Rossetta, thanks for posting this. As a minority in the nonprofit world I too believe that diversity in nonprofits is very important. However, I would not direct my ire at the Nonprofit Times but instead our colleagues. As you point out it is our peers who did not nominate a diverse group of nonprofit leaders to begin with. After that point I also believe things like this should be decided purely on skill and competence and less on the need for diversity. In other words, leaders should be judged based truly on their abilities on an equal playing field and if the result turns out to be all white, all black, all asian, all men or all women, etc., than so be it. Just so long as all were considered equally and at the beginning. Diversity should never be done for diversity’s sake because that would defeat the purpose of showing that people are equal and should be treated that way regardless of race or gender. I hope that my point for diversity and equality is clear. Thanks again for bringing this up for discussion.

Thanks for your comment T.J.! Yes, you’re right to emphasize the fact that it is our colleagues that came up with this list. And it would be so wrong to add people of color to the list just because they are people of color.

But.

I have a sinking feeling that the reason why there are not more people of color on the NP Times list is because nonprofit leaders of color are not being considered equally. For the most part, nonprofit leaders of color are invisible – evidenced when people say “we want to hire/recognize/include more people of color, but we don’t know where to find them”. I am focusing on race in this post, but the same issue can be applied to nonprofit leaders under 40, women leaders, etc.

If we are invisible, then I don’t think it’s possible for nonprofit leaders of color to be considered equally.

Thanks for adding your thoughts!

Rosetta — I’m one of the people who responded about the title. I wasn’t angry, but confused. The word “only” had me wondering if we were looking at the same website since by definition that meant no people of color at all. I even double checked the link to make sure I wasn’t on the wrong page.

Title aside, it indeed is too limited a list in the ways you mention, and it sounds like it’s the same old problem of limited vision and limited networks, and, unfortunately, limited effort. WomenWhoTech and others have been writing about a similar problem with underrepresentation of women at a recent tech conference (and a really sexist presentation), for which they got “we tried but couldn’t find women” type replies from some organizers.

We do need to challenge each other to do better. And those of us who are white need to take responsibility for that outreach, not leaving it to people of color to raise the issue all the time. In this particular case, we are talking about a HUGE sector that has tons of people of color in leadership, so the lack of racial and ethnic diversity is striking.

Thanks for your recent “20 Nonprofit & Philanthropy Blogs Written by People of Color” posting, which was helpful. I retweeted that. Just the other day I found organizations and bloggers of color on Twitter to follow so I can learn more about who’s who and what’s important to them. Great thing about Twitter is that familiar organizations and people will lead you to unfamiliar ones. (Though some well respected organizations are still not on Twitter!) Little things like that can be surprisingly helpful, especially once you get Tweets about issues or perspectives you hadn’t considered. That’s where the payoff comes in.

If the nominations were based on relationships, perhaps as people of color, we need to re-evaluate the extent of our networks. How much time do we spend getting to know other nonprofit leaders of influence? Yes, doing your work is important, but are we networking strategically to make relationships that will benefit our careers in the long run? People like Geoffrey Canada are an exception because he is outspoken about his work. He has written books that have led to many media appearances. Writing books always makes you an automatic expert in the public eye. He is a respected leader because he put himself out there and people know about him.

Also, most of the leaders mentioned in the listing are heads of large national nonprofits that probably do not have much to do with what is going on at the community level. What percentage of large, national nonprofits are headed by people of color vs. smaller, community based organizations? I have no idea what the percentage is, but it would be interesting to know. Are people of color more interested in community based leadership? Are there not enough opportunities for people of color to learn how to grow into a national leadership position? Just some questions…

Rosetta,

I am a regular reader of your blog and I’m not necessarily advocating for or against your posts. However, I think we have to be very careful about the assumptions we make about individuals based on name and photo.

I’ll willingly use myself as an example. I am a first generation American. My mother came from Cuba after the revolution. My maiden name is Flanagan as my father is Irish and I have an Irish first name. I don’t ‘look’ Cuban or Hispanic and in fact the entire Cuban side of my family is predominantly blond haired, blue eyed, except for myself. My family sacrificed a lot to come to this country. I have been subject to incredibly hateful comments from people who do not know I am Cuban. I have seen it from both sides.

