Revitalized board effectiveness and strategic alignment for national health non-profit
Inexperienced board leadership, unclear governance policies, and high leadership turnover weakened organizational alignment, culture, and oversight performance.
"Our boardroom is a bottleneck, not a catalyst for innovation."
-Executive committee member
Facing ambiguous board roles and responsibilities, a national health and advocacy non-profit organization found itself unable to build consensus around critical improvement initiatives along with high board director turnover. This lack of clarity created friction within the board, hindered effective governance, and limited the organization’s ability to execute its mission with confidence.
Date
March 10, 2025The client
Confidential client
The challenge
Lack of clarity in board roles and responsibilities hindered consensus and effective decision-making.
A multi-million national health non-profit found its mission and work threatened by persistent governance challenges. The board struggled with ambiguous roles and responsibilities, creating an environment where building consensus became increasingly difficult. These governance gaps affected not only board dynamics but rippled throughout the organization, hampering strategic execution and diminishing the non-profit’s capacity to deliver on its mission.
The solution
Comprehensive board and governance transformation to enhance effectiveness and strategic alignment.
Realize Solutions identified three key priorities for strengthening governance: 1) clarifying board roles and responsibilities to improve decision-making efficiency; 2) addressing governance gaps that hindered oversight and strategic execution; and 3) aligning board practices with the organization’s long-term objectives.
Our approach and methodology
Realize implemented a multi-phase process to transform the organization’s governance practices. First, Realize partnered with leadership to establish clear assessment goals and prepare the board for an honest evaluation. Next, a comprehensive review of governance documents was conducted while gathering confidential feedback from board members and stakeholders.
Our analysis identified specific governance gaps affecting board performance, which informed a tailored set of recommendations focused on role clarity, policy enhancements, and strategic alignment. Realize supported implementation through policy development, facilitated board training workshops, and leadership coaching.
Through this structured approach, the board was revitalized with enhanced clarity and cohesion. Decision-making processes improved, board turnover decreased, and the organization achieved better strategic execution aligned with its mission.
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About us
Realize Solutions is an award-winning B Corp-certified team that designs practical solutions for organizations with complex problems in the areas of board governance, organizational development, and people.
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