The Board Pro

09/09/2026

I had such a wonderful time facilitating PCCI’s Leadership Retreat at Callaway Resort & Gardens!

This team came ready to learn, laugh, reflect, and have honest conversations about leadership, trust, ownership, accountability, and supporting one another without rescuing. And yes—we even made time for a little dancing!

Thank you, Jimiyu Evans, and the entire PCCI leadership team for welcoming me into this important experience. Your commitment to your people, your mission, and one another was evident throughout the day.

Strong teams don’t happen by accident. They are built through intentional conversations, authentic relationships, and the courage to grow together. I can’t wait to see what’s next for PCCI!

09/01/2026

Employers: You say you want to develop Black women leaders. Here is the receipt.

For only $99 per participant, you can sponsor a team member for Built for This Moment, a practical two-part experience that will strengthen her ability to:

🔥 Navigate power and organizational politics

💰 Ask sharper financial and governance questions

🎤 Speak up when decisions threaten the mission

🧭 Lead with confidence, clarity, and strong boundaries

🪑 Prepare for meaningful nonprofit board service

Leadership development does not always require a five-figure budget.

Sometimes, it starts with one intentional investment.

Sponsor one woman—or send the whole team: https://www.theboardpro.com/event-details/built-for-this-moment

08/28/2026

08/25/2026

Put Your Money Where Your Values Are!

Everybody says we need more Black women in leadership. Here is your chance to do something about it.

For just $99, you can sponsor a Black woman to attend Built for This Moment, a two-part board leadership experience designed to prepare her to choose the right board, understand power, challenge harmful decisions, and lead without shrinking.

Invest in the woman who is ready to change the room.

📅 September 21 & 28

💻 Live on Zoom

🎟️ Sponsor one woman for $99

Email SPONSORHER to [email protected] for payment details.

08/21/2026

🔥 BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! 🔥

Black women are not waiting to be invited, validated, or told we’re ready.

We are built for this moment.

The boardroom needs our wisdom.

The mission needs our courage.

The community needs our questions.

And the moment demands our leadership.

Join me for Built for This Moment, a powerful two-part virtual experience created to help Black women choose the right board, understand how power really moves, ask the questions others avoid, and lead boldly without shrinking, performing, or carrying the whole organization.

📅 September 21 & 28, 2026

⏰ 6–8 PM ET

💻 Live on Zoom

🎟️ $99 for both sessions

Your seat is waiting—but your voice is already ready.

Register: https://www.theboardpro.com/event-details/built-for-this-moment

08/20/2026

We're Looking for More Than Résumés

You don’t need a certain title to make a difference in the boardroom.

Sauti Yetu is building a board that brings together professional expertise, lived experience, cultural understanding, relationships, and a genuine commitment to African immigrant women and families.

We need people willing to do more than attend meetings.

We’re looking for leaders ready to ask good questions, open doors, support fundraising, strengthen governance, advocate for the mission, and help imagine what Sauti Yetu can become over its next 20+ years.

If that sounds like you, or someone you know, I’d love to hear from you.

Apply by September 1:

https://sautiyetunyc.org/about-us/bod/

Questions? [email protected]

Who should be at this table? Share this with them.

08/19/2026

Your board should do more than meet, vote, and go home.

It should challenge old thinking, champion the mission, support the CEO, open doors—and help move the organization forward.

If you’re ready to build a more engaged, effective, and courageous board, the latest edition of The Board Room Beat newsletter is for you. 📰

Read it here: https://www.theboardpro.com/so/edQ0KOwyS

What is one thing you wish your board did better?

08/11/2026

You Pulled the Weeds. Now What Are You Planting?

Cynthia Silva Parker’s article, “Racism as an Invasive Weed,” left me thinking: pulling weeds isn’t enough. If we don’t replace them with something healthier, they return.

Of course, I thought about nonprofit boards.

For years, we’ve worked to uproot outdated policies, gatekeeping, homogeneous recruitment practices, harmful language, and traditions that no longer serve us.

Good. Pull them.

But what are we planting in their place?

Removing harm and creating the conditions for people to thrive are two different jobs. Changing policies or diversifying a board doesn’t automatically change what people experience.

That’s why I believe in Human-Centered Governance. It isn’t enough for boards to become less harmful. They must become more human.

That means replacing gatekeeping with access, assumptions with curiosity, silence with honest conversation, and invitations to serve with genuine opportunities to influence.

And this work requires ongoing care. You don’t build belonging once. You tend to it again and again.

So, what has your board worked hard to uproot—and what are you intentionally planting in its place?

Cynthia Silva Parker

08/11/2026

Good to be back! Thank you AFP Atlanta for bringing me back to the stage. Hope you join me there!

08/11/2026

Atlanta, I’m excited to share that I’ll be speaking at the Southern Impact Conference, hosted by AFP Greater Atlanta, on Wednesday, August 26, 2026!

My session, Unblocked: Breaking Down Giving Barriers—Starting in the Boardroom, will challenge us to examine the beliefs, behaviors, and boardroom practices that can stand in the way of generosity.

If you’re ready to help your board get unblocked and unlock greater generosity, I hope you’ll join me!

Learn more and register here: https://community.afpglobal.org/afpgaatlantachapter/events/eventdescription?CalendarEventKey=c90f70b2-f241-4975-b872-019dfec9d248&CommunityKey=74f51f17-63db-4775-8726-113abfd671f6&utm_source=chatgpt.com