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In the seventh episode of NOTABLE, host Adrienne Beckham (she/her) sits back down with Nico Meyering (he/him) to hear his perspective on board efficacy, and what it means to define and reimagine what disability leadership can look like in an organization.
Nico Meyering lives with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome, a rare and potentially life-limiting disability with under 2500 cases globally. After earning his MPA from Binghamton University and serving two AmeriCorps terms which took him to California and Texas, Nico went back his home state and served as a board member of the CCHS Family Network for six years. Since 2021 Nico has focused on improving outcomes for all disabled people. He is the chairman of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, a trustee for Awesome Disability, and the Vice-President of Young Involved Philadelphia.
Music by Eric Stewart, “Cloud Anthem”
Pop! Pop! Pop! Records / Center For Creative Works
Thanks for support from Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Transcript
[00:00:00.00] – Adrienne Beckham
In today’s episode of Notable, I’m sitting back down with Nico Meyering to hear his perspective on board efficacy, capacity management, rest, and reimagining what leadership can look like in an organization. Come join our conversation.
[00:00:20.18]
I wanted to start our conversation today. Again, thank you so much for being here. We were talking a little bit about this just now, but I wanted to ask just a quick check-in of how your professional development has been going since we last spoke, since it’s been some time. You did just mention the experience you had with MANNA, so I’m excited to hear a little bit more about that and anything else that’s happened.
[00:00:58.07] – Nico Meyering
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me back on the show. Hi, everyone. My name is Nico Meyering. I use he/him pronouns. I’m a white man with parted, floppy blonde hair, large blue and brown spectacles, and a fuzzy dark green sweater. I’m seated in front of a blurred-out, various colored background. It’s my kitchen. So again, thankful and honored to be here.
[00:01:23.21]
My professional development, since we last spoke, has been going really well. I’m experiencing several small quiet victories, I think. One example we spoke about recently was that I used one of my personal civic connections to lead a group of my professional colleagues in a volunteer day with MANNA. We were assigned to pack meals, one shift in the morning and one shift in the afternoon. We were able to mobilize more volunteers than we would have mobilized if we had done just one shift or a more targeted effort.
[00:02:07.20]
I had mentioned that I appreciated that MANNA gave us this opportunity. They had us lined up almost perfectly at a table, just shoveling food into different compartments like an assembly line. Our roles were clearly defined. The skill threshold, I guess I’ll say, was not difficult to meet, and we could very easily see our progress. We could see the boxes of food that we had filled. It was easy to keep morale up given that repetitive physical motion in a warm, crowded environment could be otherwise exhausting. They delivered a very high-caliber volunteer experience.
[00:02:53.24]
Another smaller, more quiet example. I recently stood up for myself and enforced a meeting boundary during a group meeting. Prior versions of myself had been less likely to speak up. I was surprised when I noticed this improvement. Even if only I can really appreciate this scope, this is a thing that’s been happening, has been in development with me for years. Thank you for asking.
[00:03:26.21] – Adrienne Beckham
Yeah. That’s one of those victories that maybe feels small but is actually quite large. Just the ability to stand and hold firm, and recognizing something that you feel needs to be challenged. I think, especially as a person with a disability, that can be a very vulnerable space to put yourself in. I think that is a huge win, especially in a leadership space, in a space that there’s this inherent power dynamic at play.
[00:04:14.03] – Nico Meyering
The second example I gave occurred at a disability conference, and I was leading a discussion for, by, and about people with my specific disability. It was the perfect training ground to practice enforcing that boundary, and I really appreciate that aspect of it as well. As you say, it can be scary to be vulnerable in that way and to potentially expose yourself to a bit of blowback or not having your colleagues show up to support you. I respect that.
[00:04:53.07] – Adrienne Beckham
You felt like you had support in that experience, too, from your colleagues?
[00:04:58.16] – Nico Meyering
I feel like I did. I have a very rare disability, as I probably have mentioned. Every few years, everybody gets together, most often on either coast, but sometimes in the middle of the US, just to make travel convenient. We share different support strategies, latest research, what have you. It’s always important to have the older folks with the condition get one-on-one time with younger folks with the condition. Mentorship in disabled spaces is incredibly important. Probably one of the reasons being more formal or older structures of education don’t always work for disabled people.
