Anil Dash Explains: What Does a Board of Directors Do?

Anil Dash, according to Wikipedia, “is an American technology executive, entrepreneur, Prince scholar, and writer.”

Not just a writer, he’s an OG blogger who’s been writing about what’s on his mind since 1999. I ran into him on social media a couple years ago and as is the wont of the Great Magnet, he often writes about things I’ve been thinking about.

One of the things occupying our thinking and writing at California Local is the nonprofit groups working to make their communities better. Over the last few years we’ve met a number of truly remarkable people leading and working for nonprofits and making a positive impact in their communities. 

It’s only recently that I’ve started to become acquainted with another facet of nonprofit organizations—the board of directors. What does it do? How does it work?

As if on cue, Dash delivered:

“Nearly every organization that is designed to have impact has a board of directors, whether that's a small non-profit, or a giant corporation, or anything in between. But having served on a number of boards across that entire range of institutions, I realize that most people who've never been in the boardroom have a lot of questions (and often, anxieties) about what happens on a board, so I wanted to share a very subjective view of what I've seen and learned over the years.”

Learn more from his two blog posts published in June, 2024:

Systems: What does a board of directors do?

Systems: Q&A about boards of directors