Vernetta Walker is a senior governance consultant for BoardSource as well as our director of consulting. Vernetta provides project management, consulting and training services to major clients on governance and emerging trends and developments in the nonprofit sector. Having served as Director of Consulting and Contract Training and Associate General Counsel for the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, she brings a broad depth of knowledge to BoardSource. Her areas of expertise include board governance, nonprofit legal compliance, organizational structure and nonprofit advocacy.

Prior to joining Maryland Nonprofits, Vernetta was Foundation Advocacy Counsel for the Alliance for Justice and trained boards of directors and staff from foundations and nonprofits across the country on federal tax laws pertaining to lobbying, election-related activities and advocacy. She also was a contributing author for Investing in Change: A Funder's Guide to Supporting Advocacy, an Alliance for Justice publication (2004).

Vernetta practiced law in Orlando, FL, for several years and served as a grant program director for five years at the Florida Bar Foundation. She has served on several boards, including Planned Parenthood, Paul C. Perkins Bar Association, and Lynx (Orlando's regional transportation authority). She also served on the Ninth Judicial Circuit Ethics Grievance Committee and Valencia Community College Advisory Board. Vernetta received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, MO, and her B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is admitted to the Florida and Maryland state bars.