Conference Program

7:30 a.m. – Noon

Conference Registration

Note: Buffet breakfast will be available starting at 7:30 a.m.

8:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Opening Plenary

Welcome –

Ruth McCambridge, Nonprofit Quarterly

David Renz, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership

Brent Never, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership

Plenary Address: Taking Stock: A Brief Assessment What We Know About Nonprofit Boards and Governance

William Brown, Texas A&M

10:45 – 11:45 a.m.

Round Table Session: Creating The New Normal?

Session A

Group 1 - David Renz, Facilitator

Noon – 1:30 p.m.

Luncheon Plenary

Plenary Address- Insights from the Field: Results of the NPQ Survey of Readers on the Status of Their Nonprofit Boards.

Ruth McCambridge, Editor-in-Chief. The Nonprofit Quarterly

Response: David Renz, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership

1:45 – 3:15 p.m.

Concurrent Paper Sessions

Session C

Relations Between Board Chairs and Chief Executives

Pamela Leland “Empowerment versus codependency? Exploring the board-executive director relationship and its connection to good governance.” [Abstract]

Susan Neustrom “The dyadic relationship between an executive director and board chair during turbulent times.” [Abstract]

Session D

Boards, Governance, and Decision Making

Mark Engle “Decision quality and commitment in association boards: Impacts of cognitive and affective conflict, procedural rationality, and relational practices.” [Abstract]

Tosha Cantrell-Bruce & Brent Never “Patterns of information consumption by nonprofit boards.” [Abstract]

Judy Freiwirth “Community Engagement Governance: System-Wide Governance for Community Impact.” [Abstract]

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Concurrent Dialogue Sessions

Dialogue sessions have no formal presentations.  Rather, they are facilitated discussions on a specific topic among interested participants.  Each session is led by a skilled facilitator to ensure that discussion is on-point, free-flowing, and inclusive of all participants.  Dialogues are facilitated to include the perspectives of all.  We ask that you choose the topic of greatest interest to you and remain in the session for the entire period.

Session E

Hybrid Structures and Innovations in Governance

New and unique forms of organization and organized action are becoming increasingly prominent in the sector, including various forms of networks, cross-sector alliances, and distributed systems of service delivery.  What do we know about these different forms?  How they are being led and governed? How do they interact with more conventional forms of governance and organization?

Session F

Engaging New Generations In Board Work

How are boards successfully recruiting and engaging younger and increasingly diverse communities of emerging leaders?  What are we learning about the implications of generational change, inclusion, and leadership and succession issues for nonprofits and their boards?

5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Reception

Join your conference colleagues and Kansas City nonprofit leaders for informal conversation and hors  d’oeuvres.

7:00 p.m.

Dinner on your own (Visit www.countryclubplaza.com for restaurant ideas)

Friday, April 24

7:15 – 8:15 a.m.

Alliance for Nonprofit Management Governance Affinity Group Meeting

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

Networking and Breakfast

8:30 – 10:00 a.m.

Concurrent Paper Sessions

Session G

Board Dynamics

Erica Clinton, Wendy Hershberger & Brent Never  “Informal gender roles on boards: The effect of emotional labor on how boards function.” [Abstract]

Douglas Ihrke, E. Grant MacDonald, Barbara Duffy & John Paul Finan. “The nature of conflict on nonprofit boards.” [Abstract]

Brent Never, Erin Nemenoff & Jim Doyle “The use of organizational champions: Boards as bridges to resources.” [Abstract]

Session H

Boards, Outcomes, and Effectiveness

Lore Wellens & Marc Jegers “Broadened accountability: A tool for increasing nonprofit organizational effectiveness.” [Abstract]

Fredrik O. Andersson “Innovation and nonprofit boards: an empirical examination.” [Abstract]

Chao Guo & Zhibin Zhang “The governance of Chinese nonprofit organizations: A literature review, synthesis and research agenda.”  [Abstract]

10:15 – 11:45 a.m.

Concurrent Dialogue Sessions

Session I

Social Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Board Behavior

Boards of nonprofit organizations are mandated to behave as prudent stewards of resources, yet they also are exhorted to become more entrepreneurial and take new kinds of risks.  How are boards responding, and what are the implications of such expectations for boards and the practice of governance?  As nonprofit and for-profit forms of enterprise continue to blend, what are we learning that might help us understand the similarities and differences of governance for each? 

Session J

The Future of Research on Nonprofit Boards and Governance

As we identify and work to understand all of these kinds of challenges and dynamics, are we developing new research models or methods that are better suited to the next generation of governance research?  What is next as we continue to work to understand and develop the boards of the future?

Noon – 1:45 p.m.

Luncheon Plenary: Beyond Diversity: Building the “Representational Capacity” of the Nonprofit Board

Chao Guo, University of Georgia

1:45 - 2:00 p.m.

Closing Comments

Brent Never, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership

Ruth McCambridge, The Nonprofit Quarterly

David Renz, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership