I 501(c) You - The Podcast for NonProfit Board Members
Jul 21, 2026 · 27 min · 10 segments
In this episode of I 501(c) You, we talk with Sharmon Lebby, founder of Blessed Designs Consulting, about what it really takes to start a nonprofit and build your first board of directors. Shaman…
Sharmon LebbyGuestMichael CorleyHostReedHost
Everybody tends to be very service-minded, service-based, but there is an entire compliance and business, um, element to it that everybody either doesn't know about or completely forgets about, and just like, it'll, it'll come together.
And one of the things that nonprofits have to worry about that starting a for-profit business you don't have to worry about is that first board of directors, or a board of directors, 'cause for-profits don't need to have a board of directors.
How does a founder, how should they look at the board, and how do you get the right first board members?
Yeah, so one, I like to disabuse anybody of the idea that we're gonna get it perfect the first time-
We're dealing with people, and people aren't perfect, and so I want you to just throw that out the, the window to begin with.
But I do think there are elements that you can bring in in order to set the stage for getting this done as well as humanly possible.
And I always tell people, "I need to know your, your mission, your vision, and your values." And they're like, "What does that have to do with my board?" And I'm like, "I promise everything," because what you're doing and how you're doing it and where you're going, and then the values that hold all of that together are this really, really important and essential part of building your board because you need anybody that you bring on to be fully aligned with what you're doing and where we're going.
We all need to be rowing in the same directions, and we all need to have those values, um, in, you know, in the same alignment.
I think about one of the organizations that I work with, um, Intersectional Environmentalists, who one of their values is just joy, 'cause I know we get into a lot of climate doom and everybody's like, "The world is burning," but so one of their values is joy.
And so they're not gonna bring anybody onto the board who is all doom and gloom, right? 'Cause that's just not gonna align with what they're doing and how they're trying to, to do things.
So those things are really, really important to get right and to be able to communicate before you even start to look for somebody to be on your board.
Everybody tends to be very service-minded, service-based, but there is an entire compliance and business, um, element to it that everybody either doesn't know about or completely forgets about, and just like, it'll, it'll come together.
And one of the things that nonprofits have to worry about that starting a for-profit business you don't have to worry about is that first board of directors, or a board of directors, 'cause for-profits don't need to have a board of directors.
How does a founder, how should they look at the board, and how do you get the right first board members?
Yeah, so one, I like to disabuse anybody of the idea that we're gonna get it perfect the first time-
We're dealing with people, and people aren't perfect, and so I want you to just throw that out the, the window to begin with.
But I do think there are elements that you can bring in in order to set the stage for getting this done as well as humanly possible.
And I always tell people, "I need to know your, your mission, your vision, and your values." And they're like, "What does that have to do with my board?" And I'm like, "I promise everything," because what you're doing and how you're doing it and where you're going, and then the values that hold all of that together are this really, really important and essential part of building your board because you need anybody that you bring on to be fully aligned with what you're doing and where we're going.
We all need to be rowing in the same directions, and we all need to have those values, um, in, you know, in the same alignment.
I think about one of the organizations that I work with, um, Intersectional Environmentalists, who one of their values is just joy, 'cause I know we get into a lot of climate doom and everybody's like, "The world is burning," but so one of their values is joy.
And so they're not gonna bring anybody onto the board who is all doom and gloom, right? 'Cause that's just not gonna align with what they're doing and how they're trying to, to do things.
So those things are really, really important to get right and to be able to communicate before you even start to look for somebody to be on your board.
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