2022 – 2025 Board Recruitment
June 28, 2022, updated July 18, 2022
CAPAL is looking for passionate and talented leaders from all across the U.S. to join our Board of Directors for the 2022-2025 term!
We empower Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) youth by increasing access to public service opportunities and building a strong AANHPI public service pipeline. We envision a future with equitable AANHPI representation throughout all levels of government and public service.
We’ve served over 600 public service professionals for more than 30 years through our flagship programs, including our Public Service Scholarship & Internship program, Washington Leadership Program, roundtables, professional development workshops, and more.
Submit an application by 11:59 PM PT on Saturday, July 23, 2022.
Apply if you are passionate about:
- Contributing to a nonprofit founded by Asian Americans for AANHPI students
- Advancing our mission of building a strong AANHPI public service pipeline and advancing equitable AANHPI representation across public service
- Encouraging and mentoring emerging AANHPI leaders
- Expanding and growing our organization by contributing your expertise and strategic counsel to CAPAL’s organizational priorities, financial decisions, and community engagement strategies
- Deepening your knowledge and ties with national and local AANHPI communities across the U.S.
We’re looking for candidates who:
- Are passionate about our mission, vision, values, and work
- Have some experience in the following areas*:
- Development / Finance: development and financial management of an organization or department, including institutional and high-dollar individual fundraising, corporate sponsorships, accounting, individual/peer-to-peer development, digital fundraising
- Human Resources / People Operations: HR experience, DEI experience
- Communications: press strategy, paid social, SEO, SEM, WordPress development, digital fundraising
- Community Engagement / Partnership Development: peer AANHPI organization familiarity, sustained relationship-building, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander engagement, youth alumni relations
- Nonprofit Governance: nonprofit measurement and evaluation experience, long-term strategic organizational planning, transitioning a working Board to a Governing Board
- Ability to see the big picture of an organization, to work with internal and external stakeholders, and to plan and drive strategic projects through implementation
*We do not expect every candidate to have expertise in all or most of these areas. If you have at least moderate experience in at least one of the areas above, we encourage you to apply.
- Not required but nice to have:
- Experience engaging AANHPI sub-groups and/or the wider AANHPI community
- A passion for and understanding of key issues affecting AANHPIs
- A strong sense of personal responsibility, accountability, and commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices in the nonprofit and public sectors
- A solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving
Board Expectations
- Actively engage in monthly Board meetings and regular strategic planning meetings that shape CAPAL’s long-term strategy and programs
- Participate in annual half-day retreat scheduled over a weekend in the fall/winter
- Serve on at least one Board “Task Force” and fulfill its associated responsibilities
- Task Forces in the 2021-2022 year included Communications, Community Engagement, Development, and Human Resources
- Serve as a passionate advocate and ambassador for CAPAL by occasionally attending and supporting CAPAL virtual and in-person programming as preferred, in addition to occasional partner events
- Contribute personally significant financial support and engage others in your networks for financial and in-kind support
- Leverage and cultivate personal and professional networks to recruit donors, partners, speakers, volunteers, and program applicants and participants
- Oversee fiscal and legal responsibilities, including determining budget allocations, program budgets, and staff salaries
- Support staff with programmatic planning and implementation when necessary
- Board Directors serve a minimum term of three years and may serve up to six years. Board Directors commit an average of 5-7 hours a week, with the time commitment varying throughout the year. This is a selective volunteer leadership position, with no monetary compensation provided.
While CAPAL is based in the D.C. Metro Area, remote candidates from across the U.S. are invited to apply. All candidates are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet every qualification described. All applications will be considered holistically.
Those from historically underrepresented AANHPI ethnic communities (South Asians, Southeast Asians, Central Asians, Native Hawaiians, Polynesians, Melanesians, Micronesians), including those residing in non-bicoastal major cities and states; LGBTQ+; women, non-binary, and genderqueer; non-citizens, etc., are encouraged to apply.
The Board will contact you with any updates from BoardApplications@capal.org. Applicants and prospective applicants can contact this email with any questions or concerns, including requesting reasonable accommodations to complete the application.
To apply, submit an application by 11:59 PM PT on Saturday, July 23rd, 2022.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you have any further questions or concerns about the application process, including reasonable accommodation requests, please email BoardApplications@capal.org. Thank you for your interest in joining our Board of Directors and we look forward to reviewing your application!
