Q: 

This is my first time working in a large, corporate-style nonprofit, and I’ve been surprised by how disconnected the staff are from the board. I’m a director reporting directly to the CEO, and yet in the seven months I’ve been here, I’ve never met a single board member. There’s no transparency about what the board discusses or how they make decisions, especially around the CEO’s performance, salary, or benefits.

What I do see is that the CEO earns more than double what any director makes and seems to have total freedom around vacation and scheduling. Meanwhile, staff like me are expected to be fully accountable to her - but it doesn’t feel like she’s equally accountable to anyone. If I had a serious concern to escalate, I know there are formal ways to reach the board chair, but in day-to-day operations there’s no real visibility into how the board holds her accountable.

So here’s my question: Is this level of separation between staff and the board normal in large nonprofits? 

A:

Every organization is different, but yes, it is quite common for there to be a strict separation between board and staff in larger nonprofits. This is a conventional practice meant to respect the CEO’s autonomy over operations, while the board provides oversight of the CEO’s performance. CEOs often guard this boundary carefully to protect their staff from confusing or distracting board intervention.

So if you’re seven months into your role and haven’t met a board director, this isn’t necessarily a red flag. It could mean the organization has a functional governance approach that doesn’t require regular staff–board interaction. Or it might mean your CEO is shielding you from governance politics to give you time to settle in and establish yourself in your role!

I understand why the distance raises questions for you, especially if you’re coming from a smaller organization with more integration between board and staff in governance. But seven months isn’t long enough to have gone through some of the annual cycles that bring staff into closer contact with the board - things like the annual general meeting, strategic planning, or the CEO’s performance evaluation - which may be coming up in the next six months or so. Chances are your opportunity for connecting with the board just hasn’t come up yet.

Ask Yourself: “Why Do I Want Board Access?”

That said, I’m wondering if there is an underlying need or desire for you to connect with the board? Are you interested in deepening your understanding of nonprofit governance? Are you looking to gain experience working with boards? Do you want to bring more influence to strategic decision-making in the organization? Or are you dealing with any specific constraints as a result of not engaging directly with the board? I think it’s worth clarifying this for yourself. If you’re just surprised by a new organizational culture, then you probably don’t have to give this topic much more thought for now. But if your concern is really about CEO accountability, that’s a different matter.

Pause and Check the Rulebook

If you do want to dig in, I recommend starting with your organization’s policies and procedures. Not everyone enjoys reading policy - and not every organization follows its own policies! - but this is an important step. Based on the concerns you’ve shared, I recommend starting with the HR policy manual, and focus on policies relating to compensation, flex time and vacation days, performance evaluation and role descriptions. Keep in mind that in some organizations, not all HR policies will apply to the CEO - for example, the board may wish to retain full discretion over compensation and hiring processes - but a good policy manual will include an indication of applicability for each policy. 

Read the documents for clarity and to build understanding, and make notes of any gaps or areas that are unclear to you. For example, if the organization doesn’t have a compensation philosophy or a formalized framework with salary ranges, that might suggest that there is an opportunity for organizational development in this area. And if the organization has a very strict policy on set work hours and limited personal days, but you see the CEO working with a different set of rules, that is an area where some additional context can be sought out. 

Want Answers? Talk to Your CEO

Once you’ve grounded yourself in the policies, have a conversation with your CEO. Start from a place of curiosity and aim for the outcome of strengthening your working relationship. If you want to learn more about governance and gain some experience working with the board, share this with your CEO as one of your own professional development goals. Ask for her advice on how to proceed, and follow her lead; remember that many CEOs are managing complex board dynamics, hidden behind carefully chosen words. If your CEO says to stay away from the board, I recommend that you heed her advice! 

If you’re concerned about a double standard around compensation or time off, it’s okay to raise that, but do it constructively. Remember that you may not have the full picture of what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’, so I always like to approach these challenging conversations with the utmost compassion. For example, maybe your CEO has been taking lots of time off work because her mom is ill (I hope not!), and she just hasn’t disclosed that to the team. Maybe she is fighting at the board table to approve salary increases for staff, but can’t talk about it until the budget is approved. Of course, it’s also possible that your CEO is just an ego-driven leader. But starting from a place of compassion makes it easier to get clarity without escalating tension.

Red Flags Worth Paying Attention To

Not meeting the board isn’t inherently a problem, but you raised your concerns for a reason, and I don’t want to dismiss them outright. As you continue to get oriented in this new organization, here are a few red flags to watch for:

• If the CEO never seeks input . . . It’s okay if the CEO handles all of the face-to-face time with the board, but she can’t fulfill her role effectively without the expertise and insight of her team. At the very least, you would expect her to consult her team of directors on board-adjacent work like budgeting, strategy, or crisis communications.
  
  
• If the board ignores serious concerns . . . You mention that there is a mechanism in place to bring serious concerns about CEO conduct to the board, and I’m glad to hear that! If you were to find yourself in a position where concerns were raised and they were disregarded, that would be a problem.
  
  
• If the CEO consistently holds herself to a different standard without explanation . . . Good leaders hold themselves to a high standard of transparency and accountability. A CEO should demonstrate the self-awareness needed to understand how their conduct could be perceived by their team, and be open to feedback about blind spots.

Last Thoughts

Unless you see some of these warning signs, I wouldn’t worry too much about not having board contact so far. In fact, many staff directors would welcome this scenario - and I say this as someone who had to navigate exhausting board politics as a director-level nonprofit staffer! Stay curious, remembering that larger organizations tend to have more formal governance and a stronger separation between board and management. For now, focus on building an open, communicative relationship with your CEO, so that if your questions do turn into real concerns that affect your work or your team, you’ll be ready to raise them constructively.

Big Takeaways

• Board–staff separation isn’t automatically a problem. Clear governance boundaries are often intentional, designed to give the CEO space to manage operations.
  
  
• With governance, there’s always more beneath the surface. What looks like privilege or inconsistency may have context - like policies, board discretion, or personal circumstances - that staff may not be aware of.
  
  
• Lead with curiosity, but stay alert for red flags. Use questions and open dialogue to deepen understanding and build trust, while keeping an eye out for problems with executive accountability.

PS - Next week, I'll touch on part two from this story, answering: "When staff are held to strict standards of accountability, what structures are supposed to exist to ensure that the CEO is equally accountable to the board?"