Board Leadership Across Generations: Capacity, Commitment, and Community

For years, I’ve heard the same question echo through rooms filled with urgency and vision: “How do we prepare the next generation for board leadership?” It’s the right question, but how we frame it might be part of the problem.

Millennials are often talked about like they’re new to the workforce or just learning to lead. In reality, most are in their mid-thirties to early forties, juggling full-time careers, caregiving responsibilities, and economic uncertainty. And Gen Z? They are in adulthood in a world that doesn’t look anything like the one their parents prepared them for. Before we ask how we prepare them, we must ask if we’ve even made space for them to serve. Gen Xers and Boomers have long carried the weight of board leadership, but without intentional succession planning and shared power, their legacy risks being unsustainable.

Right now, capacity is a conversation we usually reserve for nonprofits—how under-resourced they are and how stretched their staff can be. But what about the people we want to serve on their boards? What about the 30-year-old trying to buy a house, care for elders, raise children, and maintain their mental health in a system that wasn’t built for balance?

Serving on a board requires time, emotional labor, and sometimes money. It’s not unusual to see the same people in Lorain County on five or six boards at once. I know—I’m currently on four myself, all in leadership roles. That’s not a flex. That’s an example of what happens when our pool of leaders appears to be shallow, not because people don’t care—but because they don’t have the capacity to do more. Also, you may not have access to the right side of the pool.

And that’s why Lovett & Sons exists—to help reimagine systems that don’t just rely on tradition but genuinely serve today’s realities. We need new models of leadership development that account for economic realities, burnout, and shifting values. Because if we don’t adapt, we risk building boards that look diverse on paper but still operate in ways that exclude working-class voices, single parents, young leaders, and those who move through the world differently.

It’s not enough to invite someone to the table—we need to ensure they can afford to sit there.

Three Questions to Consider:

1. What barriers—visible or invisible—might be preventing emerging leaders from joining your board?
2. How are you compensating or supporting board members who give their time and their lived experience?
3. Is your board built for sustainability—or just for survival?