[00:05:47.03]
Anyway, it was at one of these conferences that I noticed that a parent of someone with our condition had gotten into our meeting. That particular session was just for people disabilities. I had to just quickly correct that. It was good to see and to know that these folks who had seen me grow up and everything had my back. I was really lucky.
[00:06:15.22] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you for sharing that. I think that it’s an important and vulnerable thing to do to stand up and enforce a boundary, particularly around preserving a sense of safe space. If a space has been defined as such with certain parameters, there’s a responsibility to ensure that that space remains safe for the people that have been called to show up there. I thank you for your ability to be brave and vulnerable, even just as someone from the outside looking in, because that’s important.
[00:07:00.14]
My next question that I have for you is zooming out a little bit to just think about the concept of a board of directors, and with the experiences that you’ve had. We’ve touched on this a little bit previously in our previous conversations. As you reflect on the idea of a board of directors, do you feel like a board of directors is needed for an organization? At Art-Reach, we focus particularly on arts organizations. I’d be curious to know if you have a perspective on it, if you think a board of directors is needed for arts organizations. Also, if you feel like there’s a difference across different industries, and if maybe a board of directors makes sense in some industries, but not all.
[00:08:01.10] – Nico Meyering
Thank you for this question. Yes, I believe a board of directors can contribute to an arts organization’s overall quality and existence. I see this happening most distinctly in a arts organization’s operations and finances. A board of directors may be able to co-lead on overall strategy along with creative directors, but should not be making, other than that, any creative decisions. Although, they should enthusiastically, enthusiastically, support the creative staff, their vision and their strategy as well.
[00:08:43.01]
For example, if I’m a college history professor whose day job has nothing really to do with performing arts, but I myself am on the board of a local community theater, I better be buying season tickets at full price for myself and ideally for my friends and family. Alternatively, if I run a small IT firm, maybe it’s just me and someone else or maybe just me. I’m also doing board service for a local gallery. I’m also likely helping to run that gallery’s website, making sure that their online presence is very secure and delivers consistent quality overall.
[00:09:21.24]
In terms of differences between different organizations, I would more so be interested in the differences in the organization’s overall capacity without that board of directors. To what extent does a board of directors need be involved in day-to-day running of an organization?
[00:09:42.09]
Or can they take a step back and really focus on more medium or long-term operations? Are they fulfilling certain roles on a board? Ideally, yes. Ideally, your board treasurer is an accountant or another financial professional. That’s one really quick example. That would be my answer overall. I’m assuming, of course, that by serving on the board, they have an interest and a passion for the organization’s mission. As long as they have that, and they’re either filling that gap that the nonprofit staff currently don’t, or they’re enhancing the nonprofit’s overall deliverables, it’s all good.
[00:10:27.21] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you. I think that perspective, it’s interesting, I think, how your perspective on whether a board of directors is useful can ebb and flow and change as you get more involved with being on a board, too, as well. I notice in myself, as I’ve learned more through doing this show and talking to people, my perspective on boards of directors and their efficacy has changed and been informed by everything that I’m learning. I appreciate hearing your perspective because it helps me formulate my own.
[00:11:19.10]
Continuing on in this line of thought, if you could maybe reimagine the board of directors system and structure as you’ve seen it? Is there anything that you can think of that you would change?
[00:11:40.05] – Nico Meyering
I actually love this question, and I really appreciate, too, that you mentioned that your overall view of a board’s function and structure has changed as you do these interviews. I would love to know more about that either afterward or during this recording. I love this current question because I had actually delivered a talk last spring, maybe two springs ago, with my friend and frequent collaborator, Jessica Lopez, where I modeled a few different examples of group structures that I feel are best suited for a disabled leadership.
[00:12:15.03]
Right now, my favorite one would be a flat leadership model. Take any flat leadership model. In a flat organization, there’s little or to even no management levels or hierarchy between, say, the executive board and general board members. One benefit of flat leadership is that it really promotes increased involvement in decision-making.
