Your Next Board Member Is Already in Your Community. Here's How to Prepare Them.

Over the years, we have had the opportunity to work alongside nonprofit leaders throughout Connecticut and the surrounding region. One challenge surfaces repeatedly in conversations with executive directors and board chairs.  Many organizations want their boards to better reflect the communities they serve.  They recognize that diverse lived experiences strengthen governance, deepen trust with communities, and bring valuable perspective to decision-making. Yet the same question often follows. Where do we find individuals who understand our community and are also prepared to serve in a governance role?

This is the challenge the SEAT Program was designed to address. SEAT, (Skill, Educate, Act, Transform), prepares community residents for nonprofit governing board service. Our work focuses specifically on equipping Black and Latino community members with the knowledge, confidence, and governance skills necessary to serve effectively.

Time and again, nonprofit leaders tell us that they already know individuals within their community who demonstrate leadership. They are volunteers. Program participants. Neighborhood advocates. Parents and community organizers. These individuals often bring deep insight into the communities nonprofits serve. What they lack is exposure to how nonprofit governance works.

That is where preparation matters, and that is exactly what the SEAT Essentials: Board Nominee Track was built to provide.

We are pleased to announce that the SEAT Essentials: Board Nominee Track will launch in late summer 2026, designed to prepare community residents, nominated by the organizations that believe in them, for nonprofit board service. The program will take place over five consecutive Saturdays, beginning September 19 and concluding October 17, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. All sessions will be held at the new VCL Consulting Group headquarters in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut, conveniently accessible by interstate, railway, and public transportation.

We encourage nonprofit organizations to begin thinking about the community members they would like to see grow into board leadership.

Organizations are invited to nominate and sponsor a participant for the Board Nominee Track. For $495 per person, your organization invests in someone you have identified as a future leader, and they complete the full five-session curriculum walking away with foundational governance knowledge, fiduciary understanding, and the confidence to engage meaningfully in board service from day one.

SEAT has already demonstrated that when community residents receive the right preparation, they become thoughtful, engaged, and impactful board members. If your organization believes that leadership should reflect the communities served, we invite you to begin identifying who from your community should have a seat at your table.

To learn more or nominate a participant for the Board Nominee Track, schedule a call or submit an application for consideration.