Thank you for your interest in The Mountaineers Board of Directors and branch leadership roles! At The Mountaineers, we believe a diverse and inclusive outdoors inspires unity, respect, and passion for the places we love. Our open nominations process is rooted in our core values and ensures we bring forward an excellent and diverse slate of candidates to be elected by membership.
Nominations are due by July 12, 2026.
Open nominations help identify potential candidates for important leadership roles across the organization, including:
- At-large directors
- Branch directors
- Branch chairs and vice chairs
- Branch treasurers
- Branch secretaries
Through this open nominations process, we strive to identify organizational leaders who reflect the communities we serve and those we wish to serve. This process has helped us to diversify the perspectives and lived experiences of our strategic leaders in recent years.
What does the board of directors do?
The Mountaineers Board of Directors is the governing body accountable for the overall management of the organization, as dictated by our bylaws. The Board’s role, on behalf of members, is to set the financial, strategic, and social goals for The Mountaineers. The Board’s responsibilities include developing and approving the strategic plan, approving the organization’s annual budget, tracking overall financial performance, hiring the CEO, electing the Board’s officers, and setting organizational policies and procedures.
The Board works with the CEO and staff to set the overall direction for the organization through the strategic plan and also reviews and approves the annual budget, reviews performance to that budget, and provides oversight and assistance to management to achieve our annual goals. Most importantly, the Board ensures we are living our vision, mission, and values.
At-large directors are elected by all members, while branch directors are nominated and elected by members of a specific branch. Both roles are intended to serve the entire organization and all members. Per our bylaws, the term of at-large and branch directors is three years and they may serve two consecutive terms.
What does branch leadership do?
The Mountaineers is a volunteer-led, staff supported organization. The vast majority of our programs are organized and delivered by volunteers through one of our seven branches. Each branch has activity committees that plan and lead courses and activities. For example, our Olympia branch has committees for hiking/backpacking, sea kayaking, climbing, and scrambling, just to name a few. Each of these committees has leaders who volunteer to lead and organize the courses related to those activities. Activity committee leaders from the various branches come together each year in Summits to discuss and reach agreements on decisions such as standards for course graduates and leaders.
The role of leaders within branches is just as important as our Board directors, though their responsibilities are different. While the Board focuses on the overall strategy of the organization, overseeing our finances in a prudent way, and setting policies and procedures, branches focus on planning and delivering programs, strategizing how branches and committees work together, and working to define how we develop and recognize volunteers.
Each branch has a chairperson, vice chair, treasurer, and secretary. These administrative leadership roles set strategy for the branch, work with the Board Finance Committee to create the annual budget and track results, work with the Branch Leadership Committee on org-wide standards, and oversee recognition and development programs for branch volunteers.
The organization runs more smoothly and better supports members and volunteers alike when these very different roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, understood by leaders, and have minimal overlap.
Experience We Seek
We’re looking for people who want to be part of building and expanding the future of The Mountaineers. If you are, or if you know of, a current member who is excited to expand our vision to offer opportunities to connect with nature and one another for all people, we want to hear from you!
We seek to have a Board and branch leaders that represent the broad diversity of the communities we serve, and we encourage people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, and veterans to apply.
We are specifically looking for individuals with professional experience in the following areas:
- Finance and accounting
- Risk management
- Outdoor education
- Human resources
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Publishing
- Nonprofit management and philanthropy
- Conservation & advocacy
- Connection to the outdoor sector (brands/industry)
Our goal is to deepen the diversity of perspectives and lived experiences represented on our Board and branch leaders to help inform better policies and to strengthen relationships between board members, Mountaineers members, and the wider outdoor community. The Mountaineers values different perspectives that are shaped by unique lived experiences. Since diversity can mean many different things, we are specifically considering nominees based on dimensions that shape a person's lived experience that include:
- Ethnicity and/or race
- Gender identity
- Age
- Disability status
- Military status
- Sexual orientation
- Parent or guardian status
- Branch affiliation
- Historical access to the outdoors
- Primary outdoor activities
- Involvement and engagement with The Mountaineers
- Leadership and professional experience
We ask for information relating to these dimensions in this form to help further diversify our Board and branch leaders. Sharing demographic information is encouraged but optional.