On July 23, 2020, we welcomed our community to an interactive online event exploring how consultants can advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access in the Nonprofit Sector.
See below for our recap… in case you missed it.
Advancing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Nonprofit Sector:
The Role of the Consultant
An Interactive Online Event
Presented by Association of Nonprofit Specialists
in Collaboration with
NYC Department of Youth & Community Development
and
Sponsored by Support Center
July 23, 2020
The following is a summary of the event proceedings. The event opened with an optional early arrival and networking hosted by Frank Abdale, Nonprofit Specialists Board Member. Frank greeted participants as they entered, encouraged them to enter their contact information in the chat box so interested colleagues could follow-up, and asked for volunteers “to share a time when you were resilient.” Participants shared a range of personal and professional experiences.
Following the networking, Joseph Barretto, Nonprofit Specialists Vice Chair, welcomed the 85 nonprofit consultants, specialists, capacity builders and speakers and recapped the premise of the event:
- We have a responsibility to embed DEIA principles into our work.
- Everyone, including those of us who do not do DEIA-specific consulting work, have a role to play in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the nonprofit sector.
He then introduced the keynoter, Andrea J. Rogers, Senior Consultant, Community Resources Exchange (CRE). The following are highlights of her excellent framing of the issue:
- Access is a critical addition to DEI conversation.
- DEIA constantly challenges you to learn and grow. You do not have to play the role of the expert; we’re all growing.
- One way to look at the principles of DEIA is to use the analogy of a dinner party where:
- Diversity is the wide array of different people at the party.
- Inclusion is who gets the authority to choose the menu. Note: You can have diversity without inclusion, but you cannot have inclusion without diversity.
- Access is who gets the most nourishing and appropriate food.
- Equity is aspirational and the goal of the work.
- As consultants to nonprofits, this is a collective call to action—to bring the DEIA lens to our work by using our hearts, minds and courage to do our own personal work, and name and challenge the inequities we see in order to achieve fair and just treatment of all members in our community.
Laurel Molloy, Nonprofit Specialists Chair and panel discussion moderator, asked participants to take a quick poll to see who’s in the room. Based on the responses, attendees represented a diverse cross-section of consultants by area of practice, the majority of whom seek to include the DEIA lens in their work and currently have a comfort level doing so.
Laurel then introduced the panelists: Miguel Bonilla, Senior Director, NYC Department of Youth & Community Development; Yolanda F. Johnson, President, YJF Consulting and President, Women In Development, NY; Jina Paik, Director, Advisory Services, Nonprofit Finance Fund; and Gay Young, Vice President, Donor Services, The New York Community Trust.
The following is a paraphrased summary of the panelists’ responses to the four questions raised by the moderator during the discussion.
- Do you have any specific reactions to Andrea’s opening statements and/or additional insights to share regarding institutional/structural racism in the nonprofit sector?
YJ: I agree with Andrea—as nonprofit specialists we are compelled to bring up DEIA and equip ourselves as best we can even if we’re not experts.
GY: I appreciate the “A” in DEIA. I work with an affluent donor base. How do you make access for others? Why do the people you go to for funds all look the same? Nothing will change within the structure until that changes.
JP: Structural racism is reflected in our society invisibly. White supremacy is showing up in how fundraising and finance are shaped — who ends up having money and being able to thrive, who has access to deep pockets and subsidies, who is judged able to take in money and manage it. Funding has favored patterns that benefit large white organizations.
MB: As practitioners, we have to be reflective. Are my behaviors helping my nonprofit clients become more diverse, equitable and inclusive, or am I unintentionally perpetuating inequities? Things in our local nonprofit sector haven’t changed much over the years, and that is related to implicit bias which can be damaging.
- What about the personal and interpersonal. For example, we know that an inclusive culture matters. We know unconscious bias can be damaging. We know relationships are key. Anything you’ve specifically seen in your work related to the personal and interpersonal that has either worked or not worked?
