For 20 years, CSSL’s Berkeley Board Fellows program provides fresh thinking to hundreds of local, community-based organizations. The program offers Berkeley MBAs and other graduate students real experience sharing their talents and immersing themselves in social impact as they serve on a nonprofit board.
For this one year only, CSSL will not offer Berkeley Board Fellows while we take time to refresh and redesign the program strategy. We will gather input from our nonprofit partners, Board Fellows alumni, students, and faculty who teach our Nonprofit Boards courses. We would also love to hear from you.
The Berkeley Board Fellows program started as a student run program placing eight students on local boards. Over time it grew into a CSSL-run program with dedicated staff and professional coaches. For many years throughout the 2010s, almost 100 students per year were placed with almost 50 organizations. COVID disrupted the program and now is a good time to create the best strategy to meet the needs of today’s students and nonprofits.
This year, you can get hands-on social impact experience from CSSL’s other programs.
- This year, we will pilot a governance study focused on the idea of a Chief Governance Officer, a new board position to boost board performance. If interested, please see here.
- Our Impact Speaker Series will cover board governance and highlight outstanding board leaders. Click here for more on our previous and upcoming events.
- Apply for our Social Sector Solutions program where we provide valuable consulting experience to a nonprofit or social enterprise.
Please email us if you are interested in participating next year or have questions or would like to talk with us socialimpact@haas.berkeley.edu
Past Client and Fellow Testimonials
David Riemer
Board Member, Destiny Arts Center
Destiny Arts Center has enjoyed working with the Berkeley Board Fellows for over a dozen years. The Fellows have tackled numerous strategic projects, stepped in to help us evaluate our business model in times of crisis, and generated new ideas to expand our thinking. One Fellow even “graduated” onto our board and became Treasurer. The program is well-run and is a tremendous way to introduce young leaders to new ways to make a difference in the world.
Zuren Hsueh
MBA Class of 2021
BBF was an incredible opportunity to sit on a nonprofit board and see how decisions are made at a high level. It was fascinating to be in the room where the board responded to major events, whether it was key personnel changes or the early stages of COVID-19. In addition, we were able to become more integrated with our local community and drive a strategic and impactful project.