Golub Capital Board Fellows Program

Audience members engaged in a discussion


The Golub Capital Board Fellows Program matches Chicago Booth students with local nonprofit organizations, bringing valuable pro bono business skills to nonprofits while giving students hands-on experience with nonprofit management and governance. The program is one of the school’s most popular hands-on social impact programs and is run as a partnership between the Rustandy Center and the Net Impact student group.

Chicago Booth is one of seven business schools participating in the Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows Network, launched November 2024. Golub Capital has committed more than $10 million to date to help develop impactful nonprofit board leaders and foster collaboration between business schools. Learn more about this effort.

Board fellows are matched in teams of two or three with partner organizations on the basis of area of interest.

With training and mentoring from the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, they serve as nonvoting board members for a seven-month term (October through April) and complete a strategic consulting project of the nonprofit organization’s choosing.

Questions about the program? Email Mateo Villanueva.

By the Numbers

Chicago Booth Harper Center

600+

Number of Booth students who participated in the Golub Capital Board Board Fellows Program

600+
Chicago Booth Harper Center

200+ 

Number of nonprofits that have collaborated with the program since 2015

200+ 

Participate as a Booth Student

The program is designed to encourage Booth students to pursue nonprofit board service and involvement throughout their lives. As a Golub Capital Board Fellow, you’ll receive coaching from Booth alumni, support from the Rustandy Center and Net Impact, and training and workshops on topics such as board governance and project scoping.

The program is open to:

  • Rising second-year Full-Time MBA students
  • Evening and Weekend MBA students who have completed at least eight courses and do not graduate before June 2024
  • Rising first-year Full-Time MBA and Evening and Weekend MBA students with less than eight courses (but priority will be given to rising second-year and Evening and Weekend students)

Questions about participating? Email Mateo Villanueva.

Student applications for the 2024–25 Golub Capital Board Fellows Program are closed. The application cycle is typically August to September.

Participate as a Nonprofit

To host a fellow, nonprofits must be located in the Chicago region and be in good standing with the State of Illinois. They must also have a formal, established governing board and capacity to provide students with the support and mentorship necessary to assimilate to the board and complete the strategic project.

When you apply to the program, you’ll outline a project for your fellows to complete during the program timeframe. A project should be significant and specific enough to achieve in four months with approximately five to 10 hours of work per month. Projects can focus on anything from cost/benefit analysis and marketing plan development to strategic planning and evaluation of funding opportunities and revenue sources. 

Questions about nonprofit involvement? Email Mateo Villanueva.

Nonprofit applications for the 2025-26 Golub Capital Board Fellows Program are open. Apply here.

“It gives you time to feel like you’re embedded in the organization and to gain the exposure that you need to nonprofit organizations that are doing good for their communities.”
–Michael Kovach, ’20, who served on the board of GCE Lab School

Meet Our Executives in Residence

Learn from industry experts in the Rustandy Center’s network, who work closely with students as mentors and advisors and share insights from their experience in the social sector. Learn more about opportunities to engage with Dorri McWhorter and Todd Connor.

Todd Connor

Todd Connor, MBA ’07, Social Entrepreneurship and Nonprofit Board Service

Todd Connor, MBA ’07, is currently CEO of Veterans for all Voters, an organization he co-founded to fight political polarization and advocate for more political competition and choice for voters and is the founder of Bunker Labs, a national entrepreneurship organization dedicated to helping the military-connected community start and grow businesses in over 40 chapters across the United States. He is the founder of The Collective Academy, a leadership development consulting firm, as well as Emerson House, a luxe retreat venue in La Porte, Indiana. Todd also serves as the lead facilitator for the President George W. Bush Veteran Leadership Program in Dallas, Texas.

Todd Connor, MBA ’07, Social Entrepreneurship and Nonprofit Board Service
Dorri McWhorter

Dorri McWhorter, Nonprofit Engagement

Dorri McWhorter is president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. Most recently, McWhorter was CEO of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, leading the 140-year-old social service agency's expansion of digital services and helped develop an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for women’s empowerment. A winner of innovation awards and a 20-year veteran in large-scale change management consulting, McWhorter was a partner at Crowe Horwath LLP and a senior leader at Snap-on Incorporated and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Dorri McWhorter, Nonprofit Engagement

Board Fellows Stories: 

 

Richard Day, MBA ’20

Find out how Richard Day, MBA '20 used his MBA to make a meaningful impact as a board fellow for a Chicago-based housing nonprofit. 

Read the Story

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