The Bold Board Blueprint™: Strengthening Boards of Black-Led Nonprofits

August is Black Philanthropy Month, a global celebration of generosity, equity, and investment in Black communities. It’s also an ideal time to talk about how we can better support the backbone of Black-led nonprofits: their boards.

Black-led nonprofits are on the frontlines of justice, healing, and community transformation. They are feeding families, advancing racial equity, protecting health, preserving culture, and creating opportunity where systems have failed. In fact, 92% of Black nonprofit leaders say their personal lived experience fuels their mission.

But here’s the tension: while these organizations do some of the most urgent and effective work, their boards are often asked to govern under conditions of deep inequity.

• 97% of Black-led nonprofits report that general operating support is their number one need.

• 62% of their leaders are working extra jobs just to make ends meet.

• And while Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population, less than 2% of big foundation dollars are directed to Black-led nonprofits.

So, boards serving Black-led nonprofits are asked to lead, fundraise, and govern in a sector that still doesn’t invest equitably in them. Passion and purpose are abundant. But passion doesn’t pay the bills.

Introducing The Bold Board Blueprint™

At The Board Pro, I created The Bold Board Blueprint™, a governance training program built specifically to strengthen boards that serve Black-led nonprofits. This Blueprint equips boards to move beyond compliance and into bold, liberatory leadership that matches the courage of the organizations they serve.

Here’s what it covers:

• Aligning with the CEO’s Vision. Boards are trained to understand and champion the CEO’s vision while also providing accountability. That balance creates stability and unity.

• Modeling Integrity and Trust. A Bold Board avoids division and drama. It keeps organizational matters inside the boardroom, leads with transparency, and builds the trust needed to navigate crises together.

• Embedding Cultural Competency. Bold Boards recognize that it’s not enough to support the Black leader — they must also deepen their understanding of the Black and Brown communities the organization serves. For boards that are predominantly white and not proximate to these communities, this means intentionally learning histories, listening to lived experience, and approaching governance with humility and cultural fluency.

• Liberatory Governance Practices. Boards learn to move away from colonized, hierarchical practices and instead embrace equity, abundance, and collaboration. This isn’t about token diversity — it’s about governance that unleashes impact.

• Shared Responsibility. Too often, the work of governance falls to one or two super-members. The Blueprint builds a culture of shared accountability, so the board operates as a team.

• Fundraising as Advocacy. Boards of Black-led nonprofits often feel pressure to raise funds in systems biased against them. The Blueprint reframes fundraising as advocacy and storytelling — inviting others to invest in a vision for equity and justice.

  
  

Why This Matters

Black-led nonprofits are not just effective, they’re essential. They are rooted in their communities, staffed by people who reflect those they serve, and led by visionaries (many of them Black women — who founded 60% of these nonprofits). And yet, inequitable funding and underinvestment in governance leave their boards without the tools they need to succeed.

Black Philanthropy Month is a reminder that investing in Black-led nonprofits means investing in stronger, more just communities for everyone. That support has to extend beyond grants — it must include strengthening the governance structures that guide and sustain these organizations.

The Bold Board Blueprint™ equips boards — especially those with predominantly white membership — to govern with cultural humility, listen to and trust the leadership of Black and Brown communities, and embed equity into every policy, relationship, and decision.

The Call to Boldness

If we are serious about equity, we must stop overlooking the boardroom. Funders, partners, and nonprofit leaders must not only write checks but also invest in the governance capacity of Black-led nonprofits. Because when boards are bold — when they stand with their leaders, build cultural competency, govern with integrity, and lead with courage — Black-led nonprofits are unstoppable.

About Me

Hi, I'm Christal M. Cherry, The Board Pro, a nonprofit board consultant and trainer who partners with nonprofits to deliver bold, equity-centered solutions that prepare their boards to lead with strength and vision. If your organization is interested in The Bold Board Blueprint™ Training, please reach out at www.theboardpro.com.