Diversity In Nonprofits

Article by: Krishna N.

I never saw myself as different just because of the color of my skin. I don’t know if this was naive…

A British Indian girl, raised by two East African-Indian parents (my dad from Kenya, my mother from Tanzania) and my grandparents from India - I had lived my formative years in the multicultural settings of London, where, as a young girl race was celebrated.

I’ve been in digital marketing for over 15 years and in and out of the non-profit industry for over 7 years working at agencies and in-house for clients like Women’s College Hospital Foundation, Stand Together Foundation, and World Literacy Foundation. Outside of this, I have volunteered at schools and orphanages in India, Kenya and Peru. More recently I have been working as a Senior Marketing Consultant for HJC, facilitating Donor Journey Mapping sessions for a number of nonprofits including Pet Partners, Vancouver General Hospital and MSF (Doctors Without Borders).?

Born and raised in West London, I grew up in the concrete jungle of Southall, a well-known “little India” globally amongst the Indian population, where I was around people who looked like me. Cut to university at 18, where I traveled three hours north to a place far away, (at the time), Durham, to a whole new world, where people like me were like needles in a haystack. At the University of Durham, a red brick, and a place where rejects of Oxford and Cambridge descended, I was exposed to foreign ideas like rugby, boating and old school wealth of the children who attended, a brand new world, where I certainly didn’t feel like I fit in, but I adapted to it as best as I could.?

Fast forward a few years and I landed my first real job in London, smack dab in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan London, at my first ad agency. I was an Account Executive and whilst the people around me were diverse, I was still the only person in my team that looked like me, other than the developer, a man - a trait over time was going to become more and more the trend.

In 2018 I landed a job in New York City, a melting pot of cultures and there began my journey of living and working not only in the US (NYC, LA, New Orleans) but in Canada (Toronto, Vancouver). What I saw then, was what has been the norm of not only the digital marketing industry but the non-profit marketing industry in North America - the lack of ethnic minorities and in particular women that looked like me in the industry.? After years of not questioning this and seeing myself as unique in the most positive light, it was later in my years, that with the constant feeling of being sidelined and unheard I realized that the senior management and C-suites of most of the larger non-profits that I’ve worked with are cookie cutters of the same types of people and thinking with very little to no diversity…. and this needs to CHANGE!

In an article by Urban.org, “79 % of board chairs and executive directors are non-Latinx white”58% percent of rural nonprofits have no board members who are people of color. All-white boards govern 16% of nonprofits that primarily focus on serving people of color and 38% of organizations that do not primarily focus on people of color.”

So with diversity being such a hot topic outside the nonprofit sector, why has the nonprofit sector been so slow to evolve and shift? Race to Lead cites ‘white advantage’ or ‘white privilege’ that favors or benefits white people over non-white people. A recent report they administered found that “The lack of diversity in nonprofit sector leadership was not a reflection of the qualifications or ambition of people of color, but the result of racialized barriers that inhibited their leadership ambitions, from lack of support by white boards of directors to the biases of executive recruiters”.

The lack of support and role models in these industries means girls and men and women who look like me are far less likely to pursue this industry. More representation of South Indians in the nonprofit sector can translate to more awareness of this community which traditionally has a higher disposable income. A recent article in the economic times, found Indians in the US, with an average household earning of $123,700 and 79 percent of college graduates, have surpassed the overall American population in terms of wealth and college education.

So how do we really incite change - and how can a difference be made in this sector - which is starting to take considerable learning for the for-profit world in terms of organizational structure, initiatives and innovation, change so that South Indian representation that we have seen in other mainstream industries who have now become household names from Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Jay Shetty (Coach/Influencer), Mindy Kaling (Actor, Film Maker) and Rupi Kaur (Poet, Author) can become more synonymous with nonprofits.

1. Hiring - Ugh every time I look for a new job and am having to tick off the ‘ethnicity’ box, especially in North America - I shudder.? ‘Asian’ and ‘Other’ are the two options that seem the closest but neither really represent me nor who I am. Back in the UK ‘Indian’ was on the ballot - so why are we still living in the archaic times of these prescriptive labels. If gender denomination is such a vast list, then surely ethnicity should be also - and why is any of it really important. Can we not evaluate people just as that, people.
2. Top-Down Reinforcement - Hiring diversely needs to come from Executive Directors and Board members. This needs to be reinstated and readdressed, not only in terms of ethnicity but representation in terms of age and sex. The number of teams I have experienced, where the majority of teams, outside of IT, were female and mid-40s upwards, showcases a resistance of growth both internally and externally of the organization. Without innovation, new ideas and thinking nonprofits will remain stagnant and lose touch with the rapidly changing environment which will ultimately hit goals and bottom-line revenue.
3. Showcasing Leaders - Nonprofits need to actively showcase ethnic minority leaders and role models - this can be done through content and documentaries.
4. Create relationships with South Indian groups in Universities and Religious organizations - A great way to formulate relationships in the community.
5. Donor Centric fundraising and prioritizing community in organizations - A recent article by Maria Rio outlines how the current philanthropic paradigm is broken and what is needed is for donors to become partners, not just transactional interactions. Rio discusses how creating community grants/funds for projects provide more buy-in from donors and the local community - especially when those representing the community are also reflected in the organization

I hope this will start the dialogue on how we can improve as a sector — and help guide your organization, staff, and the people affected by your efforts to a brighter, more beautiful future free of the stigmas, stereotypes, and tragedies of the past.?

We’ve got a long way to go at hjc and in the whole sector - but let’s get working harder - together!

I’d love to know what your thoughts and experiences have been on diversity in the nonprofit sector? Do you believe our sector can improve? How do you think the non-profit sector can appeal to more people of color? If so, let’s start the conversation by leaving a comment on the post you came to this article from — or by tagging me in your own post.

Thank you for reading!