[00:12:40.12]
That’s really important because oftentimes I’ve noticed when disabled people get involved with civic engagement, get involved with boards, they have a honeymoon period for a while, and then can tend to feel like their contributions are not being valued, being heard, or what have you. The more chances that a disabled person has to be a leader, the more chances they’ll show up in leadership spaces, so it’s important to give them that buy-in, right?
[00:13:13.04]
One thing we need to be careful about with flat leadership models is that this increased decision-making power or prowess or capability doesn’t always come with increased guidance or supervision or whatever is necessary to help the leader deliver. It’s fine to need help in delivering as a board member, especially if you’re new to it, because we don’t know this stuff intrinsically. A lot of things seem impossible until you do them.
[00:13:49.03]
I think one way that I might consider structuring an organization as flat for people with a different skill set is to have stakeholders consider where they best serve the organization. You or I, or a third person could all really want to work for a nonprofit. We all really love our local history museum. We just love that stuff. We all want to work on the museum staff.
[00:14:29.24]
But of the three of us, maybe one of us is disabled in a way where they could work full-time for a corporate or private employer. They could derive those benefits and the pay that you would expect from a salaried position. Do they best serve the organization by working at the nonprofit or by going out making that money, giving some of that money and that time back to the nonprofit and making space for a disabled person to show up in staff leadership for that museum who might not otherwise be able to be in office full-time or to have full-time work? This is what I would consider, at least.
[00:15:16.06] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you. That is a lot of really great perspective and insight, too. I appreciate your thoughtful response to the reimagination exercise of reimagining your board, especially, again, as somebody who is learning more and more about the board of directors from the outside looking in. It’s interesting to reimagine and think about a more flat structure.
[00:15:49.15]
I think to go back to your point, prompting about my own perspective, I think maybe prior to learning more about board structures and spaces, and prior to being in those spaces, I was like, I don’t really know why an organization needs a board. I don’t know what they do. As I’ve learned more, it makes me think more about the power in, to your point, utilizing the board as a way to bring different community voices and different skill sets into an organization in a way that’s separate from the day-to-day organization. I think there is value in having that maybe separate voice when utilized in a way that is maybe more community-focused, at least from my perspective.
[00:17:03.19]
I want to go into the next question, which is in a similar vein to preparing people to be in a board of director spaces. It actually is something that is a callback to something you’ve mentioned in our previous interview. It’s something that has come up in a lot of different spaces I found myself in, and that is the phrase Robert’s Rules of Order. I would love your perspective on Robert’s Rules of Order and maybe a brief explanation of what they are, because I find that it’s something I wasn’t familiar with before engaging in board spaces. I’m sure there are probably quite a people out there who, similarly, maybe don’t know what it is.
[00:18:07.24] – Nico Meyering
Yes. Thank you so much for this question. Robert’s Rules of Order are a published and generally agreed-upon set of guidelines for conducting a successful meeting. I find that Robert’s Rules of Order becomes more effective the larger the meeting gets. I first encountered Robert’s Rules of Order in my college student senate. Every dorm had two representatives. We had executive board as well.
[00:18:37.21]
Those meetings got very large. It became occasionally quite rowdy and always, always quite long. I embellished it as one of my introductions to Civic Engagement because it prepared me for the Comer board meetings by throwing me right into the deep end. One of my favorite movies is Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman, and it’s about Winston Churchill as he leads Britain up to World War II and during as well.
[00:19:14.22]
As he’s giving speeches in parliament, you see just how rowdy these meetings can get. Robert’s Rules of Order, in my perspective, is more effective the larger the meetings are. Since serving in my College Student Senate, none of my groups have followed it quite so strictly. It can be quite a bear to pull off correctly. For a basic example, you would need a motion to open the meeting, and a second, a motion to approve minutes, and a second, a motion to adjourn, and a second, and then a motion and ideally a second for any large decision-making items.
