The Roanoker - January/February 2021 - 43

Tony Stavola

Scott Terry-Cabler

progress. " The [eight] boards I have served on in Roanoke have been
reasonably diverse in a variety of ways. " His own board has 32 members
and boards in general, try to identify their needs to best serve the
organizations they represent.
" I have always felt that board members are serious about diversity
and will assist in finding people to serve. ... Board members influence
decision-making from deciding on very large projects [to] ... other
instances such as choosing an investment company, or engaging a
personnel management company to influencing the interior design
of a building or weighing in on the type of educational programs to
best meet the needs of the community. Boards have a wide range of
influence and power. "
Roanoke Planning Commissioner Scott Terry-Cabbler, who
has served on a wide range of boards (TAP, Northwest Child
Development, Friends of the Roanoke Symphony, Dumas Drama
Guild, among them) believes that having a Historic Black Colleges
and Universities presence would be important to Roanoke because it
provides a minority base of educated, successful African-Americans.
He calls it an " epicenter " for talent. However, there is no HBCU
presence west of Lynchburg.
" When you experience growing up without a sense of equality,
you begin to question it when you are given that " seat on the board,
he says. " It is incumbent on minorities to go and recruit minorities. "
Membership on boards gives minorities " insight into how
productive our contributions can be, " says Terry-Cabbler. A lot of
boards " have quotas that are mandated, " which work to a positive
effect. Board membership " resonates for generations. "
Roanoke " lacks that center for diversity we are constantly being
faced with replenishing our diversity, " he says.

Avoiding " the usual suspects "
Dr. Tony Stavola, a family physician, led the Grandin Theatre
Foundation board for several years, during which there were concerted
efforts to create a diverse board. " It was definitely a challenge and
something we were well aware of, " he says. " We had some success
mainly reaching out through other board members to some of the
contacts at work or other settings.
" There was also some outreach to community neighborhood
associations in parts of the city, and schools were a source of some
input. ... I don't think we had as much success as we would've liked,
but we were able to make some progress. Unfortunately, what happens
in these situations is that you often end up going to the same well a
bit too often in terms of 'the usual suspects.' "
Developer John Garland served on 12 boards covering professional,

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John Garland

Nancy Agee

neighborhood, transportation,
governmental, library, nonprofit,
educational and Cub Scouts.
" Organizations from my early career
were mostly white guys, particularly
in my chosen profession [engineering]
and in my church-related functions, "
he says. " Fortunately, later in my
career there was inclusion with
women in my professional circles,
Xavier Duckett
but not in church leadership.
" There remains a severe shortage of Black professionals in Roanoke,
particularly in engineering and architecture and certainly in our mostly
segregated churches. Most professional boards seem to be made up
of individuals that think alike, which, in my opinion, is a deterrent
to creative thinking. Civic activities, which I have been involved with
mostly in my later years, have always been well represented, in both
gender and race. "
Xavier Duckett, a Roanoke-based small business owner and youth
counselor who is on several boards, says, " There is great value in
representation. How can youth and individuals of communities
hope or aspire to be anything or to even want more if they see no
representation in anything outside of their neighborhood? "  
How can that diversity be achieved? " The difficult part is simply
getting out of your comfort zone, creating connections, becoming
an ally and finding individuals who can be an asset to the board, or
individuals that you feel can be trained and polished to be an effective
piece of the organization.
" Once trained ... they will be able to teach other members of their
community how to maneuver. Organizations need to be intentional with
visiting different communities and speaking with [their] leaders. Once the
relationship is built, the board can start advertising to those communities
that they are looking for more directors for the organization. "
" More and more boards have recognized the importance of
diversity, " says Garland. " Those that have not, have suffered
consequences, usually not readily perceived by the organization. When
we stay in our little 'silos,' we miss much that we do not even notice,
until it is too late. ... Add women to the mix and the leadership of
the board always seems to change for the better. "
Agee says, " Being on a board is difficult work. Agreeing to serve
on a board is a decision that should not be taken lightly. It involves
great responsibility. As we're recruiting for board positions ... we are
looking for the right mix of expertise, experience and passion for the
mission and/or business of the organization. "
And, of course, they're looking for diversity these days. I

JAN/FEB 2021 43
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