Giving Compass' Take:

• New Profit's independent analysis of the philanthropic capital market found a significant lack of Black and Latinx leaders within the social sector and identified barriers to leadership and critical strategies to leverage Black and Latinx potential for systems change. 

• How can you intentionally be more proximate to Black and Latinx people working in the social sector? How can donors identify more opportunities to empower leaders of color? 

• Understand more about the importance of nonprofits to support leaders of color to focus on racial equity.

When it comes to race and equity in America, we seem to remain in an endless asking period. With rising inequality, divisive politics, eroding trust, and changing demographics, the questions are more important now than ever, which is why we see more lively dialogue on these topics in media, business, politics, and entertainment.

The same is true in philanthropy, where barrels of ink and millions of conference panel minutes have been spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over the last few years, and for good reason.  The social sector lacks diversity of leadership and talent like other sectors, but given that so much of philanthropy’s work to improve society is focused on helping people of color grab a piece of the American Dream, the need for change is even more critical.

New Profit commissioned an independent analysis of the philanthropic capital market in order to better understand the dynamics at play in the social sector around racial/ethnic diversity, particularly from the standpoint of leadership representation for Black and Latino/a/x  people.

The social sector – a complex system consisting of foundations, individual philanthropists, nonprofits, social enterprises, and policy and industry experts – largely operates in a way that concentrates power, agency, influence, and capital among existing leaders who are predominantly white. This dynamic has continued to limit the profound impact leaders of color have in social problem solving and society. Even while working deeply in diverse communities, many in the social sector struggle with discussing and navigating the issue of racial and ethnic diversity with respect to the sector itself.

We believe the social sector must employ four interconnected strategies, or levers that collectively will result in systems change.

  • Increase the flow of philanthropic capital and capacity building support to Black and Latino/a/x social entrepreneurs.
  • Develop philanthropic leaders of color.
  • Build social sector diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) capacity.
  • Transform how DEI data are collected and analyzed.

Read the full article about diversity in the social sector at New Profit.