#386 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday June 24)
Good morning,
RECRUITING NONPROFIT BOARD MEMBERS
The latest in the series on nonprofit boards…
Nearly everyone reading this Musing is a potential candidate for a nonprofit board. Many of you already are on boards. It is through the vast network of nonprofit organizations throughout the country that many of the services provided to communities in need are distributed. Most schools—primary, secondary, and higher education—are governed by a board of trustees that ensures the continued mission, health and sustainability, and proper operations of the organization.
And they need people like you! Nonprofit boards have a hard time finding the right mix of people. Set aside the necessity of improving diversity on boards; they also need people with the right mix of skills. If you have any of these skills, you are highly sought after to help do good in the world:
Legal
Accounting
Medical
Education
Communications
Public relations
Mental health
Land use
Investment and financial management
Governmental affairs/negotiations/contracting
Labor and benefits
Nonprofit organizations increasingly need high quality professionals, not only to fulfill the general fiduciary obligations of the board, but for strategic planning and in these specific areas of expertise.
GOVERNMENT—THE GREATEST HITS (AND BOMBS)
I’ve been thinking a lot about two groups of people. The first believes that government, with its vast power, the ability to tax, the ability to scale, and the ability to attack a problem globally, can solve all of our problems. The second believes that government, with its bloat, rules, bureaucracy, inefficiency, and legislative pork, can’t solve anything. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I’m curious what programs people might put in a “Hall of Fame” for government successes or a “Hall of Fame” for government bombs. I’ll start with a few successes and negatives:
The optimism embodied in the League of Nations and the United Nations, both championed by the U.S.
The Interstate Highway System
The Internet was created primarily by the government. I’m still unclear why the U.S. didn’t demand a piece of the action when things took off
NASA through the Apollo missions was a great success. Now, with the privatization of space travel, we are seeing that NASA is outgunned.
The ACELA trains along the east coast, on the one hand. Failure its inability to create a profitable system of national train travel is on the other hand.
The postal service continues to deliver the mail in rain, sleet and gloom of night. But its position as the chief deliverer of goods has been supplanted by UPS, FedEx and others.
The Massachusetts health care system was a step in the right direction, but nowhere near as big as Obamacare (but still not enough to resolve the health care system’s problems)
The American primary and secondary education system through the 1970s as a model for the world. Its failure in modern times is one of our greatest shames
A Constitution that, for all its flaws, compromises and occasional misinterpretation over the years, is the single most significant document to organize humankind’s affairs
The freeway system in southern California changed the entire region. Yet mass transit in LA has been a failure that hasn’t recovered since the dismantling of the red cars
An example of bloat and lack of controls in government is the high speed rail project in California
The Alliance for Progress
Let’s hear about some others to include in another list in a few weeks.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: