NBA Virtual Board Meeting Focuses on Community Engagement and Equity

The National Benevolent Association Board of Trustees met virtually on Friday and Saturday, November 12-13, 2021. The Board of Trustees has convened all quarterly meetings over Zoom since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020.

NBA’s President and CEO, Mark D. Anderson opened the meeting with the President’s Report, themed around Psalm 9:1-2:

¹ I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. ² I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. [NIV]

Anderson shared the work of NBA’s newest program, Community Engagement, with the Board, including the continued expansion and cross-programmatic work of the Peer Learning & Wellness Group model. Over the course of 2021, NBA convened seven Peer Groups around different affinity areas such as Executive Directors of health and social service ministries, leaders of startup nonprofit projects, Latin@ pastors, and more. Anderson also highlighted how NBA also continues to dedicate time, staff, and efforts to expanding the work we do with young adult leadership development. Our commitments to young adults include two new Peer Groups for Hispanic and NAPAD young leaders, as well as the currently ongoing research and design process of a Black Woman’s Leadership Experience for young adults. These good works will continue into 2022 as NBA continues to live out its mission of creating communities of compassion and care.

The 2022 NBA Budget was presented to the Board of Trustees. The budget reflects the ways NBA fulfills its mission by caring for all in just and equitable ways. We thank the Board of Trustees for approving the 2022 budget with their vote. Board President, Rev. Orlando Scott, said “Mark and the NBA staff have done an exceptional job maintaining exceptional ministry across the life of the church during the pandemic. Our 2022 budget is crafted to maintain vital ministry presence in addition to providing robust assistance to incarnational ministries. It is a pleasure for me to be a part of this community charting new territory in this liminal season.”

As part of the board meeting, we acknowledged and welcomed the five new staff members who joined NBA in 2021. One of the new staff members, Joselyn Spence, Director of the NBA Mental Health & Wellness Initiative, along with Rev. Hector Hernandez Marcial, Director of Community Engagement, led the Trustees in a reflective activity on the concept of ‘change.’ The Trustees used modeling clay to depict how they felt and experienced change. Click through the photo album below to see some of their creations.

As part of their commitment to NBA, the Board of Trustees experienced an in-depth training session from an independent consultant on Belonging, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (BEID). “We’re excited to extend the work we’ve been doing internally as NBA staff with our equity consultants to our Board of Trustees,” said Anderson. “This process has been invaluable as we continue to live out our commitment to be an anti-racist, pro-reconciling church and deepen our work as NBA to address the root causes of injustice with compassion and healing. We are encouraged by the Trustees’ willingness and dedication to join us in this meaningful and important work.”

The next meetings of the NBA Board of Trustees are February 17 and June 9–11, 2022.