On board for action: leaders make a difference by serving on nonprofits.

• Author: Walker, Mandy
• Position: Attitude at altitude - Occupation overview

Karen Bernardi's Boulder-based real estate group is Coldwell Banker's top-producing team in the Rocky Mountain region. But she remembers the days when, as a poor, single mother, she collected a food box from Community Food Share in Boulder.

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"It's humbling and humiliating," Bernardi says. "This is a position you think you'll never be in."

Today, Bernardi remembers that plenty of people need help.

With more than 17,000 public charities registered in Colorado, there's no shortage of volunteer opportunities, including generally unadvertised board director positions offering invigorating and challenging work.

"You get to actually help with the direction of the organization and see whether the funds are really being used wisely," says Bernardi, who serves on the board of Intercambio de Comunidades, which works to integrate immigrants into the local community through language education, cultural exchange and friendship.

Bernardi likes the long-term commitment that comes with being a director and says, "You grow and learn a lot being on a board. You're exposed to people you wouldn't otherwise run into."

Denver-based attorney David Goldberg serves as legal counsel and chair of the governance committee for the Mile-High Chapter of the American Red Cross. He comes from a family with a long history of volunteering and says it is second nature to him.

Goldberg smiles at the idea of separating business, family and volunteering and says the key to finding time to volunteer is making it an integral part of your life.

It can have a downside, however.

"You will find your friends walking on the other side of the street because they know you're going to ask them for money or help," he says jokingly.

Goldberg believes the extensive network he's built up through more than 25 years of volunteering helps him put together business deals and may even help him avoid litigation for his clients.

"It's increased my profile in the community and made Denver a much smaller place," he says.

Mike Cafasso, president of the American Bank of Commerce in Pueblo, has a similar philosophy.

"I consider it part of my work," Cafasso says. "It's part of integrating the bank into the community."

Embracing his passion for the arts, Cafasso serves on the board of the Colorado Springs Conservatory, which aims to prepare students to attend four-year institutions like the Juilliard School in New York or the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

While Cafasso sees his...