Recently, The Presser Foundation hosted the fourth iteration of its virtual Next Movement event series, this time focusing on (Nonprofit) Boards & DEI. The Foundation plans to host three Next Movement events every year, and at least one of those each year will focus on topics around DEI (August 2021 spotlighted four partner organizations and each of their journeys to center DEI within their organization).
This session featured DiverseForce CEO Sulaiman Rahman. DiverseForce is a human capital solutions and advisory firm, specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2017, DiverseForce partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to develop its DiverseForce on Boards program, an innovative leadership development and board matching program that prepares high performing mid-to-senior level professionals of color to serve more effectively on governing boards. Since inception, DiverseForce has graduated 225 professionals of color from the program who have filled over 190 nonprofit board seats in the region.
In previous Next Movement events, the Foundation presented the entire session or laid the framework before other organizations gave examples. However, at this session, we (the staff) stepped aside to give the expert the platform. Rahman has extensive experience and knowledge about integrating DEI into boards, and we wanted the opportunity to learn from/spotlight his thoughts on integrating DEI into a board while also sharing information about the DiverseForce on Boards program.
Listening to that expert proved both enlightening and thought-provoking. Rahman walked us through the ever-important differences between diversity and inclusion – the one that stood out to me from the nonprofit perspective is that “diversity is counting heads; inclusion is making sure the heads count.” That means that having diverse members on a board benefits that board, but how can the organization ensure that each and every member feels included and welcomed to share their thoughts/experience/expertise on their own terms? (Another topic for another Next Movement!)
Rahman also discussed the idea of visible vs invisible diversity. What are visible characteristics of diversity? What are invisible characteristics of diversity? How are individuals from not only race, ethnicity, age, and gender perspective diversity, but also diverse education backgrounds, culture, beliefs, gender identity, socio-economic status, etc. welcomed to and integrated in a board?
And then, why incorporate diverse people and perspectives onto a board? Beyond the simplified idea that an organization should because it’s important for decision-makers to bring/have a variety of perspectives and experiences, Rahman pointed out that incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into an organization’s work increases its ability to recruit and retain top talent, increases innovation, creativity, and accuracy, increases the ability to better service a diverse client/customer base (in terms of a nonprofit, it would better reflect the community it’s serving), and helps an organization avoid costly and/or embarrassing mistakes due to cultural blind spots.
In addition, incorporating DEI values opens new segments of donors, volunteers, and advocates. In other words, as Rahman pointed out, it’s not only a board member’s time, talent, and treasure that they give, it’s also their “ties,” or their network. By diversifying one’s board, an organization not only gains that individual’s unique perspective and experiences, they also can connect with that individual’s family, friends, colleagues, and other contacts.
There were many other lessons embedded into Rahman’s presentation, and we encourage you to reach out to DiverseForce if you want to learn more! One final lesson that stood out – being intentional and meeting people where they are will open doors. Doing so will remove barriers and help a nonprofit, which provides services to the community, to better reflect its community/communities. And in an ever-changing world, opening an organization only enhances and advances the work that it does and the community it serves.
