Getting to know Tara Huffman, our new CPSO

In February 2024, BoardSource appointed Tara Huffman, JD, as the first Chief Program & Strategy Officer. Prior to onboarding Tara, BoardSource identified the need to hire someone to lead efforts in aligning organizational shifts and strategies across all program areas and serve as a strategic advisor to our CEO, Monika Kalra Varma. We had the opportunity to interview Tara and learn more about her extensive experience in community work and what has shaped her into the person she is today. We hope that you enjoy learning about Tara and the valuable contributions she brings not only to BoardSource but to the nonprofit sector as a whole.

What inspired you to take up the Chief Program & Strategy Officer role in this company?

Three primary reasons. First, I love strategy and strategic thinking, so the title of the position caught my attention. Second, I am a justice advocate to my core and have long recognized that boards have the power to dismantle inequities or reinforce them. That may sound like an overstatement but think about it. Who is in those rooms, why they are in those rooms, what conversations they are having and not having, what they are bringing to and taking away from the table – the answers to these questions determine the impact that an organization has on people who aren’t in the room, including people who are already experiencing inequity in some form. Third, just before the position announcement was made public, I was introduced to BoardSource’s Purpose-Driven Board Leadership (PDBL) framework. I immediately saw the potential of PDBL to transform more boards into agents of change and was excited to join an organization that is thinking through how to reframe the role of governance to achieve greater equity.

What is a personal story or experience that you found to be particularly formative in shaping who you are today?

I went to law school with the intention of becoming an indigent defense attorney. I quickly learned that the courtroom was not my lane. Rather, my assignment was policy reform, with an emphasis on the criminal and youth justice systems. Like many young, bright-eyed advocates newly armed with a law degree, I thought I knew what the problem was, what the solutions were, and how to go about getting them. Early in my career, however, I was introduced to a small community of returning citizens who showed me that I needed to sit down for a minute and do more listening than I was talking. These men and women became my mentors, and they taught me to embrace “nothing about us without us” as more than just a nice slogan, but as a core principle for achieving justice. From that time forward, everything that I have done to advance justice has been in response to, in partnership with, and even as a follower of those who are most impacted by the thing that is causing the harm and that needs to change. My community-centered approach is a big reason why I was selected for this position and is aligned with BoardSource’s new Theory of Change, which seeks to listen to, learn from, and co-create expertise with nonprofit leaders to bring about more transformative governance culture and practices across the sector.

Having more than 22 years of experience in progressive leadership roles, what rejuvenates you and keeps you going?

I’ll be honest: sometimes, I look at the state of the world around me, and I start googling “remote tropical islands.” There is so much work still to do, and after two decades in the sector I am also watching work that we already did get undone. It is downright exhausting at times. But I was raised in the church, where we often say, “If the devil can’t steal your joy . . . ” So when I find myself questioning it all, I look for joy. These days, I find it in my kids. I "fall into them” - their laughter, their curiosity, their 6-year-old brilliance. As I do so, I inevitably start thinking about the world that I want them to live in. And that rekindles the fire in me. The work doesn’t get easier, but I approach it with renewed hope and a sense of resolve.

How can we promote diversity and inclusivity in the workplace?

There is a scripture in the Bible that says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Thus, any meaningful effort to achieve diversity and inclusivity must begin with acknowledging the truth: that our systems, structures, and institutions are not accidentally or inadvertently inequitable. From the beginning, they were designed to favor certain groups over others and exclude certain groups altogether. Once we acknowledge the truth, there has to be a willingness to change. The inequities within our systems, structures, and institutions have been preserved and perpetuated through our laws, policies, practices, language, customs, traditions, etc., for more than 500 years. We cannot diversify a space and cling to the status quo at the same time. The next step is to act with intention. Diversity and inclusivity don’t happen because we study it, go to conferences about it, adopt statements about it. The energy used to build and sustain inequity has to be met with an even greater energy to dismantle it and build a new, more diverse, and more inclusive thing. Finally, it takes perseverance. As odd as it sounds, inequity considers your workplace its home; it has lived there for many, many years. It will resist every effort you make to kick it out. It will hide, morph, disguise itself, and defend itself vigorously. We can’t let it tire us out. Once we start on this journey, we have to stay with it until we win.

If you could give all nonprofit boards a call to action, what would it be?

My call to action for boards would be to become purpose-driven boards using the Purpose-Driven Board Leadership (PDBL) framework. PDBL, when implemented by a critical mass of nonprofit governing boards, will solve so many problems, including but not limited to silos, unhealthy competition, scarcity mindsets, and programs and practices that look good on the surface but, in operation, prop up structures and institutions that maintain inequity. Learning to think beyond one’s individual organization and take on a sense of responsibility and accountability for the broader ecosystem is a new muscle for the majority of nonprofits, and it may feel awkward at first. But as more boards develop this muscle, we will witness the sector achieve greater results, and at a much faster pace than in the past.

Lastly, what is one piece of advice you live by?

During my first year in law school, one of my professors, Sherrilyn Ifill, pulled me into her office to begin mentoring me. One of the first things that I remember her saying was to “submit to the process.” I did not fully understand what she meant right away, but over time I came to learn that anything worth learning or doing or achieving has a process. Not every part of the process is pleasant: some parts are mundane, other parts require you to take risks, and still other parts require a level of discipline that you don’t yet have. If you resist the process, you cause yourself unnecessary pain, or you lengthen the time it takes, or you risk missing the end result altogether. But if you humble yourself and submit to the process, you realize that the process is the thing that develops and benefits you, much more than the thing you are trying to achieve. I have never forgotten this, and I am where I am today because of it.

New Opportunities on the Horizon

We are thrilled to have Tara on the BoardSource team and appreciate her justice-oriented and community-centered perspective, which will drive transformation in the sector. Tara will focus on setting strategy for the organization as it relates to working with more and more diverse sector leaders to rethink governance and co-develop resources that are more responsive to the needs of our dynamic sector and more reflective of our sector’s brilliance. To learn more about Tara, visit the BoardSource website to read her biography.