I had a wonderful time today with the Providers’ Council in Boston, talking to a group of 150+ current and emerging leaders working in the human services field.
I shared with the Provider’s Council members (an audience of mostly Baby Boomers and Gen X) my personal journey in the nonprofit sector and some of the research that’s been done on next generation leaders and generational shift. I highlighted some key statistics from all the reports that have come out in the last 3 years:
The bad news (key challenges):
- 75% of executive directors plan to leave their jobs in the next five years
- 45% of young nonprofit professionals plan to leave the nonprofit sector altogether
- 69% of next generation leaders feel underpaid
- 66% of emerging leaders say work/life balance issues are reasons they don’t want to be an executive director in the future
The good news (our opportunities):
- 1/3 of next generation leaders actually do aspire to become executive directors in the
- 75% of nonprofit professionals feel their work is personally fulfilling
- 40% of aspiring executives say they’ll be ready in the next five years
The great thing about the Boston nonprofit community is that they are all about action. An older gentleman stood up in the audience asking how he could seek out people to mentor outside his organization. A number of CEOs commented on how they wanted to take what they learned back to their organizations and encourage their staff to obtain more training and help them build relationships and networks in the sector. The entire room raised their hand in agreement when asked if they wanted their dues money spent on creating programs to support emerging leaders. Now that’s responsibility.
Ruth Perry, Membership Associate at the Providers’ Council, was kind enough to debrief with me on tonight’s podcast about how we’re reframing the leadership crisis and also shared her experience spearheading an emerging leaders roundtable in Boston.
We had some rich conversations today, and I’m grateful to have been a part of them. I had the pleasure of meeting some really inspiring nonprofit directors and CEOs today, all of them willing to take on the task of supporting next generation leaders within their organizations and within the sector:
- Dora Robinson – MLK Jr. Community Center
- Randal Rucker – Family Service Greater Boston
- Maurice Williams – Multi-Cultural Independent Living Center of Boston
- Gail Brown – The Association for Community Living
I also want to share some of the other organizations and efforts to discuss and support emerging nonprofit leadership around the country:
- Nonprofit Congress
- Georgia Nonprofit Summit
- Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
- Alliance for Nonprofit Management
Wouldn’t it be great if we were all having these conversations – in every state, in every city where there are nonprofits and nonprofit leaders just waiting to show us what they’ve got. If you think next generation leadership is an important issue, start the dialogue yourself. begin an emerging leaders roundtable, like Ruth Perry did. Or seek to be mentor to your colleagues who have that clear potential to become a great leader in the future. All the research on this issue has been great, but our time for action is now.
