Description
An engaged, diverse board of directors is key to ensuring the health and sustainability of your nonprofit organization. Too often, organizations take a haphazard approach to board development. Building the right kind of board takes an intentional, strategic approach rooted in best practices, regular evaluation, and solid planning. Take the guesswork out of board development and move to a strategy that unlocks the organization’s greatest strength: its leaders. By implementing the process presented in this workshop, you, too, can build a board of directors to help your organization thrive.
Jonathan has served as the executive director of YOKE Youth Ministries since 2015. YOKE transforms neighborhoods by mentoring middle school students, equipping young leaders, engaging local churches, and enriching local schools. Under Jonathan’s leadership, YOKE’s board has grown from 6 members to 14 members and includes greater gender, age, and ethnic diversity. The Haskells are members of the East Knoxville community and are part of a diverse team launching a new church there. Jonathan loves his work with YOKE and the opportunity that it provides to positively impact kids, schools, and neighborhoods.
Daniel Watson is the co-founder and executive director of The Restoration House, which helps to restore single mothers and their children back to God’s good intent for their lives. Through supportive transitional housing, ally teams, family advocacy, and youth development, TRH walks alongside low-income single-parent families, helping them break harmful cycles and regain hope and a future.
In 2010, Daniel was honored as one of Knoxville’s Top 40 Under 40 Business and Community Leaders by the Greater Knoxville Business Journal. Daniel is also an alumnus of Introduction Knoxville, Leadership Knoxville, and UTK’s Consortium for Social Enterprise Effectiveness. In 2020, Daniel was elected to the Knox County School Board.
Matthew Best is the Director of Multicultural Student Affairs at Johnson University and directs Johnson’s Future of Hope Institute, providing high school students with the opportunity to think theologically about the challenges and opportunities of living in and leading a city.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Journalism and Electronic Media, Matthew stayed on campus for seven more years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He spent two years with the Emerald Youth Foundation, where he served high schoolers in East Knoxville, before moving to Johnson. In addition to his role there, he also serves as an Elder at Children of God Ministries.
