Volunteer Board Member

Seeking volunteers to serve on Theater Mu’s Board of Directors

Theater Mu is the largest Asian American theater company in the Midwest and has received national recognition for its artistic excellence and community engagement. Founded in 1992, its mission is to produce great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the Asian American experience.

Each year, the board of directors evaluates its own composition and identifies priority areas of recruitment. All interested individuals are encouraged to apply. Note that, during the 2025/26 season, Theater Mu is seeking to add 3-6 new members for 2- or 3-year terms which can be renewed for up to 6 years. The board is particularly excited about recruiting people with these demographic identities, experiences, and/or expertise:

• Member of, connected to, or has lived experience within the Southeast Asian diaspora
• Expertise in nonprofit financial management, technology/data security, human services, and/or employment law
• Proven ability to take initiative in fundraising efforts, including making new donor introductions and supporting development strategies
• Leadership experience in theater arts and/or nonprofit management

In addition, all members of the board must:

• Demonstrate a passion for theater arts
• Be willing and able to commit time, treasure, and/or talent into their volunteer board service
• Commit to further individual and organizational anti-racism work rooted in Theater Mu’s values

To satisfy its governance and fiduciary duties, the board of directors is responsible for:

• Reviewing the mission of the organization and refining it when appropriate
• Hiring, supporting, and evaluating the performance of the artistic director and managing director
• Supporting strategic and organizational planning in partnership with staff leadership
• Ensuring strong fiduciary oversight and financial management
• Supporting fund, resource, and/or network development
• Serving as an advocate and ambassador for Theater Mu
• Reviewing and updating organizational bylaws
• Assessing its own performance as the governing body of the organization
• Ensuring legal and ethical integrity by:
  • Upholding the legal duties and laws regarding nonprofit governance
  • Dutifully following the organization’s bylaws, policies, and board resolutions
  • Signing an annual conflict-of-interest disclosure and updating it as necessary during the year, as well as disclosing potential conflicts before meetings and actual conflicts during meetings
  • Maintaining confidentiality about all internal matters of the organization

Each individual board member is expected to:

• Understand and be able to articulate the organization’s mission, policies, and programs as relevant
• Prepare for and actively participate in board meetings, attending at least 80% of scheduled meetings per year
• Read and understand the organization’s financial statements and board materials in advance of meetings
• Leverage own connections, networks, and resources to develop collective action to achieve the organization’s mission
• Meaningfully give donation of time, treasure, and/or talent
• Participate in committees or taskforces as needed
• Actively live the organizational values through meeting participation
• Be cognizant of the governance role and not overstep into directing the management of staff activities
• Be willing to step into a leadership role at some point during their terms of service; leadership can look like serving on the executive committee, chairing a committee, leading a taskforce, and/or representing Mu in public-facing engagements
• Represent Mu as a board member at performances, events, and other external-facing engagements

Plan to devote about 3-5 hours per month, depending on the current needs of the organization. This time includes:

• In-person board meetings every two months, hybrid option may be available depending on location (~2 hours)
• Committee meetings, monthly (1-2 hours)
• Presence as a board member at Mu’s events, meetings, and performances as requested
• Regular one-on-one meetings with executive leadership, as needed

• Becoming a part of and growing…