[00:20:04.02]
For College Student Senate, it was passing each club’s budget or choosing either to increase or stabilize a student activity fee. As I said, quite contentious. Robert’s Rules of Order also recognizes individual speakers, which helps prevent cross-talk, helps produce time waste, but as I said, it can be quite a bear to pull off.
[00:20:30.17]
Today, in the age of hybrid meetings or even totally virtual board meetings, you might consider adapting Robert’s Rules of Order. This is something that one of my organizations, Young Involved Philadelphia, does quite successfully. We do still have motions to open and close the meeting, and a half-hearted motion to approve last board’s minutes. Otherwise, it’s pretty free-willing, depending upon whether we’re discussing old business or new business.
[00:21:07.08]
That’s generally what Robert’s Robert’s Rules of Order is. I was blown away by the formality, the pomp and circumstance. When I first encountered Robert’s Rules of Order, my student Senate VP ran the meeting at the time, and they had the gavel and everything. I was impressed. As I’ve grown as a professional, I’m impressed by an accomplishment rather than by appearance. Robert’s Rules have become less important, I would say, to me as I’ve grown.
[00:21:49.18]
What remains is the shared goal of a meeting where we accomplish things, where we decide things, where we don’t waste time. One thing that I’ve noticed about my board colleagues is that even as we all serve on one board together, we each have personal projects that don’t always intersect, but which do take time. We always need to be respectful and impactful with the time that we have.
[00:22:16.06] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you so much for that overview of Robert’s Rules. I think your point, too, about how hybrid meetings have altered the ways in which these rules are utilized. I think it’s an important one keeping in mind. Robert’s Rules have been around since the 1800s, and there are a whole lot of technological tools that did not exist and that can help you run a meeting. That maybe speaks to some of what the structure of the rules were trying to alleviate. That is a really interesting At the same point.
[00:23:02.02] – Nico Meyering
I think of Zoom’s raise hand feature and similar functions in Teams or Google Meet.
[00:23:10.23] – Adrienne Beckham
I think that all speaks to and ties into the ability to make board spaces more accessible because at least for me, when I found out that Robert’s Rules of Order was there are books written on this, and that’s a little overwhelming task to be like, “You’re joining a board, and then on top of all that you have to learn to be a member of that board, you also have to learn this whole schema of rules about how to participate to engage in the meeting space.” That is a lot. I think that can be overwhelming for a person, particularly maybe a person with a disability who is already in a space that might not be built for them or accessible to them. Thank you so much for that answer.
[00:24:16.24]
We’ve touched on this a bit in previous conversations, but the concept of transferring power to those around you. I’m curious to know just more broadly about your experiences in transferring power. You brought up a great point in our last conversation about privilege. I’m curious about your perspective now on how you transfer power in the work that you do, both in the board space and out of the board space.
[00:25:05.06] – Nico Meyering
Thank you for this question. It’s one that spoke to me. I come from a family of teachers, and I’m very lucky to have done so. I transfer power to those around me in board spaces, in disabled spaces, and a little bit in professional spaces through three distinct efforts. One, just overall, is ongoing mentorship. I think that mentorship is necessarily a two-way street. What mentorship most intentionally brings in my experience is an ability to share perspectives and share skills among generations.
[00:25:51.10]
I transfer power through intentional onboarding or offboarding sessions. If I’m coming on to a board, I will try to find a mentor, tap into someone who has been on the board for a while, so I can more easily and more quickly learn different norms.
[00:26:10.07]
If I’m offboarding, then I need to transfer that knowledge to my successor as well. You’re always the interim leader in a sense that you always need to be preparing for whoever comes after you. Ideally, if there’s space for it, the person that comes after you achieves even more than you did. They stand upon your shoulders, figuratively speaking, hopefully not physically.
[00:26:37.08]
A third way to transfer power is through just being very intentional about feedback sessions, not only intentional about cultivating feedback, whether that’s through an informal face to face process or a Google form, but also making sure to highlight changes that you make to a project or to a program based upon feedback that has been given.