JP: Years ago before we integrated equity into our consulting approach, one of our clients was angry beneath the surface of politeness and didn’t want to work with us because they felt we represented white supremacy, and finance was the weapon of oppression. In order for us to not do harm, we had to be authentic, do the hard work as individuals and an organization, and make a shift in our approach. It’s a constant journey that every individual has to take on.
YJ: You have to know yourself and your organization and know where they converge. You cannot force the work on anyone. We can illuminate the path and equip people with information and data and lead them to the truth. And the work must be measureable. We did this work with the Women in Development Diversity & Inclusion Task Force and it helped inform our programming and who we do work with.
GY: It’s disingenuous to think you can be a DEIA advocate or practitioner and not live it.
MB: Denial of conscious and unconscious bias is common among smart professionals. Beware of this.
- We know you don’t have all the answers, but it would likely be helpful for our audience to hear about your experiences trying to advance this work. So now let’s talk about the role you’ve played in your respective organizations. What have you and/or your organization done to challenge inequities? Promote diversity and inclusion? Ask the tough questions?
YJ: I created Allies in Action, a membership organization for allies who wish to enact real change and are willing to use their privilege and resources towards the desired end result of racial equity. I also founded WOC (Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy) to recognize their unique experiences in the field and create a community for gathering and learning together.
MB: One-off or occasional diversity training doesn’t work because its effects are temporary and don’t move the organization forward. We need to look at research to inform our work and frame our investment in order to make impact. Research can help consultants engage nonprofit leaders on an informed, compassionate pathway to understand why the same inequities we observed the past 30-40 years have changed very little. Modern science is showing us bias is everywhere. So how do we manage and overcome behaviors that harm people in our organizations?
GY: It feels as if something has shifted in today’s environment and something is more open, although I’m not sure what that means because I’m old enough to know I’ve been here before and not much happened.
JP: At NFF we’re finally moving away from being a neutral third-party that works at the crossroads of banks, philanthropies, governments and nonprofits toward more social justice and advocacy to address the existing inequitable system. Internally, we’ve made changes, including creating a cross-department Equity Department charged with challenging our internal and external practices. Externally, we talk about money as only one of many assets needed by organizations. We help to raise the awareness of the importance and value of non-financial assets like skills, relationships and know-how.
- As we prepare for the small group discussions and work to be done afterward, any suggestions or concrete take-aways you have for those in the audience today? Things for them to think about as they engage with organizations as consultants and capacity builders? Anything to help them recognize norms, and then challenge/help the organizations reimagine, if they’re not using the DEIA lens?
GY: Start from humility and honesty. Be the best person you can be, and leave your ego at the door.
AR: This work happens at different levels of racism: Individual (your behavior and attitudes about yourself and others), Interpersonal (your interactions with others), Institutional (discriminatory treatment, unfair policies, inequitable opportunities based on race), and Structural (bias across institutions and society that systematically privilege white people and disadvantage people of color). This is a practical framework to approach DEIA which has to be intentional.
JP: When working with people and organizations who are resistant to DEIA, I talk about my perspective on DEIA and do not hit them over the head with it. I try to approach them instead as a thought partner vs. an expert.
The audience then broke up into 11 working groups to discuss the following four questions:
- What challenges are you seeing or foreseeing as you try to integrate this work?
- How can we support each other to make this transformation a reality?
- What new ideas did you get from today’s discussions that you will try?
- Are there ways that you think you may have inadvertently caused harm as a consultant in the past, and how would you approach it differently today?
Scroll down to view samples of their candid responses.
Joseph closed the event thanking the panelists, audience, DYCD and Support Center. He encouraged the audience to complete the event survey and invited those who are not yet members of Nonprofit Specialists to join within the next 30 days and have the day’s event fee applied to the cost of their first year’s membership.
He also shared that the pandemic has shone light on the work to be done and the value of partners to lead us through on this journey. To that end, Nonprofit Specialists has compiled a list of resources that you may find useful in doing this work in this shared document.
