The Diversity Issue
By Jan Masaoka
I had two conversations this month about boards, race, and diversity that reminded me (like a sledge hammer) of how difficult it is to talk meaningfully across race on these topics. Should all boards be racially/ethnically diverse (including organizations specifically serving a minority community)? What ARE the appropriate (and the inappropriate) reasons for diversity on boards?
One thing we know about diversity: cookie-cutter solutions don't work, because the situations are so . . . well, diverse. Consider, as just three examples, the following situations:
* A family service agency adds an AIDS program to their extensive list of services. Up to now, this agency's clients have been 80% white and 20% Native American; statistics haven't been kept for the percent that has been gay/lesbian or heterosexual. But more than half of the clients in the new AIDS program are either Native American or gay (or both). How might and should the board use this information to inform their board recruitment needs?
* An African American senior organization finds itself serving more and more people who are not African American. Some of the initial non-African American clients came because their spouses were African American, but now the agency's reputation for quality care is attracting people from a wide range of racial/ethnic backgrounds. In fact, a Spanish-speaking counselor was recently hired to strengthen the work with Latino families. Some board members want to bring on Latino and white board members, while other board members find strength in the organization's African American focus, and worry that the organization's volunteer base and focus will be diminished if that focus goes away. This organization has also had a policy that 50% or more of the board must be people aged 60 or older; some of the younger professionals on the board are concerned that this standard limits the fundraising potential of the board.
* A summer Shakespeare Festival board, currently all white, would like to recruit people of color as one way of helping them expand their audiences to minority communities. Although everyone on the board likes the idea of a more demographically diverse board, several board members can't see why a minority community leader would be interested in raising money for this organization (which is the primary activity of the board). What practical steps can and should this organization take in board recruitment?
The call for diversity in nonprofit organizations grew out of a legitimate concern that many nonprofits serving minority communities had few if any staff or board members from those same communities. How, asked community members from communities of color, can you know the needs and perspectives of our communities when you don't have any of us working as providers, managers, or serving as board members?
In today's nonprofits, diversity has several different dimensions, including:
Diversity within a given organization: staff, board, volunteers
Diversity based on specific demographic characteristics, including race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc., as well as other characteristics unique to that agency's constituencies (examples: adoptive parent, HIV positive, immigration status, survivor of domestic violence, etc.)
Diversity within the nonprofit sector: ethnic-specific organizations contributing to a diversified sector.
There is no "right" answer on diversity that is appropriate for all organizations. The discussion about diversity is itself an important process through which a board can consider in what ways diversity may be important in achieving its mission.
Original publication date: 12/09/1997
© 1997 CompassPoint Nonprofit Services