[00:27:00.09]
For example, I recently launched another board trip cohort forYoung Involved Philadelphia. We’re going to train another 20, 25, maybe 30 young people here in Philly to be good, consistent, and responsible board members. Last cohort, we got feedback that members would have appreciated more face-to-face time, another in-person event, more time to be social.
[00:27:27.20]
For this cohort, that’s exactly what we did. We added one additional in-person event, we allowed more time for socializing, and we’re looking to beef up our networking efforts even more, which I think is a bit more of a long-term process. We’re already hitting our short-term works, and this is what it looks like to deliver on feedback. I’m very proud of this.
[00:27:55.10]
Others have transferred power to me, mainly through one-on-one onboarding/offboarding sessions. I appreciate those efforts, but always ended up wishing that it was more than just a quick meeting out the door or in the door. Having a more consistent or ongoing relationship allows easier time of giving feedback, asking questions, and ensures better development over time. We always need more network, not less. That’s how I see power transfer intentionally being really useful.
[00:28:39.16] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you. I loved what you said about how you always have to be preparing for those that come after you. I think that is something that can get lost in the conversation about leadership. I think there can be a lot of focus on getting to the leadership position. Then we encounter the scenario where people cannot afford to leave that leadership position because they have so much knowledge that only exists in their head.
[00:29:26.17]
I think that’s a really important point to make about the concept of leadership, that it is about setting up your leadership power in a way that it goes beyond you. It is not just about the knowledge that you have, but the knowledge that you infuse into the organization that you’re a part of. Thank you for that.
[00:29:57.12]
Thank you for that answer. I’m just looking over my questions to get a sense of where I am. The next question I wanted to ask you is related to what you shared earlier about your work with MANNA, and that’s in the work that you’re doing, how do you infuse and support the personal causes that you may have in your larger leadership roles?
[00:30:40.14]
I think the MANNA work that you did is a great example of that. I’m curious if there’s more in the works like that, if there’s stuff that you’ve done prior, maybe, too, and what that experience was like making that happen and having that be accepted in the leadership spaces that you’re a part of.
[00:31:06.23] – Nico Meyering
Thank you for this question. I did give the MANNA example as something from my professional life. One example that I can give from my civic side is that as part of my role within Young Involved Philadelphia, I helped pull off the board prep program, which we have discussed in the last question. At the end of every cohort, we host a graduation mixer/resource fair, where our students are paired up with members of boards that are seeking new recruits, more members, and getting that face-to-face time is valuable.
[00:31:50.19]
I love recruiting organizations for this graduation mixer every year. We do it twice a year, so every year, twice. One way that I incorporate my personal causes is by being intentional about inviting disability nonprofits to that event. Just like any other nonprofit, disability organizations need board members, and they need board members that are trained well and may even have specialized skill sets. We do see a lot of people sign up for our program that bring financial or IT acumen and are seeking to put a civic spin on it, which is a fantastic thing. That’s one way that I’m intentional about personal causes in wider leadership spaces.
[00:32:45.16]
I don’t consider myself a leader in my professional life, so I guess this perhaps came as more of a surprise for my colleagues. I have spoken to the group in meetings before about my community service, and my colleagues provide general support, good vibes, I guess, is the current lingo for my volunteer efforts. I appreciate that. To wrap up, I guess I would say inviting disabled causes to the table is part and parcel of how you incorporate them into your overall work.
[00:33:28.20] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you. I find it interesting to hear you say you don’t think of yourself as a leader in your professional spaces, but maybe that’s just because I have this view and perspective of you as a leader, so I’m like, “That’s interesting.” It does speak to a larger experience of how we show up in our lives and how we feel internally about our leadership versus what is seen and felt on the external. I don’t know. I just found that really interesting.
[00:34:21.24]
I appreciate you for sharing that experience about MANNA and how that came to be. I think it sounds like you’ve seen quite a bit of support in that experience in bringing those causes to the spaces that you are bringing them in and advocating them for. That is encouraging to know that they’re being received well and moving forward the causes that you do want to move forward, particularly in the disability space. I think it’s nice to know that progress can be made.
