Governance Advisor

Mara Winters provides training, technical assistance, and consulting in the areas of board governance, nonprofit management, organizational development, board development and engaging boards in fundraising. She has provided board training and consulting services to hundreds of nonprofit organizations. Thousands of individuals have attended her trainings through local and national conference sessions as well as both the Maryland Nonprofits and BVU Maryland ongoing training programs. She has a high-energy, entertaining and engaging training style.

Prior to joining the staff of Maryland Nonprofits, Ms. Winters worked for several nonprofits in Buffalo, New York including the Greater Buffalo Development Corporation and the World University Games. She has served on numerous boards and committees throughout her career. She holds a Master of Urban Planning, a MS in Applied Public Affairs, and a BA in Environmental Design from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

This program is a part of CFAAC Community Impact Speaker Series for Nonprofit Capacity-Building and is made possible thanks to the generous funding of Andrew and Leslie Price. Events in this series include: Strategic Planning for Nonprofits; Strategic Partnership/Corporate Integration; Risk Management, Donor database and Financial Management Systems; Executive Director Supervisory Skills, Managing for Mutual Success; and Board Governance/Innovative Board Recruiting.