Before becoming Dean of Insight Labs, Jeff Leitner learned about the non-profit world through work with many different organizations. One of them was the Emerald City Theatre Company, an award-winning children’s theater group in Chicago. Leitner served as the theater’s board president from 2005 to 2008. Following his tenure, the group created an award in his honor designed to acknowledge extraordinary service by a board member.

As many of the non-profit leaders who collaborate with Insight Labs can attest, a strong, collaborative between an organization’s staff and its board can be critical to make a strategic change. Curious about how this had been accomplished at Emerald City, Labs Content Director Andrew Benedict-Nelson called the group’s executive director, Karen Cardarelli, to ask about the Leitner Award and how she has used it to shape the best board possible for the theater and those it serves.

Andrew Benedict-Nelson: Could you tell me about the Leitner Award and the qualities it is meant to recognize on your board?

Karen Cardarelli: The award was created in recognition of the great work that Jeff has done for our board, putting him forth as a role model for outstanding service and making sure that we recognize those kinds of board members in the future. As it says on the plaque in our office, the award is intended to thank board members for “heart, brains, and courage.” That means it goes to someone with the passion in their heart for our organization and its mission, the brains to advise us well fiscally or strategically, and the courage to make some difficult decisions and be present in a volunteer capacity.

ABN: Who are some of the people who have won the award, and what qualities made them good board members?

KC: The first one was Seema Pajula. She is a partner with Deloitte, and she just did an amazing fundraising job. In the year she won, she brought three new corporations to our our organizatoin and funding support from those three, as well as a board member. The ’09-’10 winner was Tim Buikema with KPMG. He also chaired our finance committee and really helped us navigate through a rocky financial period.

ABN: How did Jeff Leitner’s actions as president of your board change your organization?

KC: The big thing Jeff did was to elevate the kind of people that were on our board, to help us get more corporate representation. Previous to Jeff, we had what you would call a working board. There were not many professionals, but they were happy to pitch in and help with the mailing. They didn’t really have the skill set to advise us in larger ways. Jeff really was able to go out and find people who would be on the board and brought us governance and strategic support, as well as fundraising support. The talent he brought us was a huge contribution. He also understood how to change our communications style to be more in line with what people in the corporate world wanted to hear and talk about.

ABN: How does an organization decide what kind of board is best? Do you think there are circumstances when a kind of “working board” is more appropriate?

KC: I think the trick is to have the right board for where the organization is in its lifecycle. As much as I would love to have, say, the CEO of Boeing on our board, that’s probably not right for us right now. We would not be able to provide him with the experience he’s looking for and he might not have a skill set that is an obvious match for us. Understanding what you are looking for and then getting the right person is really critical.

As for a working board, I guess it depends on the organization’s goals. I can see how when you are starting out, even if you have access to people are the VP level or CEO level of companies, when an organization is starting out there are a lot of times when everyone just has to roll up their sleeves. Emerald City is going through a big period of growth, so we need people with experence in developmental strategies and fundraising. But in the future that may change again.

ABN: What advice would you give to your fellow executive directors who are trying to improve their boards?

KC: Go and find someone like Jeff. Unless you as an executive director have the experience of working with a board and experience picking out people in the community, you need someone who can put together an advisory group. That is how I found Jeff, actually. Leaders like to hang out with other leaders. If you want a board full of leaders, you have got to have at least one to start with.

ABN: You’ve discussed how Jeff improved your board, but what direct effect did he and his fellow board members have on your organization and the work you do?

KC: He’s really good at stepping back and not getting too caught up in the muck. A big part of what he did for me personally was he got me to act, think, and feel like a larger organization. He told us to act like the organization we will be in ten years. Once you look at things that way you start to raise the bar on your own decision-making.