[00:35:14.05]
My next question is more reflective on the personal continuing that line of thinking. When we are in this work, in disability work, in accessibility work, and work that is related to things that we care about. I know for myself, certainly, it can be hard to turn off. It can be hard to not be wanting to do more and more and more and show up more and more as a leader in our community.
[00:36:07.04]
I’m curious to know, as a leader, as someone who’s involved in a lot of different areas that you are passionate about, how do you prioritize rest and boundary setting as a leader in the spaces so that you can support yourself in the work that you’re doing?
[00:36:27.23] – Nico Meyering
Thank you for this question. I appreciate it because self-care is important as disabled leaders. I’m a big fan of canceling meetings. I believe that there are times where a non-productive meeting is actually harmful. If there’s not a point to holding a meeting, why would you take someone’s time from them? I often hear this phrase in meetings that early, “I’ll give you some time back,” or “We’ll give you some time back.” That made me think of it in a different way.
[00:37:13.01]
We can spend money, and we can make money, but we can only spend time. Disabled people, more than anyone, know how to best make use of their time. If that’s resting, then I think that’s part of leadership as well. It’s as part of leadership as much as it is as much as printing flyers or leading meetings or making supply runs is part of leadership.
[00:37:42.07]
How I prioritize rest is by considering my time in blocks. I will devote maybe one morning specifically to one work, the disability commission, or my income-generating work, or Young Involved Philadelphia, or whatever. If I get everything that I need to do done within that time frame, then I’ve bought myself time where I could rest from that work. I might focus on other work as needed, but at least I’m not using my brain in the same way. Those pathways at least can get some rest.
[00:38:23.17]
Considering my work in chunks of time also makes me consider my off time as chunks of time, and I personally quite enjoy visualizing it out. How do I build this tower of different chunks of time in a way that is successful and healthy for me? Some days that tower is taller than other days, but at the end of every day, I can say that I did give it my all, if not always my best.
[00:38:53.12] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you for that. As somebody who also does quite a bit of time blocking, I feel that very deeply. It’s nice to be able to just separate, “This is what I’m doing at this time,” and not have to think about it because I blocked it out. Thank you so much. Going into what I like to think of as maybe some of the thesis statement questions of the show of Notable, which are much more broad about the concept of disability leadership, my next question for you is, what does disability leadership mean to you?
[00:39:43.20] – Nico Meyering
Thank you so much for this question. To me, disability leadership means living examples of disabled people leading on topics of common interest. Disabled leadership, when done correctly, impacts an organization’s mission, or rather, helps an organization deliver on its mission, helps an organization enhance its mission, and also, critically, makes contributing and leading a more accessible process for themselves, for other disabled members of the organization, and for non-disabled members organization as well. If a disabled leader does these three things, then they have done well as a leader, in my opinion.
[00:40:42.19]
A voluntary coordinator for a small nonprofit who is just learning to come to terms with a recent ADHD diagnosis is as much a disabled leader as someone who runs a community disability nonprofit in itself. I think it’s important to recognize disabled leadership in models both large and small, in ways both explicit and perhaps maybe more subtle. Every issue is a disability issue, especially here in the US, where disabled people are disproportionately the clients and beneficiaries, the program participants, whatever you want to call them, of our nonprofit sectors. I thought a lot about this exact definition, and that’s where I am.
[00:41:40.15] – Adrienne Beckham
You bring up a really great point. Just the reality of a lot of the issues that nonprofits are built around trying to address are the issues that are affecting the disability community, and as such, it behooves us to have that sense of disability leadership in those spaces, because how do you speak to those communities if you don’t know them?
[00:42:16.14]
Thank you for that really thorough and thoughtful definition of what disability leadership means to you. Segueing into the next question, as you reflect on yourself as a leader, as a person with a disability, how do you feel about the meaningful changes you have been able to implement for the disability community? Do you feel like you’ve been able to affect meaningful change in your role? Is that something you’re still striving for? I’d love your thoughts.
[00:43:02.17] – Nico Meyering
Thank you so much. I am always striving to affect change, whether I’ve done 1 thing or 100 things. You’re always working toward greater. I think I’ve been able to affect change for the disability community in direct ways and in indirect ways. I’m happy to talk about both.
