Board Member 2027

Description

Priority deadline: November 16, 2026

Pride Foundation is conducting an open process for community members to join our Board. The goals of our open process are to help us:

More equitably evaluate board member prospects based on our identified priorities and their alignment with our values.

Reach beyond our existing individual networks to ensure we cast a wide net for board member prospects.

Offer the breadth of our community the opportunity to self-identify their interest in serving on our board of directors.

• Build a more sustainable pipeline for people to join our board over the long term.

About Our Process for Recruiting New Board Members

• If you are interested in applying to join our Board of Directors, please fill out our board member prospect application before the priority deadline of November 16, 2026.

Please let us know if you would prefer to submit an alternate format application, such as video or voice recording. You can contact Poni about this at [email protected] or our office phone, 206-323-3318.

Our Board Development Committee will review applications in November and December, and finalist prospects will be invited to meet with members of our committee and our CEO in January and February.

Finalist meetings and conversations will not be traditional or formal interviews, but rather, be about getting to know each other before making any commitments about board service.

We have limited space available on our board, and are currently recruiting 2-3 new Board members. We will be evaluating prospects based on how their lived and professional experience aligns with our mission, vision, and values, as well as the current highest priorities for our board composition. In our last open process we received more than 50 applications.

We intend for our full Board to review and approve new members in March 2027.

• Everyone who submits an application will receive communication about where we are in the process, and follow up as to how to continue to be involved in our work if not selected to join our Board at this time.

If you have questions about Board service or our process, you can contact Katie, CEO, at [email protected].

FAQs:

Q:If I applied in the past, do I have to apply again?

A: Yes. We have made changes to the application since the first year to help us better evaluate potential Board members.

Q:If I applied in the past, is it worth it for me to continue applying?

A: Yes/Maybe. We encourage you to review our priorities before applying, as we use these to guide all of our decision-making. Given the breadth of our priorities, we expect to receive a lot of applications. If you have applied more than once and meet our priorities, we’d be happy to discuss whether it makes sense for you to continue applying.

Q: When will I find out whether I have been selected for the Board?

A: We will be sending invitations to prospect finalists in February to meet with our committee and CEO. The final decision will happen at our Board meeting in March.

Q: If I am not selected for the Board, or I am not yet ready to apply for board service, are there other ways that I can be involved with Pride Foundation?

A: Yes! We have opportunities for community members to participate in our state-based Community Engagement Committees and on our Finance & Investment Committee. If you are interested in either of these opportunities please email [email protected].

About Board Service with Pride Foundation:

We understand that Board service is often a big commitment, and we want to be clear about the roles, responsibilities, expectations, and time commitment of joining Pride Foundation’s board.

You can view the full description of both required and functional Board Roles here.

To give you a sense of the types of commitments our Board members make:

6 virtual Board meetings annually (2 hours each, on the 3rd Tuesdays at 5:30pm PST)

Board packet review before meetings (1-3 hours per packet)
1 in-person Board and Staff retreat annually (locations across the Northwest, cost of travel and accommodations can be covered by Pride Foundation)
8-10 virtual committee meetings annually (1-2 hours each), plus extra time to complete committee projects (committee work is encouraged, but not required)
Attend local Pride Foundation events and occasional other outreach meetings and opportunities
Timely responses to email communication and a few annual internal surveys
A commitment to ongoing learning and growth as we continue to transform our work, our organization, and our sector
Willingness to serve as an ambassador for Pride Foundation and to bring our work into your networks

• Making a financial contribution to Pride Foundation that is personally meaningful (we do not have a minimum gift expectation of board members, or a ‘get’ expectation).

Characteristics of Pride Foundation Board Members:

We care deeply about representation on our Board, and intentionally recruit new board members who bring particular lived and professional experiences to the Board. Prude Foundation Board Members should:

Share our commitment to LGBTQ+, gender, and racial justice, and have experience living out this commitment.

Bring a strong analysis of power and privilege as we seek to deepen our accountability to communities within the LGBTQ+ community most impacted by injustice.

Bring a passion for supporting the unique role that Pride Foundation is able to play in our ecosystem in the Northwest as a community foundation and through our programmatic endeavors and fundraising.

Have experience with Pride Foundation as a grantee, scholar, donor, volunteer, partner, or community member, or have deep familiarity with the unique nature of our work.

Share our organization values of Hope & Joy, Justice & Collective Liberation, Integrity & Trust, Regeneration & Sustainability, Growth & Courage.

• Share our commitment to building a liberatory model of governance.

This year, we are prioritizing folks with experiences that can help us navigate the roads ahead. We would especially love to hear from you if you have experience in philanthropy and with the changing funding landscape, mobilizing resources from individual donors at all levels, and/or direct leadership experience with the organizations, people, communities, and work that we fund.

About Pride Foundation

Pride Foundation fuels transformational movements to advance equity and justice for LGBTQ+ people in all communities across the Northwest. We envision a world in which all LGBTQ+ people live safely and openly as our whole selves in the communities we call home.

Pride Foundation is the only community foundation by and for LGBTQ+ people and communities serving the Northwest region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Founded in 1985 during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Pride Foundation is the result of generations of leaders who brought simple but revolutionary values to our movement: the courage to truly see one another, the compassion to recognize our shared humanity, and the conviction to show up every day to protect one another. Pride Foundation has an operating budget of more than $6 million with 16 full time employees working from across the region we serve. Pride Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors with 17 members from across the five-state region with diverse professional and lived experiences.

As an organization and as individuals, we are committed to anti-racism, and strive to center racial equity and justice throughout our organization and all aspects of our programmatic work. Together, we are intentionally and actively building an internal culture that reflects this commitment, and an organization where our team members can thrive. All team members are a part of this work and are active participants in building our culture. Read more about the work culture we are building here and our 4 day work weeks here.