---
title: Board Bios — Photo/Bio Availability and 'Learn More' Links
type: article
created: '2026-04-05'
updated: '2026-04-05'
source_docs:
- raw/2025-12-02-vcedc-website-meeting-105716500.md
tags:
- website
- content-management
- board-bios
- vcedc
layer: 2
client_source: null
industry_context: null
transferable: true
---

# Board Bios — Photo/Bio Availability and 'Learn More' Links

## Overview

When building or maintaining a board member directory on a website, not every board member will have a photo or bio available — sometimes despite years of outreach. This article documents the strategy used on the [[clients/vcedc/_index|VCEDC]] website for handling incomplete board member profiles, particularly around the display of "Learn More" links.

## Strategy

### Standard Board Members

Board bios are managed through a shared Google Doc tracker. When bios are finalized and approved by the client, they are pushed to the website in a single update pass to minimize the number of times the developer needs to touch the same content.

**Workflow:**
1. Client updates the Google Doc with final bio text
2. Client marks the page as approved in the tracker
3. Developer implements all bio updates in one pass

### Members Without Photo or Bio

For board members where a photo and/or bio cannot be obtained, the recommended approach is:

- **Display:** Name and title only
- **Remove:** The "Learn More" link or button entirely
- **Do not:** Leave a broken or empty "Learn More" link pointing to a profile page with no content

This avoids dead-end clicks and presents an incomplete profile as a clean, minimal card rather than a broken one.

## Client Example — VCEDC

During the [[meetings/2025-12-02-vcedc-website-pre-launch-review|December 2025 pre-launch review]], the VCEDC board member **Emerson Coy** had no photo or bio available. Tracey noted that outreach had been attempted for four years without success.

**Decision:** Remove the "Learn More" link from Emerson Coy's board card. Display name and title only.

> *"Just board member Emerson Coy."* — Kathy Schmitz

All other board bios were to be finalized by Kathy in the Google Doc prior to the December 15 launch.

## Related Notes

- Board chair transition (Jim → Kate Farrell) was planned for January 1; the website update was scheduled for January 2
- Press releases for the new board chair and Business of the Year award were approved and ready to post after the December 12 annual meeting

## See Also

- [[clients/vcedc/_index|VCEDC Client Overview]]
- [[knowledge/website/review-process-google-doc-tracker|Website Review Process — Google Doc Tracker]]