Can young people (under the age of 18) legally serve on our board?

“Three states have laws supporting youth board involvement – Michigan, Minnesota, and New York.  Forty states have laws that are silent on youth board involvement, meaning that the laws say nothing explicitly regulating or prohibiting involvement based on age.  Seven states prohibit youth board involvement – Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah.  Members of boards must be 18 years of age or older in these states.  But this doesn’t prohibit [nonprofits] from involving youth as non-voting board members, or from working to change their state laws!”

– Source: “Your Guide to Youth Board Involvement and the Law” by Kelly Bates, Esq. and Karen S. Young, published by Youth on Board Inc.

Additional Guidance

For additional guidance on this topic, including a chart of relevant statutes regarding youth participation on nonprofit boards in each of the 50 states, see “The Legality of Youth on Boards” or Youth Board Members: Can minors serve on a nonprofit board from the Nonprofit Law Blog.