The Governance Committee presented a slate of nominees to the Washington Women’s Foundation Board of Directors at its September 28 meeting. The slate was unanimously approved and is presented for consideration by the entire WaWF membership. This year’s slate of Board nominations consists of one current Director, who is eligible for reelection for another three-year term.

The Governance Committee has decided to take a one-year pause on adding new Board Directors for several reasons. When our new President and CEO, Maria Kolby-Wolfe, joined us in February, we knew there would be significant work to implement key parts of WaWF’s strategic framework – including a revamped grant process. Along with the major revision of our grant programs, other aspects of the strategic plan are advancing, including our membership strategy, committee restructuring, advocacy work, and education programs. All these organizational changes, coinciding with the introduction of a new executive leader, led us to slow down changing the composition of the Board as well.

Looking ahead, to encourage our members to consider all the ways they can participate in the foundation, Maria is offering several sessions of “Get Involved! Committees and Leadership at WaWF.” These open sessions are designed for recent and longstanding members to explore routes to become more engaged as members, as well as how to move into leadership roles, such as committee chairs or Board Directors.

During this hiatus in recruiting, the Governance Committee is developing a board-competency model to better meet the needs of our evolving foundation. The goal is to identify not only demographic or professional traits but also a common dedication to WaWF’s mission, vision, and values. We look forward to sharing this model once it is refined early in 2022. This tool continues earlier work to improve the equity and transparency of Board recruitment.  

We will put out an open call during spring 2022 for members to nominate themselves or others for possible Board service. Candidates may be recent or longstanding members and are often active participants in WaWF programs. Other candidates are recommended by staff, who develop day-to-day relationships with our members.

Details of Board composition, elections, terms, and more can be found in the WaWF bylaws.  You can see the list of current Board members here. Please also make sure to register for our Annual Meeting on October 27.

Please send any inquiries or suggestions to boardchair@wawomensfdn.org. We value your thoughts as we work to build a strong and inclusive Board for the Washington Women’s Foundation.