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  • 2020
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Nonprofit Boards: It Is time to Lift Your Gaze and See the System

By: Shamal Dass, Kristy Muir and V. Kasturi Rangan
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:18
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Abstract

Nonprofits the world over have faced significant crises in 2020, leaving them and their constituents in precarious positions. Responses to these crises have demonstrated incredible agility. However, they have also demonstrated that the first two levels of governance (level 1: fiduciary responsibility and level 2: organizational performance) are not sufficient in reimagining a new normal. The pandemic and the social justice movements remind us that nonprofit boards need to lift their gaze beyond level 2, and strive for systems impact. We call it level 3 governance. We’ve seen incredible agility by nonprofits throughout these crises; and systems thinking has long been understood to be a sound way to consider and address complex social problems. Thus, the timing is ripe to bring the two together, and nonprofit boards must take the leadership in doing so. Applying systems thinking at the board level has not been normal practice. This paper provides a framework for how boards might do so and, in turn, govern beyond their organization and meet the social purpose for which their organizations exist.

Keywords

Nonprofit Organizations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Health Pandemics; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; System; Framework

Citation

Dass, Shamal, Kristy Muir, and V. Kasturi Rangan. "Nonprofit Boards: It Is time to Lift Your Gaze and See the System." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-058, November 2020.
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About The Author

V. Kasturi Rangan

Marketing
→More Publications

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    Transformative Social Impact: Health Leads (B)

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More from the Authors
  • Transformative Social Impact: Health Leads (B) By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sarah Appleby
  • Equal Justice Initiative: Mercy, Truth and Dignity By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Gerald Chertavian and Brittany Logan
  • Essex County Community Foundation: Pivot to Systems Philanthropy By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brian Trelstad and Courtney Han
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