Champaign, Illinois
A Community Impact Story
Experience Champaign-Urbana: Advancing Board Governance to Reflect and Serve the Community
Social Impact Framework: Board Governance
What was the issue you were trying to address?
To improve diversity among Experience Champaign-Urbana's Foundation Board, in turn benefiting our visitors and our community.
What were the stated objectives of this initiative?
We live in a university community with one of the most, if not the top, diverse student population in the country. Our board trustees represent a powerful voice within this diverse community and share their passion and talent toward supporting the mission to be a welcoming destination for all who visit, work and live here.
Because of this, our Foundation Board must reflect the rich diversity of our community. Our board focuses on sales, marketing, and operations and represents our funding and industry partners.
What were the specific metrics you used to measure the success of your efforts?
Our goal was to fill 8 to 10 available spots on our Foundation Board. Over a period of one year, we measured success through outreach to organizations who could identify potential candidates and meetings with candidates to discuss potential membership.
What were the specific outcomes and results of your efforts?
By engaging with local organizations, we were able to identify candidates from a variety of backgrounds (fundraising, marketing, financial, healthcare, etc.) that could best guide initiatives, such as event bid incentives, talent attraction, film office, and the Champaign County African American Heritage Trail.
Discussions with candidates led to filling 14 trustee roles on our Foundation Board. 80% of the Board is now diverse by gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, occupation, and ability.
The diversity in their experiences, skills, and perspectives bring value to our entire community and to our visitors. We are grateful for their volunteer service and truly couldn’t do this meaningful work without them!
What other best practices or key lessons can you share?
There are people willing to serve, if you're diligent in reaching out to different ways of recruitment. We used an avenue through our local Community Foundation that helped introduce us to potential candidates as well.
Jayne DeLuce is President & CEO of Experience Champaign-Urbana and Executive Director of the ECU Foundation. She has held leadership roles with ICCVB, UMCVB, and Destinations International, where she serves on the Advocacy and EDI Committees. A proud University of Illinois alum, Jayne also sits on the College of Applied Health Sciences Board and recently chaired the RST Alumni Council. Her past experience includes roles with the Atlanta Olympics, South Florida Sports Festival, and more. She holds a CDME credential and lives in Champaign-Urbana with her husband, two daughters, and their dog, Milo.