Nonprofit Board Lab 2025

The Nonprofit Board Lab is built on the principle of iron sharpening iron—bringing together nonprofit leaders, board members, philanthropic partners, and corporate board placement professionals for open exchange, peer dialogue, and connections that extend across the nonprofit ecosystem. Through interactive sessions, participants listened, shared perspectives, and learned from one another.     

In a time that demands agility and resolve, the Lab equips leaders to stand firm in their mission while solidifying focused action to deliver greater value in an uncertain world.

Sessions and Speakers

Welcome & Purpose

Speakers

• Melodie Rose - President, Fredrikson; Board Chair, NACD Minnesota Chapter
• Chanda Smith Baker - President & CEO, St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Board Member, NACD Minnesota Chapter

Keynote

• Richard K. Davis - Former Executive Chairman & CEO, U.S. Bancorp; Former President & CEO, Make-A-Wish America

Opening Panel Discussion: Empowered in Collective Action 

Speakers

• Susan Bass Roberts - President, Pohlad Family Foundation; Philanthropic Board Member
• Lulete Mola - Co-Founder & President, Black Collective Foundation MN; Nonprofit Board Member
• Tuleah Palmer - President and CEO, Blandin Foundation

Moderator

• Tabitha Montgomery - Principal & Owner, T Lee Consulting, LLC.; Former Nonprofit CEO; Nonprofit Board Chair & Member

Lab Session: Board Preparedness

Serving on a nonprofit board offers a meaningful opportunity to lead with purpose—but it also calls for a distinct kind of readiness. Beyond professional expertise or good intentions, board members are expected to contribute in ways that reflect deep commitment to the mission.  

This session invites participanted to explore how they can bring clarity, commitment, and purpose to their role on a nonprofit board—whether they’re stepping into it for the first time or refining how they lead. Participants explored what effective board service truly requires. 

Speakers

• Aretha Green-Rupert - Program Director, Carlson Family Foundation; Philanthropic & Nonprofit Board Chair & Member
• Kate Kelly - Independent Director; former EVP & Regional President, PNC Bank, Minnesota
• Malik Rucker - Executive Director, V3 Sports; Nonprofit Board Member & Philanthropic Advisory Committee Member

Moderator

• Marisa C. Williams - Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts River Valleys

Session Host

• Dara Rudick - CEO Managment HQ; Board Member, NACD Minnesota Chapter

Lab Session: Board / Executive Leader Partnership

At its best, a nonprofit board is more than a governing body—it is a strategic partner to the executive leader and a source of meaningful support to the organization. Today’s volatile environment requires boards to take stock of the internal and external implications affecting organizational leadership.  There is a need for intentional focus on the board-executive partnership and how the board supports its executive leader. This session exploree the board’s role in recognizing and responding to changes in context that directly affect Leadership.  We leaned into a generative leadership model grounded in creating an environment of trust, respect and restoration for the executive leader and their teams and promoting a continuous cycle of creativity, innovation, and positive change within the organization. 

Through a mix of panel discussion, small group conversation, and hands-on reflection, participants left this session more equipped to help their board meet the leadership needs of today by finding the most effective alignment with its executive leader in support of the organization. 

Speakers

• Eric Black - President & CEO of Minnesota Diversified Industries; Nonprofit & Philanthrophic Board Member
• Henry Jiménez - President and CEO, Propel Nonprofits; Nonprofit Board Member & Trustee
• Sophia Lenarz-Coy - Executive Director, The Food Group; Nonprofit Board Member

Moderator

• Mai-Anh Tran - Associate Vice President of Philanthropic Service, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Nonprofit Board Member

Session Host

• Tim Huebsch - Tech Leader; Board of Trustees & Board Member; Higher Ed Advisor; Board Member, NACD Minnesota Chapter

Lab Session: Strategic Flexibility

Strategic planning has always been vital to nonprofit success—but today’s realities demand a more agile and responsive approach. The widening gap between demand and resources is prompting a deeper kind of board governance —willing to explore bold approaches, reimagine partnerships, and ask for what’s truly needed to deliver impact. Sometimes that means expanding ambitiously; other times, making tough calls about restructuring or even closing.  Nonprofits can no longer rely on static, multi-year plans. Instead, strategy must become a living tool: a dynamic framework that is mission-anchored and operationally responsive and adaptable to real-time conditions.   

In this session we clarified the board’s role in planning, oversight, and organizational alignment, explore strategy in three realms, developing the plan, executing the plan and abandoning the plan when strategic pivot is required and explore a range of planning models—from nimble approaches for smaller organizations to structured frameworks for larger institutions—and learned how to choose the right fit based on capacity, complexity, and mission need. 

Speakers

• Margaret Cherne-Hendrick, PhD - Chief Executive Officer, Fresh Energy

• Craig Warren - CEO, Washburn Center for Children; Nonprofit Board Member

• ThaoMee Xiong - Executive & Network Director, Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL)

Moderator

• Jamie Millard - Managing Partner, Ballinger | Leafblad

Session Host

• Stacey Ackerman - Managing Director, Wells Fargo Advisors; Board Member, NACD Minnesota Chapter

Closing Reflections

Speakers

• Melodie Rose - President, Fredrikson; Board Chair, NACD Minnesota Chapter
• Chanon Lemon, NACD.DC -  NACD Minnesota Chapter Executive Director, Independent Board Member