If you saw my name and face on this list, you may have assumed that I am ‘white’ based on my name and looks. However, I carry the legacy of my family’s sacrifice proudly and as even more motivation to be successful. My heritage runs deeply and my family deserves the recognition of having come as far as they have not despite their background but because of their background. Because I do not look a certain way does not discredit that fact and should not negate the sacrifices my family has made.

I use this as an example as we certainly are not the only family of mixed backgrounds and incredible sacrifice.

The danger in all of the recent discussions about nonprofit leadership and diversity is the assumption that we can guess what the composition of a group is based on names and looks.

I appreciate your post. I just think we all need to dig a little deeper before assuming we know.

I appreciate this blog. I appreciate your passion for keeping us abreast of happenings throughout the np world.

i took your advice and sent mr. cloely a letter, expressing my concern. to my surprise, within 10 minutes, i received a call from np times.

upon speaking with him, i better understood their position, system and rationale. more than anything, i was very impressed with the level of customer service. so often, those letters get lost in the shuffle.

whether he and i agree or not, i appreciate the candid dialogue. that is the human experience. he did explain that 16% of the list were minorities. i actually calculated it before i sent the letter. to their credit, it’s closer to 20% than a little over 10%. doesn’t more so reflect the actual minority leader representation in our sector?

i hope we will all continue to hold one another accountable. our nation has a considerable distance to go to adequately achieve social harmony. that is going to require everyone’s transparent, vulnerable contribution. let us all strive for a better, wholistically equitible society (didn’t spell check…may be a little off .

great commentary.

Thanks for your thoughtful post — this year there are more technology leaders, women, and “younger” (under 40) on the list, but I agree with you on the points you raised about diversity ….

oh, clicked too fast on submit – there’s a new initiative here in California for leadership develop for organizations led by people of color – thought I’d mention it
http://www.communityleadershipproject.org/

As a casual observer of this space, I must be missing something. The census bureau reports that the “Black or African American” population is 12.4% of the American total. The number that made this list is 16% of the total. To the casual observer, that doesn’t seem to be unfair or warrant outrage. There are usually nuances to this type of list, but to infer that African Americans are left out or treated unfairly seems to be disingenuous.

Rosetta –

I applaud this blog post. It needed to be said and documented. Another interesting observation: outwardly (admittedly I don’t know all of the leaders’ heritages intimately), there are exactly zero Latin@s recognized this year.

I also agree with a comment made to your share of this blog on FB yesterday that there is a distinct bias toward national networks and associations as compared to direct service and community-based organizations. This definitely, IMHO, has a bearing on who is selected for recognition.

We, nonprofit leaders of color and other often times under-recognized leaders, must do a much better job of plugging into the networks that make these types of determinations and recognitions. I have no grudge against any of the leaders who are recognized on this year’s list. Some of them are personal friends and GREAT at what they do. (one is even my boss, congrats!)

Keep up the dialogue and the advocacy for our industry to recognize ourselves for what we really are: a beautifully diverse group of people laboring to make the world a better place.

Ian B.

I’m glad that Jillian Vukusich spoke up about how it’s not always easy to identify someone as a person of color by a glance or a name. I’d meant to mention that myself. This has come up with coworkers of many backgrounds who aren’t white, but are often mistaken for it. (And a friend who is half-Chinese, half-French Canadian jokes that she’s never sure if her mixed looks qualify her as what Canadians call “visible minority.” Ha!)

Also, names really are tricky for the reasons Jillian gave and others: marriage; adoption; common names like Lee (sometime Asian, sometimes not); African or Caribbean immigrants with English or French names; Spanish names can be European or Filipino, not Latino; Asians from former Soviet countries often have Russian names; and so on.

In relation to that, job hunters: if you’re a person of color, please mention it in your cover letter, especially if you don’t have a resume that says things like “African American Student Union president.” Same goes for other “diversity” elements that aren’t readily apparent on paper, like if you’re a woman with a traditionally masculine or non-gender specific name. I sometimes mention my blue collar background, for example, and say why it matters. We who hire hate trying to guess at someone’s background, both because we could be off and because it just feels wrong to go with “Well, Sharnisha Jackson sorta sounds like she could be African-American.”

