Event Details
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
10:00AM – 3:00PM PT
Online via Zoom – This webinar will be recorded
As the saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.” In the same way, the challenging times nonprofits face today can spark remarkable innovation. While innovative ideas can emerge from any part of an organization, boards of directors play a unique role as stewards, strategists, and sense-makers. In times like these, it’s essential for boards to think creatively.
But how can boards govern with innovation and creativity without overstepping into operations or executive responsibilities? At this Nonprofit Innovation Summit, we’ll explore that question and dive into fresh approaches to board recruitment, governance, strategy, and more.
The Innovation Summit is a premier virtual gathering for nonprofit leaders, change-makers, and social innovators across Washington State. Launched in 2022, Nonprofit Innovation Summits provide a focused experience for deeper learning and examination of a single topic from multiple perspectives.
Innovation Summit Agenda:
- 10:00AM – 12:00PM PT: Purpose-Driven Board Leadership – Dani Robbins and Angelyn Frazer-Giles, BoardSource
- 12:00PM – 1:00PM PT: Lunch Break
- 1:00PM – 3:00PM PT: 10 Wild Ideas for Doing Boards Differently
– Derik Timmerman, Valtas Group
The way nonprofit board leadership was envisioned and has evolved is, in many cases, incongruent with the current needs of communities. Too many boards are populated in a way that limits their ability to provide the kind of values-driven, strategic leadership and oversight that organizations need.
We believe it is time for real change in the way we teach about how boards can and should understand and embody their leadership. If boards represent and govern our organizations on behalf of communities, then who is on the board can drastically change how the board operates and what role the board plays. The “purpose-driven board” framework challenges boards to reimagine their most essential board roles, focusing on equitable social outcomes, broad-based impacts, community representation, and inclusive listening to accomplish its mission and vision.
In this session, we will explore these key principles:
- Purpose Before Organization
- Respect for Ecosystem
- Equity Mindset
- Authorized Voice and Power
Purpose-driven board leadership makes explicit what is different about social sector governance (as opposed to corporate governance), as well as how traditional ways of thinking about nonprofit governance fail to acknowledge the unique charge of social sector organizations and the boards that lead them.
Learning Objectives:
- Familiarity with a new nonprofit board leadership framework, The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership
- Knowledge of board trends and dynamics that led to this call for change from BoardSource
- Understanding of how shifts toward Purpose-Driven Board Leadership could take shape within one’s own board.
- To review how the ten responsibilities of a board within the PDBL structure
- To explore the ways Purpose-Driven Board Leadership can enrich your boards enjoyment of leadership
- To enhance your organization’s capacity to reflect and engage your community.
10 Wild Ideas for Doing Boards Differently
Nonprofit boards are essential to organizational success, but too often they get stuck in old habits—recycling the same meeting formats, expectations, and engagement strategies that no longer inspire. This fast-paced and provocative workshop invites participants to break the mold and reimagine what boards can look like when creativity meets accountability.
We’ll explore ten unconventional, thought-provoking approaches to board leadership—from experimenting with new structures and decision-making models, to rethinking recruitment and role design, to finding fresh ways to unleash each member’s unique talents. Some ideas may seem bold, even impractical, but they’re meant to spark new thinking about what’s possible.
Participants will walk away with fresh energy, actionable experiments to try with their own boards, and a renewed sense that governance doesn’t have to be a chore—it can be innovative, inspiring, and deeply connected to mission impact.
Key Takeaways / Learning Objectives:
- Discover 10 innovative ideas for shaking up board culture and practice.
- Learn how to adapt these approaches to your own organization’s context.
- Leave with a set of experiments you can pilot right away to re-engage your board.
Cost
$20 + tax for NAWA Members – Find the coupon code on the Member Resources page.
$40 + tax for Not-yet-Members. Interested in becoming a NAWA Member? Learn more about membership here.
Cost should not be a barrier to participate. Please contact us if you have any requests, concerns, or questions regarding the cost of this workshop.
Recording
Registrants will receive the webinar recording by email after the event. If there are breakout rooms, they will not be included in the recording. If you can’t attend the training but you are interested in learning about this topic, please register so we can send you the recording and materials.
