We live in an age where it can be challenging to keep up with the increasing speed of news cycles while managing our own busy day-to-day lives. There’s a vast amount of news available to us every day – but we may not have enough time to consume it, and we often have even less time to reflect on it...
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Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
For almost 30 years, I’ve been part of a sector-wide conversation about the lack of diversity on nonprofit boards and the need to do better. In retrospect, I realize that our initial arguments were grounded primarily in a belief in the importance of representation. We also frequently cited research...
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Topics:
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
I believe I’ll remember the images of last summer’s racial justice marches for the rest of my life – largely for a reason that I didn’t expect. It wasn’t just the number of protests around the country that inspired me, or even the size of the crowds (impressive as they were). It was the rich,...
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Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
Billy Shore of Share Our Strength, the parent organization for the No Kid Hungry campaign, responds to BoardSource’s CEO, Anne Wallestad's new way of framing the nonprofit board’s role, and a call for what we’ve termed “Purpose-Driven Board Leadership.”
“The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven...
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Purpose-Driven Board Leadership
There’s a lovely expression that many of us in the Black community use when we want to repair strained relationships with each other; it’s an expression that always moves me when I hear it. Whether the cause of the disagreement is related to something we’ve done (or not done), or something we’ve...
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Topics:
Board Diversity & Inclusivity,
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
Today is the National Day of Racial Healing, which takes place each year the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This year, it also happens to fall on the day before we will inaugurate a new president – a momentous occasion in any context, but one that takes on particular significance as it...
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Topics:
Board Diversity & Inclusivity,
Advocacy,
Current Events,
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
At the risk of beginning this post with a completely unoriginal and obvious point, the country is currently experiencing a level of cultural, political, and economic turmoil not seen in many decades. In fact, I would argue that today’s combination of a worldwide pandemic, political unrest, and...
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strategic planning,
Fundraising
There’s an old saying that every great victory is the result of many smaller victories that went unnoticed. As we undertake our individual and organizational racial equity journeys, I would suggest we slightly modify this adage. I think it's essential that we do notice the small victories –...
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Topics:
Board Diversity & Inclusivity,
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
Adapted from article which appeared in AGB, Trusteeship, (28) 5, Sept-Oct 2020
Boards find themselves facing a host of challenges as they work to fulfill their fiduciary roles in the pandemic. But the challenges of the pandemic may provide opportunities to evolve governance in ways beneficial for...
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Topics:
Roles and Responsibilities,
COVID-19,
Virtual Meetings
As a Black man who has worked with or for nonprofits for most of my career, I’ve become very familiar with how nonprofit boards recruit for board diversity; by my count, I have been actively recruited by the boards of 13 organizations.
I can divide 11 of these 13 board recruitment experiences into...
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Topics:
Board Diversity & Inclusivity,
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity