It is quite common to see nonprofit organizations making visible commitments to diversity, inclusion, and equity. Many nonprofit organizations have DEI statements; some include the words in their missions. Many have DEI as part of their strategic plan. But when it comes to the composition and...

As nonprofit consultants, we’ve found the need for board guidance and support with regards to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) has been steadily growing over the years. When it comes to this important work, we know that just diversity, or recruiting board members from different...

“Time heals all wounds” is one of the most widely known and generally accepted expressions in our popular culture, but I’ve always felt that this statement – although not false – was incomplete, at best. I believe that time is necessary but not sufficient for healing. Time facilitates the healing...

“The recognition that organizational power and voice must be authorized by those impacted by the organization’s work.”

These words come from BoardSource’s new way of framing the role of nonprofit governing boards. And they resonate profoundly with me and my colleagues at Fund for Shared Insight, a...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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 –...