What Do You Do When Politics Impacts Your Board of Directors?

This is an original case study written by Valerie F. Leonard as an exercise in board development and training.

You joined the board of directors of a community development organization 6 months ago. The organization is the faith-based affiliate of a local church. A total of 4 of the 11 board members are members of the church, including the pastor, the chairman of the board of deacons, the head of the women’s auxiliary, and the chairman of the church’s board of directors.

The founding board chairman is also the founding pastor of the church that started the community development organization. When the group was organized 3 years ago, the decision was made to serve as a convener of community development activities, and not to get involved in the actual hands on development of housing. This would ensure that the members of the board of directors who are involved in real estate development as a profession would not be engaged in activities that could potentially pose conflicts of interest.

The board chairman has noticed that the low-income community is rapidly undergoing change. Housing values are growing at double the rate of inflation. Most of the new housing units are not affordable for current community residents. At the same time, there seems to be a dearth of commercial development…