- Tuesday, June 28 – Saturday, July 23: Extended application period
- Sunday, July 24 – Friday, August 5: Application review and virtual interviews*
- Week of August 21: Offers extended
- October 1: Board term begins
*Interviews will be less than one hour in length. Reasonable accommodations may be requested throughout the application process and upon interview offer.
Yes! As long as you are passionate about empowering Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students to pursue public service careers, and have the skills and expertise to contribute to our organization and community, we welcome your application. You do not have to be a current public sector employee or currently employed to apply.
Yes, you can apply! While CAPAL is based in DC and serves the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia) area, we welcome Board applicants from across the country. In the last two years, our Board has shifted to remote meetings, expanding our Board membership beyond the DMV area. We’ve had Board Members from all timezones and even Board Members working abroad. We’ve also worked with community partners and placed interns in field offices across the US annually.
All Board Members are expected to attend our virtual meetings, including Board Meetings (roughly once a month) and respective Task Force meetings, for a total of 5-7 hours a month. As long as you can commit to being an active Board Member, we encourage you to apply.
As of March 2020, our Board activities and youth programs remain remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we anticipate our Board to continue working remotely going forward. Our staff and Board Members continue to monitor the ongoing pandemic. We do not ask or require CAPAL personnel to travel.
Our Board and Staff will discuss the potential of returning to in-person programs for our participants should conditions allow for safe in-person activities. If at any time our programs resume in-person, a collective decision will be made with every Board Member about in-person participation, including travel reimbursement.
Aside from programming costs, Board Members are required to join our Leadership Circle by contributing at least $25 per month to CAPAL. Board Members are also asked to fundraise and identify in-kind donations for CAPAL.
As an AANHPI organization, we recognize the vast diversity of our community, and that includes recognizing that not everyone in our community may hold US citizenship status. We welcome applicants who are US citizens, naturalized citizens, permanent residents, DACA recipients, TPS holders, asylees, refugees, and more. This will not negatively affect your application and can bring a unique perspective to our work.
As a registered 501c3 organization, our Board Members are listed on publicly available organization tax documents when we file annually with the US IRS and Board Members hold a fiduciary responsibility to the organization. Some of our Board Members, especially Governance Committee Board Members (Chair(s), Vice Chair(s), Secretary, and Treasurers), may need to sign off on documents or authorize actions on CAPAL’s behalf. Additionally, our Board of Directors are listed publicly on our physical and digital materials/platforms.
No. CAPAL does not request any references or recommendation letters to be submitted for our Board of Directors application process. You’re welcome to include how you learned about our Board application and mention from whom, if it was from a CAPAL community member (staff, Board/program alumni, etc.), but this will not affect your application.
If references and recommendations are submitted on behalf of applicants or by applicants, they will be disregarded out of fairness to all applicants.
We recommend that you reach out to your employer and affiliations to ask about any conflicts of interests policies as an applicant and a potential Board Member if you are offered a position on the Board. This office or personnel may be located in the Human Resources/People Operations, Compliance, or Legal/Ethics teams but may vary, depending on organization and sector.
Board Members are required to serve 3-years at minimum, and one term is one year. After serving the minimum requirement of 3 years/terms, Board Members have the option to renew annually thereafter. Board Members cannot remain on the Board for longer than six consecutive years.
As per our Board Bylaws, our Board term begins annually on October 1 and concludes on September 30 the following year.
For example, if you apply this year and accept an offer to join the Board, your term will begin October 1, 2022. You will then be expected to serve for three years through September 30, 2025, as part of the 3-year minimum Board service requirement. In your last required term (October 2024 – September 2025), you will have the opportunity to renew for another year – a fourth year – on the CAPAL Board. You will have up to three more years after your last required term is served, for a maximum of six consecutive years served.
As a working Board, Board Members are expected to commit 5-7 hours per week, with time commitment varying throughout the year and based on your Task Forces. Board Meetings occur roughly once a month, with Board Members expected to complete any pre-reads and pre-work to prepare for Board Meetings. This pre-work is usually no more than an hour.
CAPAL’s Board of Directors is a volunteer, unpaid position. Board Members currently volunteer their time and expertise to our organization to further our mission.
If you have any further questions or concerns about the application process, including reasonable accommodation requests, please email BoardApplications@capal.org. Thank you for your interest in joining our Board of Directors and we look forward to your application!