All of these resources and additional information are available at our DEIA page:
http://npspecialists.org/deia-diversity-equity-inclusion-access/
Working Group responses to the four discussion questions:
- What challenges are you seeing or foreseeing as you try to integrate this work?
- Some people are ready for the work and some are not.
- A challenge is defining what is “this work”.
- The hardest part is getting started—looking at yourself.
- If I see a DEIA issue that’s outside the scope of the project I’m working on and all the staff and board are white, how do I bring that up? I could echo Jina (Paik) and, say, “I am a thought partner to help bring you through this work and make it more equitable.” It’s an ongoing conversation; we must show up and do this work every day.
- Many white-led groups negotiate with funders and the city. For those BIPOC-led groups that don’t know they can negotiate rates, etc., consultants can help educate.
- The challenge is diversifying boards to be more racially, ethnically and class diverse, when the dominant white culture perpetuates the myth that white people bring more resources.
- Budget cuts – Seeing the whole unit laid off and they’re all one race.
- Minority groups being pitted against one another.
- Research shows organizations led by POC are much less likely to get funded.
- How do we add DEIA to our proposals? For consultants who aren’t brought in for DEIA, there often isn’t time or budget, and getting funding for it can be difficult.
- Non-closure is more challenging. I’m goal-oriented and when doing this work the end goal is not achievable in this lifetime. How do we keep the momentum?
- How can we support each other to make this transformation a reality?
- Hold small group conferences/conversations; share real-life challenges.
- Have a conversation with people you rely on to ask questions, who know what to say and how to approach things, and with whom you can be vulnerable.
- Reach out to people who mess up and help them learn and grow.
- Have funders give more latitude to grantees/more flexibility in what gets measured.
- Provide coaching for consultants, mentor coaching for younger leaders, and free coaching sessions for nonprofit clients who may not be able to afford coaching.
- Have a shared resource pool of, for example, client assessments, consultant practices, an interactive case study developed through Ahead of the Curve DEIA working group which would become a web-based resource.
- Develop a role-playing workshop on what to do when someone says X or you encounter Y kind of resistance.
- Bring about change through legislation and policy.
- Collect data/information in a uniform way.
- Attempt to eliminate conscious and unconscious biases in ourselves and others.
- Have the conversation . . . with all.
- What new ideas did you get from today’s discussions that you will try?
- Be more aware of conscious and unconscious bias.
- Have actions that are actionable and attainable.
- Remember to ask questions about race, bias, culture.
- Cross-pollinate ideas with other consultants and be their meaningful thought partner as well as a trusted advisor to clients.
- Approach the work with great humility—as learners who do not have all the answers and are on the journey with the client.
- Look at policies that can undo structural racism.
- Be more courageous and not afraid to challenge the (dominant culture) thinking; practice what we preach.
- Put DEIA up front in your introduction; alternatively, establish trust first, then raise DEIA.
- Create an equity statement.
- Understand this is a long-term effort. Get clients to understand this is not a “one and done” thing.
- Use Andrea’s (Rogers) dinner table example as a way to communicate about DEIA and to be an effective agitator.
- Add “access” to DEI.
- Find a way to show clients how DEIA is good for business.
- Are there ways that you think you may have inadvertently caused harm as a consultant in the past, and how would you approach it differently today?
- I used to say, “For optics we need to diversify the board”, as a way to try to convince white boards to diversify. I regret it and don’t say it anymore as I know we must uplift BIPOC leaders to truly ensure our world survives.
- I mistook one Black woman for another. Then I did it the next day, too. I just kept rolling. It was a micro-aggression.
- The emphasis on measureable outcomes sometimes clouded my openness to looking at additional outcomes related to DEIA.
- I shifted from being an expert to being a thought partner.
- I may have inadvertently caused harm by having fear and not speaking truth to power.
- I committed sins of commission and omission.
- I had a disastrous facilitation experience. Questioned whether she (a white woman) was the right person to lead the conversation. Still questioning.
