7 Ways Down Home Uses High Impact Boards

By J. Patrick Traynor

Meet Board Chair Jill Waslaski

What began as a friendship between two “hockey moms” soon turned into a joint effort to help families emerging from homelessness in the Fargo-Moorhead community. Board Chair Jill Waslaski recalls that first conversation about the idea for Down Home fondly with Founder Jenessa Fillipi:

“Jenessa invited me over to her house for coffee one morning because she had this crazy idea,” Waslaski says. “She told me her idea for Down Home and how it was divinely inspired. And she said, ‘Do you think this is crazy?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I do, but I’m totally on board.’”

Fast forward to 2024, and Waslaski chairs the board of Down Home, which, last year alone, furnished nearly three dozen homes for nearly 100 individuals emerging from homelessness in the community. Down Home has been implementing the six pillars of the High Impact Boards framework this year, and Waslaski recently gave us an update about how it’s transformed the charity’s board operations.

Down Home Board Chair Jill Waslask


1) The CEO and board chair sync every month.

Jill Waslaski: “One of the main ways I support and sync with (Down Home CEO) Jenessa (Fillipi) is by just being a sounding board for her. We meet monthly before each board meeting to go through the agenda and troubleshoot any issues she might be having as an executive director. It’s still a relatively new role for her. And being a board chair is a new role for me, too.

“One of the things it really got us to focus on is how we use our relationship and each of our unique strengths to really bring our vision for Down Home to fruition. It’s been invaluable.”

2) They created a CEO succession plan.

JW: “One of the first things we did after going through a High Impact Boards training was create a CEO succession plan. That’s one of the most important things you can do as a board. We hope we’ll never use it, but the plan is there and is in place.”

3) Board and staff work together in a unique way.

JW: “Jenessa and I really wanted to bring (board and staff) together so that we were all working in sync. So what we do is: Two of our board members are assigned to one of our team members here at Down Home, and that’s their committee.

“They get together monthly before our board meetings to find out what’s going on in a particular area (of the organization) and also to brainstorm solutions to any issues. And then those board members report back to the rest of the board. That way, it’s not just Jenessa and me talking all the time.

“It’s led to some really fruitful discussion and amazing problem-solving at the board level, which we’re then able to pass on to our teammates, as well as our clients.”


About Down Home

Down Home helps empower and stabilize those emerging from homelessness in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Through donors, volunteers, and partnerships with local agencies, Down Home transforms four empty walls into a beautiful and dignified home. Since 2017, Down Home has served more than 180 families and impacted more than 750 lives.


4) Multiplier thinking has become the norm.

JW: “One of the things we did following the High Impact Boards training was use it as a springboard for our strategic planning session that we have every five years. Our board came together in June of this year, but every month leading up to that, we each took a letter (of the I-M-P-A-C-T framework) and facilitated a conversation around it.

“It got everyone thinking strategically. And for our clients, that’s what we are really aiming for in every single meeting. It’s something we now talk about it in every single meeting.”

5) They adopted a dashboard, and it’s been a game-changer.

JW: “A dashboard always seemed daunting to Jenessa and me, but one of our fellow board members created this amazing, real-time dashboard — color-coded green, yellow, and red with all our strategic initiatives on it — and what it’s really done is help keep things rolling on Jenessa’s end. She doesn’t have to worry about getting a paper report from one of her team members. Her team can just go in and fill out their progress toward an initiative, and then she can send out the board deck, which we can see in real time.

“We had to realize that a) our board members all take in information differently and b) they don’t have time to take in something long and complicated.

“It’s been so impactful. It has really been one of the best things to come out of the High Impact Boards training. We’re so glad we put the time into it. And now it’s done and ready to go. We’re regularly having conversations about what we can add to it — like finances or anything else we might want to track.”

6) They’ve become very intentional communicators.

JW: “The communication piece is so important as a board. If someone else starts talking, it means I’m listening. And if someone starts talking maybe a little bit louder, it means they’re excited about something. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re upset.

“My personal approach to being sure that every board member is heard during meetings is to talk less, take a step back, and make eye contact with every board member throughout the meeting.

“And if there’s a board member who seems like they would like to say something, I feel comfortable to just ask: ‘Is there something you’d like to add to the discussion?’ And I think that’s really important for the board chair, to step forward into your role as chair to really help these meetings run flawlessly and fluidly — so that we can get as much done for Down Home as we possibly can in those 90 minutes.”

7) They’ve adopted a master checklist.

JW: “The master checklist was such a great idea. When an organization has a 990 and tax documents to file and bylaws that need to be reviewed, the calendar can fill up quickly. So it’s been really wonderful for our team members and board to be able to refer to that checklist and keep each other accountable for what should be happening in a given month.”

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