Associate Professor Atinuke Adediran authored an article published in The Conversation, where she discusses the lack of diversity in the nonprofit sector and ways to combat it.
About 87% of nonprofit CEOs in the U.S. were white in 2019, down from 90% in 2016. Similarly, roughly 78% of nonprofit board members were white in 2019, down from 84% in 2016, according to Board Source, a nonprofit that tracks this information.
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This lack of diversity is a major concern for nonprofits that provide services or advocacy primarily to communities of color, and among those groups whose mission is aimed at promoting race equity.
That mismatch can undercut trust among the communities nonprofits serve, since a lack of diversity can interfere with communication and hamper efforts to address racial inequality. Diversity can also influence institutional decision-making by bringing unique perspectives that shape how the nonprofit approaches its mission in more inclusive ways.