- I used to be very non-flexible on our agendas and rush to make progress through meetings. I’ve realized that sometimes we need to be more flexible—it’s a way to make everyone feel more comfortable.
- Today I’m being more aware of who else could have been a partner or who I could have supported, but didn’t. It gives me food for thought how else can I connect with people to make this possible.
- The evaluation space is not particularly diverse, so there’s an opportunity there. In evaluation, quantitative data has been typically prioritized over qualitative data. There has been an emphasis on quantitative data as a way of demonstrating effectiveness. It excludes people’s lived experiences. It also disenfranchises small organizations that don’t have a large sample, despite potentially doing transformative work. I could have done better using my work to give voice to people who aren’t represented.
- I may have inadvertently caused harm by mispronouncing names or something else. It’s important to create a safe space and ask people to let us know if we’ve done something wrong.
- The emphasis on the ROI in fundraising means spending more resources/attention on larger donor prospects. Need to change the balance of power.
Additional Questions from the Chat with Panelist Responses
Have any of you thought about what a world in which capitalism and racism were not so linked would look like?
Jina Paik: Within NFF, we’ve been talking a lot about alternative banking and financial models that already exist and that better support communities in equitable ways. They’re not necessarily explicitly anti-racist, but are much more aligned with equity values than commercial banks and financial systems. Solidarity economies is a term that has come up in this context recently, though I don’t know very much about it. My understanding is that it’s the umbrella term to describe the alternative economy that emphasizes community-led exchange and resourcing. Community banking, cooperatives and credit unions are banking models. Community land trusts is another mechanism that promotes community ownership and decision-making. Community development financial institutions and community development corporations are another model for community-centered and/or community-led financing. Finally, someone mentioned “digital greenbacks” the other day, which sounds like it may have potential for making money flow more equitably. From what I understand, it’s the creation of digital currency direct from the Treasury, such that banking and lending wouldn’t have to go through a financial institution for things like loans. There’s also potential for “national wealth sharing” though I’m not sure exactly how that works. That’s probably much more than you wanted to know :-). I’m certainly no authority on the subject, but it’s interesting to me the models that already exist out there!
Should we continue to have the giving requirement for board membership? What would a “meaningful give/get” look like and should that be 100% equitable (i.e., large givers are not given higher priority than lower givers)?
Andrea J Rogers: We can reframe what a “meaningful give/get” looks like professional experience, understand who and what the concerns are within community!
The very definition of “able to use the money” is problematic, isn’t it?
JP: Absolutely. Not sure the context of this comment, but part of what we learned at NFF is that the practice of keeping large sums of money out of small organizations, on the assumption that their infrastructure couldn’t support the management or strategic use of funds, was problematic on a lot of levels.
What does the panel feel is the value/potential of coaching in supporting young BIPOC leaders – given the absence of mentors, peers, affirmation? And added to that… is there a role for a white coach in supporting emerging BIPOC leaders?
JP: Is there really an absence of BIPOC mentors and peers? I’ve found that there are many who might fit this bill.
Miguel Bonilla: Coaching is probably more effective than diversity training or could complement diversity training. It can help leaders more directly address behavior challenges
AJR: Coaching and opening doors to up and coming BICOP leaders so they are well networked is the only way our sector will change. It’s also critical that BIPOC emerging leaders have the space to learn the ins and outs from other BIPOC and White identifying EDs/CEOs, and Boards need to be educated in who can lead that may not be their norm.
Can we address confronting bias among our NP clients?
JP: As I mentioned on the panel, I often find it helpful to acknowledge my/NFF’s values and perspectives on equity and bias upfront while we are explaining who we are and the work that we do. This allows for easy entry into the conversation for client who either didn’t want to talk about it or clients who wanted to raise this as an explicit issue in our work together.
Jina, have you written anything about how money is only one dimension? If so, please send, if not, please write and spread widely!
JP: I’m sorry to say that neither NFF not I have actually written anything about this. It actually surprised me, given how much we talk about this internally. I will take your suggestion and consider writing something!!!
