Your executive committee is doing all the work and making all the calls. The rest of the board just shows up and rubber stamps it. Sound familiar? This setup is more toxic than you think.

Meghan and I tackle two listener questions that hit the same governance problem from opposite sides. One from an overloaded exec committee doing everything themselves, and one from a frustrated new board member who feels completely shut out. Together they paint a perfect picture of why "the exec committee can just handle it" is a recipe for board drama, burnout, and disengagement.

Real Listener Questions:

1. How much can an executive committee do on its own before we need to consult the rest of the board?
2. What do I do when the executive committee makes their own decisions, and the rest of us on the board have no idea what's going on?

Meghan and I dig into what an executive committee is actually supposed to do, why acting between meetings without the full board is a problem, and how to untangle the culture mess underneath it all.

What You'll Learn:

• What an executive committee should actually do (and what it shouldn't)
• Why "acting on behalf of the board between meetings" is bad practice
• How every board member's fiduciary duty gets undermined by a board within a board
• Why volunteers who step into staff or operating roles need clear, separate job descriptions
• How to set thresholds for what's a board decision vs a day to day operational one
• What to do as a disenfranchised board member (including remembering you can walk away)

Bottom line: Your executive committee is not a board within a board. When a small group hoards all the decisions, you disenfranchise everyone else, burn yourselves out, and build a toxic culture that's hard to undo. Clear roles, clear policies, and a full board that actually gets to govern are what keep an organization healthy.

Resources from this Episode

• Previous Episode: https://birkenlaw.com/charity-therapy-podcast/ct175-revive-dissolved-nonprofit/
• Episode Transcript: https://birkenlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/CT176_Transcript.pdf

Connect with Us

• Jess Birken: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessbirken/
• Meghan Heitkamp: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-heitkamp-829254115/

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