COURSE NUMBER: MBA292B.11
This course is dual-listed with Evening-weekend MBA
COURSE TITLE: Nonprofit Boards and Governance
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1
INSTRUCTOR: Paul Jansen
E-MAIL ADDRESS: paul55jansen@gmail.com
Please note the unorthodox nature of this course, which meets all day
on 2 Sundays. To earn a passing grade, you must attend
BOTH class sessions in their entirety. Consult the Spring
2019 electives spreadsheet for meeting dates.
PREREQUISITE(S): None
CLASS FORMAT: Lecture, discussion, case studies, panel discussions with experienced directors and CEOs from local nonprofits
REQUIRED READINGS: Primarily published articles, BoardSource governance materials and The Dynamic Nonprofit Board: Lessons from High Performing Nonprofits
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: 40% participation, 60% for 2 case write ups
CAREER FIELD: This course is for business oriented students who anticipate they might serve on a nonprofit board(s) over the course of their career or for students interested in managerial roles at nonprofit organizations who will need to interact with the nonprofit’s board of directors regularly.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: This one-unit course provides students with a working knowledge of the role played by boards of directors in the nonprofit sector and prepares them to be active and informed members of nonprofit board. My mindset is that of exposing you to all the things I wish that I had known before I started my own nonprofit board career. Specifically, the course will explore the following aspects of boards:
Students will have the opportunity to meet members of the Bay Area nonprofit sector, including current board members, chief executives, and fund raisers to discuss their roles and learn firsthand the challenges facing these different leaders in an increasingly competitive nonprofit marketplace.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Paul Jansen is an adjunct professor at
Haas. Paul spent 25 years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company
before retiring in 2009. In 2001, he co-founded the Firm’s Nonprofit
Practice, which later evolved into the Social Sector Practice. At
various times, he has held roles as leader of the global nonprofit practice,
knowledge leader and director of the global philanthropy
practice. In these roles, his client work focused on strategy,
organization development, and operations issues, where he gained particular
experience in global health, higher education, nonprofit governance and
public-private partnerships.
Paul has authored a number of articles including “For Nonprofits, Time is
Money” which stimulated sector-wide discussion on the strategic benefit of
increasing endowment payout rates. With former Senator Bill Bradley
wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review, entitled “The Non-Profit
Sector’s $100 Billion Opportunity”, which again challenged sector
beliefs about the potential for improved performance. Paul has also
co-authored a report entitled “The Dynamic Board: Lessons from
High-Performing Nonprofits”, which examines board governance issues unique
to the nonprofit community. Paul co-authored a report released in
2009 on philanthropic prizes “And the Winner is…Capturing the Promise of
Philanthropic Prizes”
Paul received a chemical engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley and earned his MBA at the Harvard Business School. His governance experience includes serving as chair of the Board of CARE USA, which is committed to reducing poverty worldwide and as a director of the SCE Fund, a philanthropic foundation, Care International Supervisory Board, and Care Enterprises, a for profit social impact investor. He also serves on advisory boards for Inside Track, an organization that seeks to improve college retention, Imagine H20, which seeks to impact water issues, Strive for College, which strives to increase college attendance by high risk students. Paul also spent 15 years serving on the board of the San Francisco Zoological Society, including 4 years as chairman on the board. Paul recently joined the board of directors of Zymergen, a pre-IPO molecular engineering products and services company.