[00:43:26.08]
If I’m leading a meeting for the Mayor’s Commission for People with Disabilities, and I’m getting our commission members FaceTime with members of the Mayor’s Administration, then I’m doing my job as a leader. I’m affecting change in that way. I’m providing that through line direct to disabled consumers, so that their concerns and the concerns of our people get addressed by our city’s leaders.
[00:44:00.20]
I’m also able to effect meaningful change in indirect ways. I’m trying to bring disability up as a topic more and more in non-disabled spaces. If I’m going to advocate at a large scale on an issue, I’m probably doing it at a macro level, along with people who might be advocates for transit or health care or other large issues that might not always consider disability, but are nonetheless disability issues.
[00:44:36.22]
On October first, actually, I’m heading to Harrisburg to advocate for more receptive funding. Joining a transit forward Philadelphia, members of other organizations that, like I say, while not disability-specific, do have stake in a disability cause. I’m excited to see that happen and to help carry that message forward.
[00:45:00.06]
I’m lucky to have a disability that does not impact my mobility and does make me able to sit on that bus and go for that ride, and find my way around Harrisburg. That would be an indirect way that I help bring about meaningful change, at least in my opinion.
[00:45:23.07] – Adrienne Beckham
Thank you for that. I think in work like this, at least from my perspective, sometimes there are days where you are fully feeling like you’re affecting meaningful change. In those days, when things get tough, and you feel like you’re yelling at a wall. It’s always heartening when you have those glimmers numbers of moments where you’re like, “No, I am doing something, and it is making a difference.” Thank you for sharing those moments that you’ve had. My final two questions are advice questions. The first one is, what advice would you give to a person with a disability who wants to serve on a board?
[00:46:33.02] – Nico Meyering
That’s an excellent question. I would give this advice. Consider what skills you can offer and then offer them to a cause about which you’re passionate. Most nonprofits that I’ve helped lead have not had just one person interested in a given field of their operations. They’ve had several. If you want to be on the communications team, see yourself being someone who puts together a top-notch newsletter every month, but also, know that a cause you’re passionate about has a top-notch newsletter, go ahead and volunteer that skill anyway. Because people who might volunteer in that capacity already, won’t volunteer forever. Board members don’t serve forever. You do need to always consider what comes next.
[00:47:29.03]
Hearkening back to an earlier question. Think, too, and be honest about how you show up in group spaces, how you contribute to group decision-making, and how you would like to change that, if applicable. Consider the leader that you are now and the leader that you want to be. If board service is going to help you bridge that gap, then by all means pursue it. This leaches into my advice for non-disabled people as well.
[00:48:07.14]
To go into that question more, if I’m a non-disabled person, and I want higher disability engagement in my nonprofits, programs, deliverables or whatever, I would want to make my deliverable accessible. If I am giving a training on something, but it’s only in person, why not consider adapting it into an online lesson or something that is recorded? If you’re conveying messaging through just emails or just a PDF document, that might be able to be a video as well. If you’ve onboarded a disabled person, “Congratulations onto your board,” and you’re going to get ready to throw the bylaws at them, you send the email with these big, scary packets of information, that’s okay. It’s probably a requirement.
[00:49:07.05]
Consider also making just quick, easy fact sheets that as much as possible use concise, clear language so that at least on day 1, week 1, month 1, our new member is not already overwhelmed. Historical context, wider context, that can come at a later date, but getting information that folks need right away in front of them in the way that they can digest, that just sets them up for success.
[00:49:38.08] – Adrienne Beckham
Yes. Thank you. That, I think, is a beautiful way to end. Thank you so much for all of your insights, your energy, your care and crafting answers, and thinking about all of these topics that we’ve delved into on the wonderful question of what disability leadership looks like in our city and in our world? With that, I want to say thank you for joining me today.
[00:50:13.10] – Nico Meyering
Thank you so much for having me.
[00:50:14.20] – Adrienne Beckham
Yes, it’s been a joy.
