Make sure you set your goals for what the advisory board should accomplish out clearly in advance.  I've witnessed an advisory board lose sight of the big picture and degrade into micromanaging an individual animal shelter's operations to the point that eventually everyone walked away from the table in disgust and the animals lost valuable allies.  The role of the board should be clear.  New ideas or roles can be discussed as the board goes foward but the leader should keep individuals with personal agendas from derailing the process.  Good luck!

Sue