For health care organizations, recruitment and diversity for the board of trustees is vitally important. In this conversation, Schonay Barnett-Jones, trustee at Children’s National Hospital and AHA board member, discusses strategies for recruiting a diverse board of trustees to any health care organization, and how to engage and retain the next generation of future board members.

To learn more about the American Hospital Association's Trustee Services, please visit https://trustees.aha.org/

Tom Haederle

Whether it's flying an airliner, coaching a football team, or running a hospital or health system, the skills and experiences of the people at the helm make a big difference in the success of the journey. That's why the recruitment and diversity of composition of the Board of Trustees is vitally important.

Tom Haederle

Welcome to Advancing Health, a podcast from the American Hospital Association. I'm Tom Haederle with AHA communications. Everyone uses health care a little differently. And the board that brings a wider range of viewpoints to its oversight of a hospital or health system is better positioned to meet the variety of patients' needs as we hear today's podcast hosted by Sue Ellen Wagner, vice president of trustee engagement and strategy with the AHA.

Tom Haederle

Sue Ellen, over to you.

Sue Ellen Wagner

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Thank you for inviting me.

Sue Ellen Wagner

Sue Ellen Wagner

And when I say younger, I'm referring to people 50 years and younger. Can you comment on the importance of board recruitment and having diversity be part of the recruitment process?

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Absolutely. Firstly, I'd like to commend boards who are continuing their diversity journey. This is hard and intentional work, but it makes a difference in the level of effectiveness to support organizational and community needs. Generally speaking, as you know, boards traditionally consisted of an older demographic with the same experiences and in many cases, same gender, race, and level of financial contribution.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Board recruitment is important to ensure an infusion of new ideas, levels of experience and to maintain sustainability in the marketplace. And having a diverse or provide space for varying perspectives to be heard because everyone uses healthcare differently. What we understand is that Gen Z, Gen X, and millennials view health care through a tech lens. They want everything online.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

They want it quickly and readily available. But their expectations of how health care should work for them are very different from their parent's generation. So in order for boards to better support our organizations, we must be reflective of our communities and this younger demographic in particular. We can't get their input unless they're invited to participate. We must keep in mind also that they may not have the financial wherewithal for charitable contributions at the level that most boards are, but they bring talent and they bring commitment, and those are very valuable assets to any board.

Sue Ellen Wagner

I agree with that. Thank you. Hospitals and health systems are often challenged with recruiting new board members for a few reasons. Some of those you just mentioned, one being competing for board members with other organizations in the community. And then second, being a hospital or health system board requires significant dedication of time. Can you respond to these challenges and how hospitals and health systems can overcome these challenges?

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Yes. It's important to cultivate your own board talent. Hospitals and health systems have so many community touchpoints that really just go untapped. We don't look at all of the community assets that we have. I would look to the community-based organizations, professional organizations and internally for recommendations. Also to ask your current board members to access to their networks.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

I joined the Children's National Hospital Board at age 42. I was by far the youngest board member there. However, prior to that, I had been actively engaged in committee work and chairing the Patient and Family Advisory Council, but only because my daughter's nurse invited me to participate. Wow. So my experience is lived experience. My daughter Olivia is post-cardiac transplant, and we have spent a significant amount of time in hospital settings.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

So my contributions to the board table are really a lens through that of a consumer and the voice of patients and families. But to your second point, board work grows legs. And anyone who is on a board understands exactly what I mean. And so your members often end up on multiple committees with varying time needs. So you really have to be honest upfront about the time commitment and the expectations so the candidates can make good decisions regarding their ability to serve.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

And then you also have to be very creative with scheduling and the use of technology to support your members.

Sue Ellen Wagner

Great points. Time is of the essence.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Absolutely.

Sue Ellen Wagner

Can you share some board recruitment strategies that will be helpful to others?

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Yes. Yes. Firstly, I think you have to understand your current board landscape so you know where your gaps are and don't end up with a mini law firm on your board. I have a colleague who mentioned that he had 16 attorneys on his board, and I said, you actually have a law firm, that's not a board. And so we joke about that, but I think he is in the process of trying to make some changes to that.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

But in all seriousness, you must diversify your recruitment team and those persons who vote on your board candidates to add balance to the process. The diversity lens should permeate throughout your recruitment process, and not to be solely focused on your candidates. Based on your board's needs matrix, recruitment should be from various industries obviously, community partners and consumers. But I think that diversifying the recruitment team is key and is a linchpin in the entire process.

Sue Ellen Wagner

Yeah, really good points, Schonay, is there any additional information that you want to provide to our listeners?

Schonay Barnett-Jones

You have to be intentional about your diversity efforts. It is hard work. It is not the easiest path to take and not to give up because it gets hard. But really dig in and know that at the end of that journey that you will have far reaching impacts and to your organization and your community, and those decisions will transform health care for those people in your community.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

So I think that you have to just really continue to work at it, keep your efforts up and continue to move forward.

Sue Ellen Wagner

Excellent point. Schonay, thank you for your time during this podcast. AHA appreciates your leadership and the insights you shared.

Schonay Barnett-Jones

Thank you so much for having me. Have a great day.

Sue Ellen Wagner

You too.

Tom Haederle

Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.