This article appeared as "People Power" in the Fall 2024 issue of Independent School.
A thorny human resources issue emerged during a seemingly straightforward week here at The Quaker School at Horsham (PA). It was a situation still in flux—too early for me to inform our leadership team. So after consulting the school’s counsel to understand the legal boundaries, I began preparing for a very uncomfortable meeting I knew I would have to go into alone.
It really can be lonely in the head’s chair.
However, this time I was not truly alone. I texted a trustee who works as the human resources director at a large worldwide corporation. She was brought onto the board because of her expertise and quickly became a trusted partner. After she texted back, I called her and came away from our conversation feeling resolute and prepared for the looming meeting. Even better, the trustee said she would follow up the next day to see if I needed additional support.
“Don’t worry,” she told me, “I have helped CEOs handle situations like this many times.”
In another recent situation, The Quaker School at Horsham (TQS) was concluding a terrific hiring season that ended early due to high teacher retention, and we were excited about the new team members coming on. That’s when I learned that our school’s dedicated and well-liked assistant head of seven years was resigning to take a fully virtual position in another organization.
It's April, I thought, and this person has so many responsibilities. This is going to take some serious reorganization and communication.
I knew what I had to do, but I was overwhelmed. That’s when my phone rang. It was my board chair, and I immediately felt a sense of relief. He was calling about something unrelated, yet I knew a partner, friend, and trusted adviser was on the phone, and I would end the call with a smart path forward.
The successful resolutions of these two scenarios have something in common: the support of skilled, dedicated, dependable trustees. Leading schools is complex, and one person cannot do it alone. Having trusted partners who are experts on call, sounding boards when necessary, and thought partners at all times is essential. But how does a school develop a board with such people? How does a group of trustees who are generative, strategic, and fiduciary while being boundary-driven, diverse, confidential, and trustworthy come together?
Such a board doesn’t just come together. It is built—according to the strategic plan, by casting a wide net, and with recruitment partners. After nine years as TQS head of school, I’ve learned invaluable lessons on how to build a board that does not just meet standards but exceeds expectations.
Laying the Groundwork
At the heart of a high-performing board lies a well-defined strategic plan, coupled with a robust financial strategy. This groundwork enables the development of a board profile that aligns precisely with the needs identified in the strategic plan, ensuring that the board’s composition directly supports the school’s collective goals. The board profile of TQS is a one-page spreadsheet that lists each trustee’s name, start date, date of term limit expiration, and skills. The Committee on Trustees updates this document annually. By reviewing the skills of current trustees, those soon to reach their term limits, and the strategic plan, the committee identifies the skills needed in new recruits. This ensures that the board either maintains the necessary skills as trustees depart or introduces new skill sets as needed.
Schools must leverage the unique strengths of existing board members while keenly identifying the future skills and expertise that will be needed and then filling those gaps. A detailed and updated board profile steers us away from choosing trustees based on personal connections alone, focusing instead on the strategic value they bring to our mission and our institution.
Recruiting for Excellence
Once the board profile is created, the real challenge surfaces: finding those uniquely qualified trustees—those rare partners who can significantly propel your school’s strategic objectives forward. It can feel like hunting for a needle in a haystack—and not just any needle but one that’s magnetically aligned to your school’s compass.
When seeking new board members, I advocate casting a wide net—leveraging connections, using targeted advertising on LinkedIn, and, yes, even search consultants. Would we limit our search strategies to conventional pathways if we were hiring a key staff member? Absolutely not. And our trustee search shouldn’t be any different. Attracting the right mix of talent, passion, and vision is tricky but worth the effort.
This past February, NAIS President Debra P. Wilson spoke at the Heads Summit about how some schools are beginning to pay trustees, and it struck a chord with me. While the notion of compensating trustees sparks debate, the underlying principle of exploring every avenue to attract and retain top-tier talent resonates deeply. After all, the ripple effect of a single trustee’s contributions—or missteps—can be profound.
Active Recruiting and Partnership
Most independent school boards are self-replicating. Board members reach out to their networks to add to or replace themselves. While this approach is often beneficial, it can sometimes limit the diversity of candidates and the breadth and depth of the candidates’ skill sets. Ideally, schools should follow this traditional practice only when it leads to recruiting trustees whose skills support the school’s strategic vision.
TQS works with BoardLead, a program and online platform that connects nonprofits looking for board members with highly capable professionals from its corporate and strategic partner networks. This program helps prepare professionals to be effective board members and understand topics such as the foundations of board service; diversity, equity, and inclusion; effective leadership and the social good sector; structuring board service for impact; crisis management; and fundraising. We’ve found this helps enhance both their personal development and their contribution to our school. BoardLead webinars and publications, available to everyone on the board, are a way to continue this partnership and add depth and expertise to our board.
Similarly, we have partnered with DiverseForce On Boards, a program that specializes in equipping professionals from underrepresented communities with essential board governance skills and leadership development. TQS is a diverse school filled with students and families from all walks of life, and we are proud to have cultivated a diverse and representative board through a commitment to serving our community and embracing inclusive recruitment strategies. This strategy doesn’t just fill seats—it enriches our decision-making and fosters a truly inclusive atmosphere.
Thanks to these collaborations, over the past four years we have welcomed five outstanding trustees into the fold, several of whom have ascended to leadership roles on the board. At TQS, I’ve seen firsthand how a strategically composed, diverse, and passionately committed board can propel a school forward. I encourage all heads of school to rethink, reimagine, and reforge the pathways to a board that not only dreams big but acts boldly.
Our schools need high-caliber trustees. We must harness every strategy at our disposal to assemble boards that truly reflect our schools’ aspirations. My tenure at TQS has been a testament to the power of visionary board leadership and partnerships. These are the relationships we all must cultivate to ensure that our schools thrive in an ever-evolving educational landscape.
Read More
What does your board look like? Many independent school boards include parent trustees, who are excited and dedicated—and need to have a very clear understanding of their role. It’s critical for boards to ensure that parents get the training they need that offers clear guidance on boundaries and accountability. Read more about parent trustees in “Boardroom: Understanding the Parent Trustee Role.”
