Governance

What does it take to build governance that fuels transformative philanthropic practice and lasting social change — particularly in these volatile times?

At its best, grantmaker governance sets a strategic rudder that clarifies and maintains focus on an organization’s mission and priorities, despite the buffeting winds of fear and resistance that face our work.

Good governance isn’t magic: it involves mindsets, structures and practices that foster frank conversation, reveal power inequities, and harness the contributions of people with diverse lived experiences, assigned and inherited identities, and talents.

In fall 2023, GEO began a multiyear learning initiative to support grantmakers who are exploring and making changes to their governance practices and culture to make boards more equitable, meaningful and valuable. Grantmaker boards are an essential lever for change in philanthropy. Our goal is to surface and promote concrete practices that help funders better align their governance with their mission and values. This effort builds off the work GEO has been doing as a practitioner — the GEO board has been testing shifts toward equitable governance since 2020 — and a field convener. GEO is working alongside many partners in this work and has convened some of them as part of an advisory group to inform our progress.

In 2024 and 2025, GEO:

• conducted a landscape scan to map governance work in the sector and understand what GEO members are learning and trying;
• amplified Robert Sterling Clark Foundation’s resource Reimagining Nonprofit Governance;
• convened three intimate groups of CEO and board pairs/trios to share what change looks like in practice
• piloted the Upleveling Governance virtual cohort for CEOs and board members, in partnership with Northern California Grantmakers and Philanthropy New York;
• developed a publication outlining the promise of more effective philanthropic governance and how grantmakers are experimenting with promising shifts;
• held learning sessions and workshops at GEO’s 2025 Learning Conference, as well as other field conferences;
• held a standing-room-only session at GEO’s National Conference, “Equitable, Meaningful, Valuable Boards: Transformation Within Reach,” and offered the same session as a webinar to over 300 registrants; and
• exchanged learning and worked toward joint programming with partner organizations also committed to improving governance in philanthropy.

In 2026, GEO is:

• hosting more CEO and board pair/trio convenings, including one for community foundations;
• offering a governance track of sessions at the 2026 GEO National Conference, as well as a special CEO and trustee reception;
• developing a new governance community of practice;
• engaging with foundation boards directly through the Breakthrough Partnership;
• convening non-CEO staff who work with boards;
• planning the second offering of the Upleveling Governance virtual cohort with Northern California Grantmakers and Philanthropy New York;
• publishing resources, including a series of case studies and guides on philanthropic governance;
• sharing our learning through other field conference sessions and webinars; and
• convening a governance collective of other philanthropic infrastructure groups working on governance for shared learning and action.

Together, we are exploring the expectations and assumptions about what transformation of boards means and looks like, the actual changes needed, and how to keep a board from snapping back to its old ways under stress or pressure. We’re inviting leaders to experiment and to share what they’re learning in a supportive peer community. Join us!

Have questions or want to get involved?

Sign up or contact Meghan Duffy for more information about GEO’s work on governance.