To follow up on my original posting, I wanted to share organizations and bloggers I’m following on Twitter that are/represent people of color:

http://twitter.com/NCLR – National Council of La Raza
http://twitter.com/indiancountry – Nations’ Leading American Indian News Source
http://twitter.com/NCAI1944 – National Congress of American Indians
http://twitter.com/indianz – Indian Country
http://twitter.com/RayLevesque – Twitter Commentator on many things including tribal economic development (and has some of the best one-liners on Twitter)
http://twitter.com/The_NAACP
http://twitter.com/citizensofcolor
http://twitter.com/MALDEF
http://twitter.com/ethnicmajority
And of course: http://twitter.com/rosettathurman

Having a strangely hard time finding Asian and Pacific Islander orgs. Suggestions welcome. Thanks!

As a casual observer of this space, I must be missing something. The census bureau reports that the “Black or African American” population is 12.4% of the American total. The number that made this list is 16% of the total. To the casual observer, that doesn’t seem to be unfair or warrant outrage. There are usually nuances to this type of list, but to infer that African Americans are left out or treated unfairly seems to strain the boundaries of credibility.

Wilbur – by US Census estimates (as of 7/1/08), the nonwhite population is approximately 34% of the US. I’d say that 16% isn’t where we need to be (or should want to be). We need double that or more!

Tracy – try http://twitter.com/AsiansinAmerica they’re a good organization to follow.

I understand and appreciate the dialogue about the outward signs of ethnicity. However, we, as a nation must be conscious of our decisions – especially for honors and glory such as these. The emerging workforce needs role models and affirmations that they are welcome to lead in our society – our future depends on it!

Wilbur —

I think the point is that there ARE leaders of color who are suspiciously missing from the NPT list. Your use of census data implies that there just aren’t enough blacks to go around, so we shouldn’t be complaining if there are just a couple on this list. I think this assumption is just as dangeous as the “invisibility” phenomenon that Rosetta mentioned in her earlier comment. It’s as if the sector is saying, you’re (people of color) not even leading, and if you are, we can’t see you. It’s an irresponsible message for such a prominent publication to send.

Rosetta -

Thanks for including me in the post. Of course I agree that diversity is important. I can’t say that I know what the answer is in terms of this (or any other) list. In fact, I tend to think that there isn’t a right answer. Rather, I’m just glad that there are people like you and Allison Kapin and Michelle Murrain, and many many others who keep rebooting the conversation. The best thing we can do is to KEEP talking about it.

This is a good discussion and valid points have been brought out. I have spoken to Mr. Clolery about this list in the past too, and I believe the NPT is very determined to ensure that people of color are represented every year. I’d be curious if anyone has gone back over the 12 years and looked at how the various lists have fared in that regard. There is a list on the last page of the section, and while it’s definitely hard to determine the final numbers without seeing what these people look like in a photo, it might be interesting.

But ultimately, this list is about power and influence — not color. There’s no reason to automatically assume a white person is more or less able or willing to represent people of color to the best of his or her ability.

Do I believe that Emmett Carson cannot adequately represent ALL the people of Silicon Valley because he is African American? Of course not. He’s proven to be a highly qualified nonprofit leader and has had a distinguished career. I don’t think his skin color is the primary reason he has accomplished what he has accomplished. He is bright, articulate, and hard-working. Like Mr. Carson, the leaders I have met in this sector try to help the broad swath of this multicultural land. And they deserve to be recognized — regardless of their skin color or ethnic heritage.

API’s that tweet
http://twitter.com/apiequalityla
http://twitter.com/PhilTing
http://twitter.com/apiahf
http://twitter.com/ACMHS
http://twitter.com/Engageher – Mabel Yee at Engage Her
http://twitter.com/AWFoundation Asian Week Foundation

http://twitter.com/CPEHN – The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN)
-Nelson

Thanks, Ian and Nelson for the API twitter leads!

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments – I will be posting them in a follow-up post.

