Diversity Inclusion and Representation Toolbox Action Items for

Diversity, Inclusion and Representation Toolbox: Action Items for the Nonprofit Sector Dr. Donovan Branche and Dr. Karen Ford

Nonprofit Leadership Nonprofit and public sectors are lacking the most in leadership diversity.

Nonprofit organizations need leaders who are strategic in their decision-making, transformational in their behaviors and have the ability to bounce back from adversity.

Why do we care? 21 st century nonprofit organizations- are volatile with rapid change and competing demands both internal and external. This sector is grappling with shifts in funding, shifts in wealth, shifts in ideologies.

It’s time. . .

Branche, 2014.

Challenges for Women of Color 1. If they fail, no one else like them will get a chance 2. Have to be calculated when others don’t 3. Level of scrutiny different 4. Miracle workers 5. Favoritism 6. Barriers to capital- impacting effectiveness

Challenges cont’d

How: Toolbox Allyship: Starts with a personal recognition of racism on an individual level…it is okay, we are all racist in some manner Listening is the next point and is key Speak up when you witness/hear racism Take time to understand micro-aggressions in your context Engagement in the policies & politics of your context

Nonprofit organizations Advancing women in leadership roles across sectors requires those of with a platform in academia and the professions to make the connections with affinity groups that serve not only African-American women but also Latina women, Asian-American women and other underrepresented women’s groups. Actualize Allyship!!

Nonprofit organizations Organizations themselves can develop mentoring programs or partner with other nonprofits or community organizations to provide gendered and culturally aware mentoring programs. One size does NOT fit all!

Nonprofit organizations The burgeoning leadership training field would also do well to look at the culturally specific leadership strengths presented here to incorporate this perhaps overlooked archetype of effective leadership as we move forward in creating meaningful training and mentoring.

Educators at the undergraduate and graduate level have a responsibility to prepare their students to operate in a changing demographic and philanthropic society. It is impossible to fully understand the extent of the antiracism movement today without realizing that this battle is one that has been raging on for much longer than many of us can imagine.

Boards Moving beyond the classroom and into practice, boards are encouraged to take an introspective look at their composition and how they commit to the words of diversity in their strategic plan. Who can boards reach out to in the community or sector an effort to create a more diverse board? Board training on cultural competence and implicit bias

Let’s change the internal narrative People develop a prototype, a mental image that reflects or defines for them what a leader is and what leadership entails. (Roger Lord and Karen Maher, 1995). Time for prototype busting! More resources than ever available on a variety of platforms…use them.