People & governance
Residents, funders, and partners should see how fiduciary oversight (the board) connects to day-to-day delivery (leadership and programs). This page is the single place for that map—names update as seats are filled and roles stabilize. Open positions and how to apply are on Careers.
- Board — mission guardrails, financial oversight, executive supervision, major policy (e.g., conflicts, reserve targets once adopted).
- Leadership / staff — runs pilots, partnerships, network build, Digital Navigator coordination, and day-to-day resident-facing operations.
- Programs & partners — cohorts, host sites, and collaborators deliver frontline support; accountability rolls up through leadership to the board.
- Careers — open roles and how to apply when we're hiring.
Formal docs (bylaws, policies) mature with scale; high-level reporting commitments live on Transparency.
How the pieces fit
Nonprofits split governance (what must be protected: mission, assets, compliance) from management (what gets built week to week). The board does not troubleshoot individual installs; leadership does not waive fiduciary duty. The diagram below is descriptive, not a legal org chart substitute.
Volunteers (or minimally compensated per policy) accountable to the mission and applicable law. Sets strategy with management, approves budgets, evaluates CEO/ED performance, ensures audit and risk practices keep pace with grants and rollout.
Carries out the operating plan: capital projects, partnerships, fundraising execution, staffing, resident communications, incident response culture, and quarterly evidence for stakeholders.
Digital Navigator cohorts, install partners, and community anchors implement the model locally. Escalation paths and supervision keep quality consistent without burning out volunteers or students.
Board of directors
Directors are listed here once appointments are final and published. Committee structure (finance, governance, program—if any) appears in board materials and, over time, in public summaries appropriate to donor diligence.
We are seating a board aligned with nonprofit best practice and Buffalo community representation. When each director accepts service, their name, role (e.g., chair, treasurer, secretary, member-at-large), and a short bio will appear as cards above—no placeholder names.
- Governance inquiries (nominations, board packets, conflicts): use Contact us in the header.
- To publish the board via your deploy pipeline, set
VITE_BOARD_MEMBERSto a JSON array (same shape asVITE_TEAM_MEMBERS).
Leadership & project team
These roles own execution: pilots, partnerships, technical build, Navigator programs, and the operating rhythm that keeps residents from being passed between silent inboxes.
Leads day-to-day execution for Connect Buffalo—turning neighborhood listening, pilot metrics, and resident dignity into operating priorities.
Owns the rhythm between field teams, Digital Navigator cohorts, and the transparency narrative donors and block partners use to hold us accountable.
Advises on network architecture, reliability tradeoffs, and how we explain service expectations to municipalities and residents—without corporate gloss.
Helps leadership stress-test expansion, escalation paths, and the long arc from philanthropy-backed pilots to sustainable community stewardship.
Student Digital Navigators, host institutions, and partner orgs extend capacity. Start at Digital Navigators, Get involved, or Careers for posted roles.