@Jillian – Thanks for raising the point about not knowing the race or ethnicity of someone by looking at their name or photo. This is an important piece to remember, and of course my and others’ knowledge will be a bit imperfect on this front. We often do need to dig a little deeper.

@John – Thanks for taking the time to reach out to Paul at the NP Times. The more voices there are in this conversation, the better the process will be the next time (hopefully). It lets them know that the rest of the nonprofit sector is watching, and we will continue to hold them accountable on this issue.

@Tracy, Ian, Nelson – Thanks for posting names of nonprofit folks of color on Twitter – I am working on a mega-list and these are awesome additions!

@Holly – I don’t think that there is an “answer” per se to this particular issue. I do think that this kind of dialogue is extremely important by both whites and people of color. As long as our nonprofit community claims to promote racial and other types of diversity; inclusion; and justice, these conversations will need to be sustained.

>> I think the point is that there ARE leaders of color who are suspiciously missing from the NPT list.

That sentence and the rest of this interesting discussion raise several questions for me and I’d like to hear Rosetta’s and others’ responses.

1) Who are the people that are suspiciously missing? I realize the list is subjective, but who are the obvious omissions?
2) How many people of color do you feel should be on the list? (i.e., what percentage would mark the bottom range of acceptable? Is it 34%–the census figure cited above for our non-white population?)
3) Do you feel that power and influence in the nonprofit sector is currently shared equally among races?
4) If there were greater than 34% representation for people of color on the NPT Power and Influence list, distributed equally, would that suggest that ‘power and influence’ in the nonprofit sector is currently shared equally among races?
5) If power and influence in the nonprofit sector are *not* yet currently shared equally among races, do you feel it was irresponsible of NPT to create a Power and Influence list that would illustrate that fact by featuring a smaller percentage of persons of color than exists in our society?

Yes, I’m making an argument and advancing a point of view with this sequence of questions, but I ask them with an open mind. I may be off base and look forward to reading any responses to this.

@Matt – Thanks for your comments and for this observation:

“But ultimately, this list is about power and influence — not color. There’s no reason to automatically assume a white person is more or less able or willing to represent people of color to the best of his or her ability.”

Please understand that I do not think that a person of color would necessarily serve or represent communities of color better than a white person would. That is certainly not the issue I am raising here., My problem with lists like these is that they fail to recognize enough leaders of color in the nonprofit community who are ALSO leading with power and influence. How are we defining that when the vast majority of folks that are recognized are white people? As our recent presidential race and the confirmation of the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice proves, America is not yet at a place where leaders are judged solely on the content of their character and track record. So while I agree that recognition should NOT be based on color, we should all be cognizant of who is and is not being recognized. It could very well be that for whatever reason, we are leaving some groups out.

I agree with Rosetta. The fact that this list isn’t just an arbitrary list of leaders but one entitled “Power & Influence Top 50″ means, to me, that the sector is indirectly making a statement about who CAN and SHOULD have the power and the influence.

Helona made a great point about factors that determine leadership-worthiness. It seems to me that if we’re saying that leadership is about how many relationships you have or how big your organizational budget is, we’re further proving that the metrics for leadership are NOT based on track record and ability. We’ve created a nonprofit good-old-boys network. This is disconcerting, because it implies that even if thought leaders like the NPT know about exceptional leaders of color, they’re not gonna actually call them leaders because of some subconscious inclination to set different, higher standards for leaders of color. My mother used to tell me that I needed to “work twice as much to get half as far” as my white peers…and that’s what she meant. That the standard would always be different for me as a young black woman.

