From the Southern Illinoisan: "the fiscal challenges started after the city passed the building to the nonprofit group. They described former members on the center’s board as ambitious, but not versed enough in the nonprofit and business sectors to successfully bring in more tenants and further develop the endeavor."
Board recruitment is difficult these days - actually, it always has been. In the beginning, founders turn to their network and as we learn from the diversity-equity- and inclusion world, this seeking rarely ends and a board with different faces often looks like it did when first pulled together 25 or 50 or even 100 years later.
Can a start-up board be constructed more thoughtfully and strategically with the long-range in mind? Why not? Well, in a board's infancy stage, much of the focus, like many entrepreneurs, is on getting the doors open and getting the money for the immediate. Boards in their infancy stage don't tend to pay attention to governing but operating. Now, if nonprofit founders were strategic, they might recruit folks who know their mission world - the ins and outs and risks and opportunities - just like private entrepreneurs - and maybe they would have short terms to get through the start-up bumps and then it would be time to recruit the types of folks who could guide and focus on governance for the next stage of development. Maybe?