We’ve taken another step closer into the world between nonprofit and for-profit. In a shift in our social enterprise management, DePaul Industries’ Board of Directors recently elected our President & CEO Dave Shaffer to its board as a voting member.
Previously, Dave had attended the majority of Board meetings as a participant and contributor. But he was not a member—maintaining the original nonprofit board structure instituted at DePaul’s founding. Dave will now actively participate in board votes, and will be able to share operational insights in a more effectual manner. This repositioning is indicative of our shift as an organization toward a definitive social entrepreneurial model over the last number of years. And it puts us in a better place to achieve our ambitious earned revenue and disability employment goals.
Dave was vetted just as any other candidate would be for a board position. His professional experience is vast, both prior to his tenure at DePaul Industries and over the past 15 years with the organization. With experience in food and tech startups, turnarounds of organizations experiencing financial difficulties, and oversight of the growth of DePaul over the past five years, Dave is uniquely qualified to serve as one of our directors.
We’ve previously blogged about a social entrepreneurial board of directors case study that was published in the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship (Taylor & Francis Group) in March 2011. It made clear that DePaul Industries is a type of social enterprise in which social mission and financial goals are ‘operationally integrated,’ and that the unique decision-making process of our Board of Directors is crucial to making it work. Electing our President & CEO to the board mimics the board structures of many large corporations, and further solidifies our integrated social venture model. It allows the strategic leadership of DePaul Industries to be more closely intertwined with the operational activities, thus allowing the social mission to be more closely intertwined with earned revenue.
Do you work for a social enterprise? What role does your CEO play on the board of directors?
