Join Our Board

Our priority deadline is March 9th, 2025. Click here to apply.

Pride Foundation is conducting an open process for community members to join our Board of Directors for the second year. We had a positive experience last year, and are looking to continue to fortify our Board for what is to come. The goals of our open process are to help us:

1. More equitably evaluate board member prospects based on our identified priorities and their alignment with our values. 
2. Reach beyond our existing individual networks to ensure we cast a wide net for board member prospects. 
3. Offer the breadth of our community the opportunity to self-identify their interest in serving on our board of directors.
4. Build a more sustainable pipeline for people to join our board over the long term.

About Board Service with Pride Foundation:

We understand that Board service is often a big commitment, and we want to be clear about the roles, responsibilities, expectations, and time commitment of joining Pride Foundation’s board. To give you a sense of the types of commitments our Board members make:

• 6 virtual Board meetings annually (2 hours each, on the 3rd Tuesdays at 5:30pm PST)
• Board packet review before meetings (1-3 hours per packet)
• 1 in-person Board and Staff retreat annually (locations across the Northwest, cost of travel and accommodations can be covered by Pride Foundation) 
• 8-10 virtual committee meetings annually (1-2 hours each), plus extra time to complete committee projects (committee work is encouraged, but not required)
• Attend local Pride Foundation events and occasional other outreach meetings and opportunities
• Timely responses to email communication and a few annual internal surveys 
• A commitment to ongoing learning and growth as we continue to transform our work, our organization, and our sector
• Willingness to serve as an ambassador for Pride Foundation and to bring our work into your networks 
• Making a financial contribution to Pride Foundation that is personally meaningful (we do not have a minimum gift expectation of board members, or a ‘get’ expectation).

Characteristics of Pride Foundation Board Members:

1. Share our commitment to LGBTQ+, gender, and racial justice, and have experience living out this commitment.
2. Bring a strong analysis of power and privilege as we seek to deepen our accountability to communities within the LGBTQ+ community most impacted by injustice.    
3. Bring a passion for supporting the unique role that Pride Foundation is able to play in our ecosystem in the Northwest as a community foundation and through our programmatic endeavors and fundraising. 
4. Have experience with Pride Foundation as a grantee, scholar, donor, volunteer, partner, or community member, or have deep familiarity with the unique nature of our work. 
5. Share our organizational values of Hope & Joy, Justice & Collective Liberation, Integrity & Trust, Regeneration & Sustainability, Growth & Courage. 

Share our commitment to building a liberatory model of governance.

Priorities for New Board Member Recruitment:

We care deeply about representation on our Board, and intentionally recruit new board members who bring particular lived and professional experiences to the Board. 

During the 2025 recruitment period we’re looking for folks who: 

1. Live in Montana, Alaska, or Oregon
2. Are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color 
3. Are Trans, nonbinary, and/or gender diverse 
4. Have experience with finance and/or investing for impact 
5. Have interest or experience with fundraising
6. Have experience with organizing and/or legislative/policy advocacy

You do not need to bring all of these experiences in order to be considered as a potential board member, though we will prioritize people who bring one or more of them. 

About Our Process for Recruiting New Board Members:

1. If you are interested in applying to join our Board of Directors, please fill out our board member prospect application before the priority deadline of March 2, 2025. (Applications open Thursday, February 6th)
2. Our Board Development Committee will review applications in March and finalist prospects will be invited to meet with members of our committee and our CEO in April. 
3. We have limited space available on our board, and are currently recruiting 3-4 new Board members. We will be evaluating prospects based on how their lived and professional experience aligns with our mission, vision, and values, as well as the current highest priorities for our board composition. In our last open process we received more than 50 applications. 
4. We intend for our full Board to review and approve new members in May. 
5. Everyone who submits an application will receive communication about where we are in the process, and follow-up as to how to continue to be involved in our work if not selected to join our Board at this time. 

If you have questions about Board service or our process, you can contact Katie Carter, CEO, at katie@pridefoundation.org. 

FAQs:

Q: If I applied in the past, do I have to apply again? 

A: Yes. We have made changes to the application since the first year to help us better evaluate potential Board members. 

Q: If I applied in the past, is it worth it for me to continue applying?

A: Yes/Maybe. We encourage you to review our priorities before applying, as we use these to guide all of our decision-making. Given the breadth of our priorities, we expect to receive a lot of applications. If you have applied more than once and meet our priorities, we’d be happy to discuss whether it makes sense for you to continue applying. 

Q: When will I find out whether I have been selected for the Board?

A: We will be sending invitations to prospect finalists in April to meet with our committee and CEO. The final decision will happen at our Board meeting in May. 

Q: If I am not selected for the Board, or I am not yet ready to apply for board service, are there other ways that I can be involved with Pride Foundation?

A: Yes! We have opportunities for community members to participate in our state-based Community Engagement Committees and on our Finance & Investment Committee. If you are interested in either of these opportunities please email katie@pridefoundation.org. 

Click Here to Apply