She led the Red Cross in the United States following its receiving congressional charter in 1905 until World War I; however, she did not take up the post of chairman since she believed the organisation would lose credibility with the public.

In 1901 she was elected to the executive board of the American Red Cross and subsequently led the faction that ousted Clara Barton from the presidency of the organization in 1904.

As a result, she was forced out in 1904, when male professional social work experts took control and made it a model of Progressive Era scientific reform.

[3] The new leader was Boardman; she consulted constantly with senior government officials, military officers, social workers, and financiers.

They imposed a new corporate ethos of "managerialism," transforming the agency away from Barton's cult of personality to an "organizational humanitarianism" ready for expansion along increasingly professional lines.