I’m beginning to wonder “how racist are you?”
“whites only” – seriously – to an article that is clearly NOT “whites only” ?
– “promoting next generation leadership for social change” –
- i don’t see you promoting much at all besides resentment towards “white” people with racially inflammatory titles like the one you have here…. If you are truly trying to promote leadership, then i think you might be doing some research and development of ideas and a theory or 2 of WHY and HOW you can become an effective leader, and reasons why your intended demographic is not achieving those things… – instead some glazed articles which you portray as being kept down by white people….
you do nobody any favors by promoting animosity…

Why is it that whenever an individual of color mentions color as it pertains to any field, and individual like mdavidangst always attempts to discredit the speaker by calling them racist? What was presented by Rosetta was a very valid and important fact that I feel many people refuse to take serious. Rather than using these obviously childish antics to discredit Rosetta, I advise you be open to what she has stated and take it as a serious fact and problem that may need to be addressed.

with all due respect Stacy – when an “individual of color” makes a post and titles it “whites only” – and is referring to an article that is clearly NOT “whites only” – Then the focus of the article is clearly based in the authors feelings towards “white” people, and the “whites only” issue that they perceive. This, along with other posts that the author has, leads one to wonder about the authors feelings (of animosity, disdain or whatever else) towards “whites” or people with no color.

I agree, there are lot’s of serious problems that need to be addressed, and as long as we are all human, there always will be. But don’t address as serious problem with the foundations being built out of another serious problem.

Rosetta,

I must say that I respect your audacious freedom of speech! And while there are several who may disagree with your perception as it pertains to diversity or lack of in Non-Profit Leadership–so be it! It is a blatant reality and it’s time that we step up to the plate, take advantage of the resources and opportunities that are out there and make something of it! The “face” of America has shifted over the years and I think leadership needs to reflect that. This is no Black/White issue…this is a HUMAN issue.

How can we be a part of a movement when there is no cohesiveness amongst the people? We must understand that although we are all human, there are definitive differences in each out our experiences. Hence, there is a need to address such by ensuring that those in leadership positions are reflective of such.

Sidebar: As a proud member of the Los Angeles Urban League of Young Professionals, it did my heart well to see the CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League, Blair Taylor make the list!

Keep on exercising your voice Rosetta, I appreciate it immensely!

Beyond all the semantics about the title… I want to answer Paul’s initial question: Who choses these people? Their all-white Boards, that’s who. Yes, we can use our power and influence; relationships; quiet and public conversations. But the truth of the matter is, if you wait until the CEO search has begun – you’ve waited too long. You need to diversify the hands that hold the power – e.g. the Board of Trustees. We have all sorts of excuses as to why Boards are not diverse – primarily money. We associate these choices with sustainability, and claim to give equal power to “advisory boards” and “community boards” – which tend to be diverse, in more ways than one. But these folks do not have a vote. So if we are really serious, then we need to be fully vigilant and much more strategic, long-sighted in our approach.

[...] excellent Rosetta Thurman recently wrote a blog post about “Whites Only” nonprofit leadership. It focused on how the Nonprofit Times had their list of top nonprofit leaders, and only 10% were [...]

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African Americans make up about 13% of the US population, so actually, 10% representation in the list is about right. It doesn't reflect poor diversity. It reflects the fact that there are fewer african americans in the country. Do you want the list to be 50% african americans even though they only make up 13% of the population?

I want to answer Paul's initial question: Who choses these people? Their all-white Boards, that's who. Yes, we can use our power and influence; relationships; quiet and public conversations. But the truth of the matter is, if you wait until the CEO search has begun – you've waited too long. You need to diversify the hands that hold the power – e.g. the Board of Trustees. We have all sorts of excuses as to why Boards are not diverse – primarily money. We associate these choices with sustainability, and claim to give equal power to “advisory boards” and “community boards” – which tend to be diverse, in more ways than one.
Thanks for sharing

[...] but it’s the first report I’ve seen that doesn’t focus on the fact that nonprofits are ruled by white people, but instead examines the repercussions of what happens when organizations do nothing to change [...]

[...] that nonprofits struggle with diversity at almost every level of the organization (from staff to leadership to board) the conversation has been focusing less on why and more on the impact of the lack of [...]

“Please, somebody correct me if I’m wrong. That is just a little over 10%.” 
Okay. I’ll correct you. Eight out of 50 is 16 percent, which is closer to 20 percent than it is to 10 percent. So you might as well have said, “That is almost 20 percent.”

[...] But this study is a little different. Yes, the study focuses on ethnic and racial diversity in the nonprofit workplace, but it’s the first report I’ve seen that doesn’t focus on the fact that nonprofits are ruled by white people. [...]