The Mockingbird Society
Board Member
Seattle, Washington•Internship
About the Job
Board Service Opportunity
Are you committed to helping children, young people, and families thrive by advancing equity and anti-racist policies and practices? Are you at a place in your life where you can dedicate your time, talent, and resources to a forward-thinking nonprofit with a proven track record of success? If so, we may have a meaningful opportunity for you to join a diverse group of community volunteers on The Mockingbird Society’s Board of Directors.
About The Mockingbird Society
MISSION
Our mission is to transform the foster care system and end youth homelessness. Mockingbird creates, supports, and advocates for racially equitable, healthy environments that develop young people at risk of or experiencing foster care or homelessness. Working in partnership with young people who’ve lived through the systems we’re transforming, we change policies, perceptions, and practices that stand in between any young person and a safe, supportive, stable home.
VISION
Each and every young person, regardless of race and individual experience, reaches adulthood with an equitable opportunity to thrive.
APPROACH
We are an independent leader and advocate in the creation of nationally recognized programs to advance policy and practice that will transform and reform the child welfare system.
Our innovative solutions are “upstream” and directed at root causes. We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization and recognize that the child welfare system (like most other systems) is rooted in racism. We cannot address problems and challenges in social service systems without addressing and combating racism.
We believe that young people and families who have experienced the systems we’re changing have the most powerful voice to influence change. We amplify the voices of lived experience experts and follow their lead in our programs and advocacy efforts.
IMPACT
Mockingbird’s solutions focus on transforming the social service systems that serve thousands of children, youth, and families annually in Washington and beyond. Since Mockingbird was founded in 2000, our unique programs have attracted awards and global attention, including our development of an innovative foster care model; achieving 70+ major policy reforms in Washington; impacting the lives of over 100,000 young people; and securing more than $252 million in state investment in supportive programming for those who experience foster care or homelessness.
Who We Are Looking For
We welcome many kinds of experience. Right now, we’re looking for:
- Lived experience with foster care, homelessness, housing instability, or related systems,
- Strong community connections and relationship-building skills,
- Experience working with young people, families, or communities,
- Knowledge of housing, education, behavioral health, child welfare, public policy, or advocacy,
- Professional experience in business, finance, law, HR, technology, marketing, communications, or nonprofit leadership,
- Fundraising and philanthropy, corporate and community partnerships, and
- Financial oversight and planning.
What Board Members Do
- Help make sure Mockingbird stays strong, healthy, and focused on its mission.
- Connect Mockingbird to new people, partnerships, opportunities, and resources.
- Serve as an ambassador for our work in your community and networks.
- Participate in conversations about the organization's future.
- Provide oversight and guidance to executive staff.
- Ensure young people's voices and lived experiences stay at the center of our work.
- Support fundraising, community engagement, and relationship-building efforts.
What We Ask
- Attend regular Board meetings.
- Join at least one Board committee.
- Executive Committee: consists of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary; serves as primary liaisons between the Board and the organization.
- Finance Committee: reviews and recommends annual operating budgets presented by management; monitors trends in revenues and expenditures.
- Governance Committee: develops and recommends to the Board the skills, experience, and diversity criteria for directors necessary to ensure balanced community representation and effective governance; regularly reviews the bylaws and governance policies to ensure they are current and consistent.
- Philanthropy Committee: acts as a champion for fundraising events and campaigns, cultivates that in the full Board; monitors the fundraising program, including resources, execution, and results; assists in nurturing long-term relationships with supporters.
- Come prepared and participate in discussions.
- Help build relationships that support Mockingbird's work.
- Make a personally meaningful annual financial contribution.
- Represent Mockingbird's values in the community.
Why Join?
- Contribute to systems change led by young people and communities.
- Learn alongside youth leaders and community advocates.
- Build relationships with people who care about creating change.
- Be part of a movement working toward belonging, opportunity, and equity for all young people.
Interested?
You don't need to have all the answers or be an expert in foster care or homelessness to serve on our Board. If you care about young people, believe systems can do better, and want to use your experience to make a difference, we'd love to hear from you.
To learn more or express interest, please contact information@mockingbirdsociety.org. Tell us a little about yourself, what matters to you, and why you're interested in Mockingbird.