When Board Fit Meets Organizational Timing

When Andrew Herrera, MBA ’19, executive director of Impact Global Health Alliance (IGHA), began looking to grow the organization’s board, the challenge was not simply finding volunteers. IGHA—an international nonprofit focused on women’s and children’s health—was entering a new phase, refining its brand, expanding its reach, and strengthening its donor engagement strategy. “We were at an inflection point,” Herrera says. “When I learned about Alumni Board Connect, I immediately saw it as a strategic solution to my challenge of how to intentionally build board capacity that matches the organization’s next phase of growth.” 

The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation’s Alumni Board Connect program (ABC) is a nonprofit board-matching initiative that helps mission-driven organizations expand and strengthen their board capacity. ABC offers a direct line for nonprofit organizations to Chicago Booth alumni, connecting organizations like IGHA with experienced alumni interested in applying their analytical and strategic expertise to mission-driven work.

Elizabeth Cohen, MBA ’98, founder and principal at EMC Strategy, learned about ABC through the Chicago Booth alumni network. She had been interested in joining a nonprofit board for some time, motivated in part by a desire to balance her for-profit consulting work with service aligned to her values. “Over the course of a few years, I was matched with a few organizations and interviewed, but they were not the right fit,” Cohen says.

That changed when she was introduced to Herrera and IGHA. Cohen saw an organization at a clear moment of transition. Its global scope and data- and behavior-based approach aligned closely with her experience and interests. For Herrera, the alignment was evident early on. “Elizabeth consistently demonstrated two things: deep strategic discipline and genuine curiosity about our mission,” he says. “The combination of value alignment and analytical rigor made it clear she would hit the ground running on specific projects while growing with us over the medium term.”

Once Cohen joined the board, the focus shifted from finding alignment to building systems. Her marketing expertise helped IGHA move toward a year-round engagement strategy and develop metrics to track donor relationships beyond a single campaign cycle.

“She has helped us move from ‘How do we communicate this?’ to ‘What system are we building to ensure sustained growth?’ That shift in mindset is transformational for a lean and ambitious nonprofit like Impact Global Health Alliance,” Herrera adds.

Despite graduating from Chicago Booth more than two decades apart, Herrera and Cohen connected at a moment when the organization’s needs and their respective experiences aligned. Since their collaboration began, IGHA has continued to strengthen its strategic foundation. Most recently, the nonprofit was chosen out of 4,000 applicants to receive funding from Action for Women’s Health—a $250 million global open call founded by Melinda French Gates—granting it necessary resources to continue its mission to save the lives of women and children around the world.

Strengthening an organization’s mission—and finding those eager and willing to further its cause—can be an ongoing challenge. But finding the right board member can mean a world of difference to nonprofits and the communities they serve. For Chicago-area alumni interested in joining Alumni Board Connect, and for nonprofits looking to expand their boards, visit the ABC webpage for more updates. Applications for the second 2026 cohort will open this summer.