SCORE, the largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors in the United States, has added four new members to its board of directors: Carlos Blanco, Kelly Spillane, Rachel Wei West and Sunny Zhang. The nonprofit announced the appointments in Washington on 10 July 2026, saying the incoming directors collectively bring decades of experience in entrepreneurship, corporate leadership, artificial intelligence, finance and technology.
Blanco is a technology executive, entrepreneur and investor with more than 30 years of experience leading high growth organizations. Spillane brings more than 25 years as an entrepreneur and investor, currently leading emerging brand investments and a supplier lending program at a national grocery retailer, and previously served as small business advocate for the State of Texas. West is a venture investor, operator and board director with expertise in artificial intelligence and fintech who has advised several of the largest American asset managers and banks. Zhang is an award winning educator, entrepreneur and researcher with more than 25 years of expertise in behavioral science and technology innovation, and is currently building an artificial intelligence platform.
"As SCORE continues to expand its reach and support more entrepreneurs nationwide, we are thrilled to welcome these accomplished leaders to our board of directors," said board chair Julie Poland. "Their diverse perspectives and deep expertise will help strengthen SCORE's impact, guide our future growth and ensure we continue delivering the mentorship, resources and education entrepreneurs need to succeed in a rapidly changing business environment."
The composition of this intake tells its own story. Two of the four new directors bring explicit artificial intelligence credentials, which suggests that even a volunteer mentoring network now regards AI fluency as core governance competence rather than a specialist add on. Nonprofit and association boards have historically recruited for fundraising and community standing; SCORE's move indicates the skills matrix logic of corporate boards, where technology and venture expertise are recruited deliberately, is spreading into the nonprofit sector.
For readers, three practical implications follow. Small business owners who rely on SCORE's free mentoring can reasonably expect the organization's programming to lean further into AI adoption, digital finance and emerging brand funding, and should watch for new offerings in those areas. Executives seeking their first governance role should note that large volunteer networks offer credible board experience and are actively recruiting operating expertise. And other nonprofit boards may want to benchmark their own director recruitment against this deliberately skills led approach.
