Nonprofit Board Member of the Year: Corey Kilburn

Corey Kilburn believes a working board of directors is vital to an organization.

It’s something he tries to model in his service to the Springfield Little Theatre, where he just wrapped his second term as president and still serves on the executive committee, as well as the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools and Springfield Regional Arts Council Inc.

“Nobody’s too good to do anything in an organization,” Kilburn says. “There have been times where I was at Springfield Little Theatre with an audition process going on, helping out with this or that or whatnot, and someone said, ‘The toilet’s clogged. Guess what, Corey, there’s a plunger right there.”

An SLT board member should understand what it’s like to take tickets, work a booth, paint props or make connections in the community, Kilburn says.

“It’s not just sitting in board meetings and listening to the staff’s update – it’s getting your hands dirty,” he says.

Kilburn is founding attorney at RoundTable Legal LLC, a practice focused on intellectual property and arts, entertainment and sports law. He readily admits he got into his profession because of his love of the arts.

“It’s why I went to law school in the first place – I wanted to do theater in the courtroom,” he says. “Courtroom litigation is about storytelling.”

As a child, Kilburn experienced poverty and even, at times, homelessness: “In the midst of that instability, the performing arts gave me something I desperately needed: a sense of belonging and identity and the kind of family that doesn’t ask what you have, but what story you want to tell,” he says. “The theater was where I found my voice and learned that creativity could be both sanctuary and superpower.”

Kilburn says his nonprofit board service gives him a chance to roll up his sleeves and champion the institutions that shaped him.

“I believe every young person deserves access to the stage – not just as performers, but as leaders, collaborators and dreamers,” he says. “I serve because someone once made space for me, and I intend to keep making space for others.”

Asked what he brings to the table as a board member, Kilburn says he has an unapologetically arts-forward perspective.

“I’m not afraid to ask the tough questions – nicely, challenge the status quo – diplomatically, and lean in when things get messy,” he says. “I’ve walked through some hard chapters in life, and that perspective reminds me what really matters in board service: protecting the mission, supporting the team and always remembering who we’re here to serve.”