December Board Member of the Month: George Brymer

Points of Light and BoardSource are proud to announce December’s Board Member of the Month honoree George Brymer, who helped to establish the Mobile Meals Foundation and has been an instrumental board member for the Mobile Meals of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, for a dozen years.

Brymer’s leadership philosophy on board service involves drawing out the talents of each and every board member. He believes that this not only attracts good board members, but helps to retain them. 

Serving as the board president, Brymer used his experience and expertise as a former banker to assist the Audit & Finance Committee.  In addition he has used his marketing expertise to help rebrand the agency. 

“I think that my legacy will be that I always challenged the status quo, that I always challenged other board members to take a second look at long-standing assumptions,” Brymer said. “It’s very easy for boards to fall into group think. It’s therefore critical that someone says, ‘Okay, but we haven’t thought of this, or what if we did it this way?’  I don’t always have the most popular idea, but it is always a second idea for people to think about. 

“A lot of times, after a meeting, other board members will come up to me and say, ‘You said exactly what I was thinking, but I didn’t want to say it or I felt uncomfortable saying it.’  So, sometimes you just have to be a devil’s advocate.  And that would be my advice to aspiring board members.”

As the December 2012 Board Member of the Month, Brymer receives complimentary registration to the BoardSource and Points of Light national conferences and a year of BoardSource membership. He also becomes a candidate for the Board Member of the Year Award, which will be announced in December 2013.

To nominate an outstanding individual, click here.