Accessibility
Captioning: We will have automated captioning enabled.
Interpretation: Please indicate during registration if you have an interpretation request. Typically, we need at least two weeks in order to schedule an interpreter.
Visual Descriptions: Presenters will include visual descriptions of themselves and the slides to give a person who is low-vision, blind, or calling in without video a sense of space and place.
If you have additional accessibility requests, please let us know when you register.
About the Speakers
Angelyn Frazer-Giles, BoardSource
Read Angelyn's Bio
Angelyn has over 25 years of experience in movement and coalition building, human rights policy, racial and criminal justice advocacy, and project management & program development. At BoardSource, she focuses on BIPOC leadership transformations and helps identify and create relationships with networks and audiences nationwide to amplify BoardSource’s messaging and governance philosophy.
She previously served as the Director of State Legislative Affairs at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and as the Executive Director at the National Network for Justice (NNJ), whose members focused on reducing the populations of jails, prisons, and detention facilities.
Angelyn is a trained End-of-Life Doula and the immediate past President of the International End-of-Life Doula Association (INELDA). She is the Founder and CEO of Heirloom Estate and Legacy Preservation LLC, a firm that provides consultation, webinars, and tools designed to educate individuals about the elements of end-of-life planning.
Angelyn received her A.A.S degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, her B.A. from the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, studied Spanish at the Universidad De Guadalajara in Jalisco, México and received Paralegal and Estate Planning certificates from The Center for Legal Studies. Angelyn has traveled extensively including Honduras–the homeland of her parents. She is also a licensed instructor of Zumba®, Zumba Gold®, Zumba Sentao™ and Aqua Zumba®. She lives in Delaware with her husband.
Dani Robbins, BoardSource
Read Dani's Bio
As the Director of Governance Strategy, Dani leads the educational strategy for BoardSource, focused on developing and delivering relevant and engaging educational programs and products that strengthen board leadership functions and practices. Dani works across teams to ensure that BoardSource’s offerings are aligned with the organization’s leadership priorities, research findings, and sector-wide leading practices. She oversees the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs, including the Board Support Program, BoardSource’s core board development program.
Prior to joining BoardSource, Dani served as the Director of the Nonprofit Administration graduate programs at John Carroll University where she taught nonprofit governance, leadership and management. She also founded and led Non Profit Evolution, a consulting firm providing nonprofit governance, strategy, and coaching services.
Her education includes a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, and a Bachelor’s from Kent State University. She is also a graduate of Leadership Akron Class 22 and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Advanced Leadership Program, offered in conjunction with the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Dani has served as the chief executive of two domestic violence shelters/rape crisis centers and two Boys & Girls Clubs, and introduced the Women’s Coalition – the prelude to the Women’s Center – at Case Western Reserve University.
Dani received the Vision and Spirit Award from Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2006 and was included as a Notable Women in Nonprofits by Crain’s Cleveland Business in 2019.
Dani is also a speaker and trainer, the co-author of the Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives, the author of a blog on issues relating to nonprofit organizations, and formerly a Network for Good fund raising coach, the nonprofit expert on answers.com and an instructor at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.
Advancing social justice is her life’s work.
Derik Timmerman, Valtas Group
Read Derik's Bio
Dr. Derik Timmerman is the Managing Partner of Valtas, an advisory services firm guiding leadership transitions for social enterprises. For 15+ years Derik has been a nationally-recognized speaker and facilitator on a variety of nonprofit subjects including leadership effectiveness, fundraising, and board development, and is the author of The 40 Laws of Nonprofit Impact. In earlier roles, Derik was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and a US Army Intelligence Officer with two combat deployments to Iraq. Derik earned a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, as well as a Masters, PhD, and CFRE certification in fundraising.
Thanks to Our Partner
Presented by Nonprofit Association of Washington in partnership with Washington Office of the Secretary of State.
We’re grateful to our Champion-level Business Members for demonstrating their strong commitment to the nonprofit sector through their membership.
Questions? Check out the event FAQ page or contact Nonprofit Association of Washington
Phone: (855) 299-2922 x108
Email: [email protected]