Featuring Fiscal Sponsorship Partner: African American Board Leadership Institute (AABLI)

AABLI Celebrates 15 Years of Building Stronger Nonprofit Leaders-  Shaping the Decisions That Shape Communities

As the African American Board Leadership Institute (AABLI) celebrates 15 years, co-founder Virgil Roberts reflects on why diverse leadership and effective governance remain essential to building stronger nonprofits—and stronger communities.

When Virgil Roberts reflects on the inspiration behind AABLI, he doesn’t begin with statistics or strategy. He begins with lived experience.

Over the course of his career serving on nonprofit boards and advocating for education reform, Roberts often found himself as the only Black person in the boardroom. While he valued the opportunity to serve, he also recognized something much larger: the decisions made around those tables determined how organizations invested resources, set priorities, and ultimately served their communities.

“What an organization does is decided by its board,” Roberts says. “The decisions made in that boardroom shape how organizations serve their communities.”

That realization became the foundation for AABLI, now celebrating its 15th anniversary as a Community Partners fiscally sponsored partner. Since its founding, AABLI has prepared African American professionals—and increasingly leaders from diverse backgrounds—to serve as effective nonprofit board members throughout Los Angeles County and beyond, including across the United States, Canada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Roberts understood that while many accomplished professionals are invited to join nonprofit boards, few receive formal training on what board service truly requires. Effective governance extends far beyond attending meetings. Board members are responsible for fiduciary oversight, financial stewardship, fundraising, strategic planning, and ensuring organizations remain accountable to their missions.

“People are asked to serve because they’re leaders in their fields,” Roberts explains. “But no one teaches them what it means to be a governing board member.”

Through AABLI’s comprehensive curriculum, participants gain practical knowledge in nonprofit governance—from understanding fiduciary responsibilities and nonprofit finance to interpreting IRS Form 990s, reading financial statements, and fostering healthy board culture. Graduates leave equipped with the confidence and skills to contribute thoughtfully and effectively from their very first board meeting.

For Roberts, however, the work has always been about more than board governance. It’s about strengthening communities through better leadership.

Throughout his career in education and philanthropy, he witnessed firsthand how nonprofit organizations often pioneer innovative solutions to society’s most pressing challenges—from education reform and youth development to foster care and community development. Those ideas frequently begin in the nonprofit sector, where philanthropy provides organizations with the flexibility to test new approaches and create systems change. Governing boards play a pivotal role in determining which ideas receive support and how organizations invest resources to create lasting impact.

As AABLI marks 15 years, Roberts is quick to shift the spotlight away from himself.

“As a co-founder with Yvette Chappell,” he says. “Our staff does the work. The credit belongs to the people who have built this organization every day.”

That collaborative spirit reflects the very leadership philosophy AABLI seeks to instill. By preparing leaders to serve with integrity, accountability, and purpose, the organization continues to strengthen nonprofit governance while creating opportunities for more voices to help shape decisions that affect communities.

For Roberts, diversity has always been about building stronger organizations. “When boards bring together people with different perspectives and experiences,” he says, “organizations are better positioned to solve problems, innovate, and create lasting impact.” By expanding opportunities for leaders who reflect the richness of the communities nonprofits serve, AABLI is helping build governance that is not only more representative but more effective.

As Community Partners celebrates AABLI’s 15th anniversary, we honor its enduring commitment to developing leaders, strengthening nonprofit governance, and ensuring that the voices shaping decisions reflect the communities those decisions serve.

Learn more about the African American Board Leadership Institute.