2016: Board Bank

This year’s JL Award for Leadership Development goes to The Junior League of Cincinnati's Board Bank program.

The JLC’s Board Bank program develops the potential of women by training them to be successful non-profit board members and by helping to place Board Bank graduates on non-profit boards within the Cincinnati community.

Since 2012, approximately 60 JLC women have completed the Board Bank training program, and most of these women now serve on non-profit boards*. Many women are interested in Board Bank as a way to prepare for their first non-profit board experience, and others go through the training so that they may add more value to the non-profit boards on which they already serve. In either event, the training that they gain through the Board Bank program empowers them to be informed, responsible, and effective board members. As such, the JLC’s Board Bank program has a direct impact on their community by providing well-trained board members for a variety of non-profit organizations, for example, in the areas of human services, animal welfare, and the arts.

The JLC views itself as a non-profit incubator within the Cincinnati community, and the Board Bank plays an integral part of this role, as they introduce well-trained civic and community leaders. Many non-profits reach out directly to the JLC when seeking new board members because of the reputation of their members as community leaders.

*The 2015 Board Bank graduates are currently being introduced to non-profits looking for new board members.