Women of color, many of whom are running formerly white-led nonprofits, are asking themselves what it means to be a liberatory leader. They are at the forefront of such exploration, as they are currently charged with transforming organizations that were created with dominant cultural assumptions and even values. I wrote about my own experience last year, in response to conversations with nonprofit leaders about my book, The Power Manual, where I make a case for liberatory power, the ability to create what we want.

Now, the concept of liberatory leadership is beginning to take form. At this year’s annual conference of the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), practitioners of liberatory leadership shared what they are learning in a session on the topic.

Trish Tchume, Director of Liberatory Leadership Practice at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation (RSCF), Chinyere Tutashinda, Executive Director of the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), and Kharyshi Wiginton, Program Manager at the CTWO, hosted the session. They pointed to the Race to Lead series of reports published by the Building Movement Project, launched in 2016, which highlight the experiences of leaders of color, as an important effort to “put data behind our guts.”

The reports show that DEI trainings are not enough to transform formerly white-led organizations into places where leaders of color can thrive. The most recent report, Trading Glass Ceilings for Glass Cliffs, tells us that while women of color are now often charged with making nonprofit organizations more equitable, they are not supported in doing so or paid adequately for this work. Further, these leaders want to explore liberatory leadership, not just institutionalize equity. Tchume says, “We want the world we’re trying to create.”

Read the full article about liberatory leadership by Cyndi Suarez at Nonprofit Quarterly.