NAME OF THE TOOLKIT AND SOME CONTEXT
The future of leadership is here
– is your board ready for it?
Across the nonprofit sector, Boards of Directors have historically used recruitment strategies that are exclusionary and unwelcoming to youth participation. Even as conversations around diversity grow, many boards still hesitate to include young people — often citing concerns around experience, knowledge, commitment, or capacity.
This leaves a major gap: young people, especially those facing gender-based discrimination, are often directly impacted by the decisions Boards make — but are excluded from shaping them.
This is despite 57–67% of nonprofits claiming youth as a key beneficiary group.
So, why engage?
If we want stronger organizations, more innovative solutions, and a nonprofit sector that truly reflects the communities it serves — we must invite young gender-marginalized leaders to the table.
When Boards fail to make room for younger voices, they don't just risk falling behind — they risk losing the insight, creativity, and connection to future generations that will sustain their missions.
At the end of the day, future-proofed governance starts with the inclusion of those who are shaping the future in the first place.
95% of board mentors told Fora our Rise on Boards Young Directors added value to their governance
However, only 9% of scanned organizations in Canada host at least 1 gender-marginalized young director
What the numbers tell us
The impact of young, gender-marginalized Directors is undeniable:
Our research found that 45% of young directors were not first-time board directors - yet they’re often perceived as being inexperienced.
57–67% of nonprofits claiming youth as a key beneficiary group across jurisdiction levels yet an environmental scan of 79 organizations in Canada revealed that only 9% have a publicly identifiable gender-marginalized young Director.
The non-profit issue faces issues such as individual donors aging out, and they’re struggling with securing new young donors —organizations with young directors are more likely to safeguard or future-proof organizations with aging donors and leadership.
The reality is simple
Young people are impacted by nonprofit decisions
every day — but too often, they are shut out of the
decision-making rooms.
This Toolkit is here to change that.
Here’s what you can expect from
this free course
Self-guided modules
Practical tools and templates for
every stage of your board’s
inclusion journey
Interactive activities
Assess where your organization
stands — and where it needs to go
Real-world resources
Ready-to-use checklists, guides,
and reflection prompts
MODULE 1
Reimagining Leadership
Unpack perception bias & reimagine who belongs at the table from the inside out.
This module starts by looking inward — at the ways our perceptions around age, gender, and leadership might unintentionally reinforce exclusion.
You'll explore how biases shaped by ageism and sexism become normalized in governance spaces — and how they can quietly shape who we imagine as “qualified” to lead.
By surfacing these assumptions, we create space to redefine what leadership looks like—and begin building the structures that make room for it.
What you’ll explore
Biases
How internalized and systemic
biases impact nonprofit boards
Assumptions
Why ageism and gendered
assumptions about leadership persist
Renewal
What happens when we redefine who
gets to lead — and why it strengthens organizations
MODULE 2
Restructuring Governance
Shifting structures. Rewriting the rules.
Once we recognize how bias shows up in perceptions, the next stage is changing how it shows up in systems.
This module helps you take a closer look at your board's recruitment policies, bylaws, and governance documents — and assess how they may unintentionally exclude young gender-marginalized leaders.
With practical questions and a values-based lens, you’ll start identifying where your organization's practices can evolve — and how to embed equity into the very structure of your governance.
What you’ll explore
Policies
How exclusion can be built into
policies and recruitment practices
Documents
Where your board’s documents and decisions may unintentionally
gatekeep leadership
Inclusivity
What equity-focused, inclusive
governance looks like in action
MODULE 3
Pathways Forward
Moving from Intention to Impact
In this final module, we’ll move from reflection to action. Module 3 will help you build a clear and concrete action plan.
You’ll identify key areas for your organization’s improvement — whether it’s recruitment, board culture, or DEI planning and policies — and then create goals and accountability structures so you can implement action within 12 months of using this toolkit.
This module is about what it means to follow through on actioning change.
What you’ll explore
Opportunity
How to identify concrete opportunities
for growth in your board governance
Accountability
Strategies to keep your
board accountable
Feasibility
Feasible pathways for execution
Still not sure what you’re
missing out on?
Check out the research and dive deeper into the bigger picture, in our Rewriting the Rules: Young Feminists in Governance report.
“By investing in young directors, organizations can help build a nonprofit sector that is more adaptive, resilient, and effective in delivering on its transformative potential”
— Kate Marr-Laing, report author for Rewriting the Rules, Young Feminists in Governance
Why women?
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