By Stephen Alexander, Exponent Philanthropy

Join me to explore the values and visions of emerging leaders of a social-minded generation. Below is an excerpt from my recent conversation with Megan Buckley, chair of the Tracy Family Foundation‘s Next Generation Advisory Board and a 2015 Exponent Philanthropy Next Gen Fellow.

Read previous posts in the series

What are your passions?

I’m most passionate about carrying out the traditions and values of my grandmother and grandfather Tracy: a Catholic/Christian belief, honesty, integrity, fairness, and a strong work ethic. They passed down these values to their 12 children, and my aunts and uncles have done a great job of passing them along to the third generation. A goal of mine is to continue that tradition with the fourth generation—we already have eight!—and carry on the legacy of the Tracy Family Foundation.

How do these values play out in your life?

I’ve always been encouraged by my family to put my best foot forward—to lean in (yes, like the book). I actively pursue volunteer opportunities, education, jobs, and board roles at the organizations I’m involved in. While living in Chicago, I—along with two of my cousins—started a chapter of Dining for Women. I also joined the junior board of Girls on the Run, my first board position outside my family’s work. It was a wonderful chance to test the waters, to see how another board operates. When I moved to St. Louis, I joined the junior board of the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition and Wings of Hope. I just joined Wings of Hope’s board executive committee, which should be a great learning experience. My family has encouraged me, and it’s led to me taking those little steps.

I see community involvement as part of our responsibility as community members. It’s on us to use our skills and talents to improve the cities in which we live. Each summer, my family heads to Lake of the Ozarks. My grandparents originally took their kids, and now it’s something our entire family does. The past 2 years we’ve participated in volunteer activities in the Ozarks community. For example, this past summer we worked a carnival at a special needs summer camp. I find the more each individual participates in these types of activities, the more we communicate the importance of doing so to the younger members of the 3rd and 4th generations. Through such volunteer activities, we are developing a philanthropic spirit among family members, which is part of the mission of the Tracy Family Foundation.

What’s the most challenging aspect of serving on a board?

I’ve been serving on the foundation’s Next Generation Advisory Board for almost 3 years, the past two as board chair. The two biggest challenges for this board are geography and time. Because we all live in various cities in the U.S., most of our meetings are conference calls, with just one meeting in-person. It would be ideal if we could meet in person on a regular basis. There’s nothing better than face-to-face communication. Time is also a challenge in setting meeting dates that work for everyone, as my cousins and I are all busy with college and careers.

For the junior boards I’ve served on, a challenge is to understand the big picture of the nonprofit. My experience in serving on these boards is that we focus on a particular aspect of the organization (such as fundraising), but don’t often get to interact with the governing board. I would love to see more communication between junior boards and governing boards.

What do you hope to achieve?

I’m pursuing a master’s degree in nonprofit management.  At this point in my life, I am drawn to issue areas and nonprofits that are focused on youth, family, hunger, and poverty. The food and hunger pieces trace back to my family’s company because we’re in the food business. We regularly donate food to various communities and organizations.

I hope that, when I start work in the nonprofit field, I can go to bed every night knowing I helped someone or made a difference that day. It seems like a small ask, but it makes a big difference. I would love to get experience at another family foundation or small nonprofit organization, and then bring that experience back to the Tracy Family Foundation.

Related posts
Are You Creating Space for Young Leaders to Lead?
Bringing the Next Generation on Board—At Its Own Pace

Megan Buckley has been involved with the Tracy Family Foundation as a member of the Next Generation Advisory Board since 2013. Outside of her foundation service, Megan works as a meeting and event coordinator at Dot Foods and expects to graduate with a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Fontbonne University in May 2016.

Program Manager Stephen Alexander designs sessions for our educational programs and coordinates content production with the goal of delivering the best service possible to the Exponent Philanthropy community. Before coming to Exponent Philanthropy, Stephen worked with Thomson Reuters, Jones Lang LaSalle, and two small nonprofits in Washington, DC. Stephen currently serves on the board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network’s DC chapter. Follow Stephen on Twitter @salxndr and Exponent Philanthropy @exponentphil.