Infusing Liberatory Practices into Everyday Governance

In June, I facilitated my first board meeting as a new member of the IMU Advisory Board. It was the first time this new, intergenerational group came together after a period of intentional recruitment. It wasn’t just a meeting — it was a community moment. And for me, as a values-aligned consultant and liberatory design practitioner, it was also an invitation:

How do we infuse justice, equity, and human values into something as ordinary — and often rigid — as a board meeting?

I work deeply with systems, education, and culture, so I see board spaces as powerful opportunities to model the future we want to build — not just talk about it. Here are a few ways I intentionally brought liberatory practices into this first board experience.

1. Shifting Power Dynamics: Co-Creation Over Hierarchy

Instead of the traditional top-down approach, we designed the meeting agenda with multiple people, not just for them. The Executive Director, a fellow board member, and I met to shape the experience collaboratively. This co-design allowed us to center multiple perspectives and clarify where power was shared.

We also invited everyone into active facilitation roles. Each person had a part to contribute, whether it was storytelling, decision-making, or offering strategic insight, which created a culture of ownership instead of observation.

2. Building Trust & Connection Before Strategy

Often, board meetings jump into budgets, decisions, and metrics. But boards are made up of people, and people need connection.We opened with grounding, shared values, and space to be human. Each board member was invited to introduce themselves beyond their role, and we talked about what nourishes us, what brought us here, and what makes this work meaningful. Those moments set a tone of mutual care and authenticity, which shaped how we showed up for the more technical parts of the meeting.

3. Fostering Collaboration Through Liberatory Tools

We embedded collaborative practices into every layer of the meeting. Some examples:

• Decision-Making Tools: Rather than defaulting to formal votes, we explored consensus tools like thumbs (up, middle, down) and the 5-4-3-2-1 scale to gauge comfort and alignment. This non-profit works with youth and uses some of these strategies with the youth for decision making as well, so this was a great opportunity to integrate some of the tools they were already using.

• Sliding Scale Board Giving: Right now, there is a board request that each person on the board give a meaningful monetary gift. That is up to each board member. One board member brought up adding an additional approach to include what the scale might look like to really honor and create more transparency around what a “meaningful contribution can look like” for the diverse financial capacities of each individual.

• Actionable Follow-Up: We didn’t just brainstorm. We clarified what needs to happen, who’s leading, and how we’ll stay accountable.

4. Addressing Systemic Inequities Through Board Design

We’re also rethinking what a board even is. Who gets to participate? How often should we meet? What kind of giving is truly “required”? These are the kinds of questions that surfaced, and that signal a shift from traditional governance toward values-aligned leadership.

We’re imagining roles for folks who can’t contribute financially but have time, networks, or deep belief in the mission. We’re going to be mapping out decision-making matrices that define what kinds of input are truly needed and when.

All of this points to something deeper: a willingness to reimagine the board not just as a compliance structure, but as a living system that reflects our commitments.

5. Embracing Complexity & Centering Human Values

We had an ambitious agenda:

• Welcoming all new members

• Reflecting on past strategic work

• Clarifying roles and next steps

• Dreaming toward 2025-2026 school year and beyond

And yet, even with this agenda, we stayed rooted in people. That meant naming tensions, slowing down when needed, and honoring that not everything would be “done.” In liberatory work, complexity isn’t something to fix — it’s something to hold. We designed this meeting to hold both structure and spaciousness.

Why This Matters

If you lead a nonprofit, small business, or collective, your board space isn’t just where decisions get made. It’s where culture is modeled.

Facilitation is not neutral. Agendas are not neutral. Governance is not neutral.

When we approach even the most “standard” meetings with care, creativity, and consciousness,  we give our work the alignment it deserves.

This is just the beginning for me in this role, but I already feel hopeful about what’s possible when liberatory values are embedded from the start.

Want to Try This? Start Here:

• Review your next agenda: where can people co-create?

• Build in humanizing moments, like check-ins, storytelling, nourishment.

• Use inclusive decision-making tools (e.g., consensus scales).

• Revisit your board giving language with equity in mind.

• Name and address the systemic barriers showing up in your governance structures.

I'm grateful to the founder of IMU and the entire board for trying on and embracing a new approach with openness and care. It’s an honor to serve with you, and to be part of this liberatory journey together.