Board Nominations

2025-2027

The nomination period is now closed.

LWV continues to bring diverse voices to the tables of power. Add your skills and talents to the LWVMN Board of Directors. Join us in our 2nd Century of empowering voters and defending democracy. All are welcome to apply!

Why Join the Board?

Use your knowledge and experience to create change
Provide insight and inspiration, and receive insight and inspiration from others
Meet LWV Minnesota leaders from around the state
Attend monthly meetings virtually, from anywhere in the state

Applications for 2025-2027 close on March 31, 2025.

Quick Stats

FY24 Revenue: $734,422
FY24 Net Assets: $1,222,702
FY24 Members: 2,330
Local LWVs: 33, including 2 state units
Employees: 3 full-time, 1 part-time, 1 part-time volunteer, plus interns as funding allows
More info can be found in our Governance section

Functions

The LWVMN Board of Directors has two sides: governance and volunteer.

Governance

LWVMN’s Board of Directors is responsible for defining and upholding the organization’s mission, vision, and values, and for providing overall leadership and strategic direction to the organization. In addition to setting policies and maintaining the nonprofit’s overall direction, the board establishes priorities, crafts strategies, and ensures that plans and programs are implemented within budget.

Volunteer

Leading or working on a portfolio or set of goals and objectives with staff and other members. Many of our board members also act as volunteers on important projects to fulfill our mission to empower voters and defend democracy.

Responsibilities

Organization

Ensure that LWVMN is run in an ethical and legal manner and implement good governance practices that establish accountability.
Ensure that LWVMN operationalizes the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Support and provide direction to the Executive Director and work to support the strategic plan.
Approve compensation and benefits policies and practices.
Annually evaluate the performance of the Executive Director.
Annually review and evaluate the performance of the Board of Directors and take steps to improve its performance.

Community Outreach

Identify and develop relationships to build alliances and networks within your community to elevate the mission and work of LWVMN.

Fund Development

Promote and support charitable giving to LWVMN.

Financial Oversight

Review and understand financial statements that are submitted to the board.
Stay familiar with the LWVMN bylaws and operation policies and procedures.
Sign a conflict of interest statement and disclose all potential conflicts in advance to the board of directors.

Competencies

Mission and Values Lens: understand and value LWV mission and principles.
Strategic Thinking: develop action to reach desired goals.
Accountability: understand LWVMN bylaws and board-approved policies and procedures.
Institutional Memory: appreciate LWVMN history, process and procedure.
Organizational Learning: desire to create, share and retain knowledge to improve LWVMN.

Knowledge and Expertise

Specific areas of expertise are beneficial to the overall impact of the Board’s ability to understand and assess planning, program, stewardship and governing responsibilities:

Nonprofit Governance
Nonprofit Finance
Organization Development
Legal
Funding and Development
Human Resources
Marketing and Communications
Google Drive: creating, collaborating, editing and sharing. We work in Google Drive and board members need to have this basic knowledge to minimize administrative burden on staff and to collaborate and work effectively.

Other

Additional information and rules for board participation can be found in the bylaws (Article V).

Committees

Named in Bylaws

Executive Committee: President, Vice President(s), Secretary, Treasurer
Nominations Committee: 3 members confirmed at Convention, 2 current members of the board
Finance Committee: At least four members, at least two of whom are members of the board, Treasurer

Established by the Board of Directors

Human Resources
Advocacy and Program for Action
Membership
Voter Service
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Development

Time Commitment

Each director is asked to commit to a two-year term.
The full board meets monthly. Meetings are generally the fourth Monday of the month, 1:00-3:30 PM, and will be held virtually through the next biennium.
Each director is expected to serve on a committee or lead a portfolio or specific plan of action.
On average, each board member spends 6-12 hours a month supporting LWVMN.

Selection Process

Interested candidates should complete the application by March 31, 2025.
Any voting member of LWVMN may be elected or appointed to serve as an officer or director of LWVMN; except that no staff member is eligible to serve as an officer or director.
Candidates will be interviewed by a member of the Nominations Committee.
Slate of Nominations will be presented to the membership for election at Convention on June 7, 2025.

Description of Roles

The following roles are available for Board service. While we say "board nominations," we expect that people will fill out an application for themselves. If you'd like to nominate someone for the Board, please discuss it with them first and ask that they complete the application themselves.

Below are the roles that will be voted on by members at our State Convention on June 7, 2025.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE POSITIONS

President – Provides direction, supervision and management over the Board.
Secretary – One position - No experience necessary; we will train.
Treasurer – Previous treasurer or accrual accounting experience preferred.
First Vice President – Supports the President and serves on the Executive Committee, but also holds another Chair position as described below. If the president is unable to fulfill their duties the first vice president is called upon to perform all the duties of that office.
Second Vice President – Supports the President and serves on the Executive Committee, but also holds another Chair position as described below.

BOARD CHAIR POSITIONS

President - see above
Secretary - see above
Finance - One Chair – Previous Finance Committee or nonprofit finance experience preferred.
Voter Service - Two Co-Chairs – Previous experience with local League Voter Service preferred.
Advocacy and Program - Two Co-Chairs – Provide leadership for our Advocacy and Program for Action activities.
Member Services - Two Co-Chairs – To help serve our members and local League leaders; oversee annual training and orientations.
Membership - Two Co-Chairs– Strategize membership growth to ensure sustainability of LWVMN.
Development - Two Co-Chairs– Develop and oversee fundraising efforts to ensure sustainability of LWVMN.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - Two Co-Chairs – Provide oversight of our DEI policy and related activities.

BOARD MEMBER AT-LARGE POSITIONS

Member At-Large – We can also accept up to 5 "at-large" positions. These positions don't have a specific scope of work, but instead provide governance oversight and support one of the following areas: Human Resources, Media Resources, Marketing & Development.

OFF-BOARD POSITIONS

Nominations Committee – Three members are needed to serve on the Board Nominations Committee for 2025-2027. These positions do NOT meet with the regular Board, rather they are off-board positions that lead the nominations process for a new board every 2 years.
Board Committee – You may also choose to serve only on a Board Committee, if preferred. These positions are not voted on by the members, but are critical to the success of our Board work. Committees meet outside of the full Board meetings.

Explore Further

updated 2025-04-02