Across the Nonprofit Landscape, White Leadership Remains Over- Represented
A New Comprehensive Report Titled "In Every County, Across All Budget Sizes: White Overrepresentation in the New York City Area's Nonprofit Leadership" Analyzes NYC's Executive Leadership Demographics
NEW YORK, April 29, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As the nonprofit sector continues to evolve, one fact firmly remains ? executive leadership is overwhelmingly White. A new report titled In Every County, Across All Budget Sizes: White Overrepresentation in the New York City Area's Nonprofit Leadership, establishes comprehensive analysis of the racial and demographic makeup of nonprofit senior leadership in the New York City area.
Nonprofit New York, along with Candid, SeaChange Capital Partners, Thomas Economic Policy and Data Consulting, and with support from Robin Hood, conducted a thorough assessment in 2022 utilizing key Candid statistical profiles to examine the numbers. Eight New York counties ? Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Westchester, Richmond, and Suffolk were included in the analysis.
"FPWA commends Nonprofit New York for elevating issues of persistent racial inequity in the nonprofit sector with compelling data that confirms what we know far too well. As many in the sector continue to strive for true equity for New Yorkers in need, we must also take an honest look at how leadership in the sector reflects the communities we aim to serve. FPWA looks forward to working together to realize meaningful diversity and representation at all levels of the sector," stated Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and Executive Director, FPWA.
According to the report, a majority of the nonprofit workforce are women and people of color. However, the report found executive leadership is disproportionately White. BIPOC representation in CEO and Executive Director positions remains scarce. BIPOC nonprofit CEOs account for 36% of leaders, while the BIPOC population is 61% in the NYC area. White nonprofit CEOs make up 64% of nonprofit leaders, while the general White population is 39%.
When breaking down the dataset via gender, White women comprised the highest percentage (39%) followed by White men (29%). Black women comprised the next highest percentage (10%), followed by Black men (7%), Hispanic women (5%), Hispanic men (3%), Asian/Pacific Islander women (4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander men (3%).
"We cannot hope to eliminate poverty in New York City ? or effectively solve the litany of social issues facing our country today ? without the lived experience and subject expertise of executives of color. In a time of unprecedented challenges, the findings of 'In Every County, Across All Budget Sizes: White Overrepresentation in the New York City
Area's Nonprofit Leadership' should give us pause. White leaders are overrepresented in nonprofits of all kinds across the New York metro, while the BIPOC leaders whose perspective can shift outcomes lack opportunity, capital, connections and more," said Robin Hood CEO Rich Buery, Jr. "Robin Hood launched the Power Fund in 2020 because leaders of color go overlooked and underfunded. As part of that initiative, our hope in funding this report is to lay bare the data and galvanize philanthropy and government to do more. Democratizing nonprofit leadership is a challenge we can and must win."
Regarding budget sizes, a majority of all budget ranges from less than $125,000 up to $10,000,000, have a White CEO. Breaking down the numbers even further, very small BIPOC-led nonprofits with a budget range of $250-$500K exhibited higher insolvency than their very small White-led counterparts.
While the financial analysis section of the report paints a stark picture of the insolvency of all nonprofits in the New York City area, for organizations with financial reserves the median White-led nonprofit had slightly more months of reserves than the median BIPOC-led nonprofit.
"Nonprofit organizations do much of the essential work our city needs to uplift its most marginalized communities, from economic empowerment to community vitalization and social safety net building. While the needs of marginalized communities are often what determine the missions and actions of nonprofits, those communities are not adequately reflected in nonprofit leadership," said Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian American Federation. "This report from Nonprofit New York is a much-needed wakeup call for what the nonprofit landscape needs to grow sustainably into the future. AAPI New Yorkers make up 12% of the metro area's population but sadly only account for 7% of the city's nonprofit CEOs. It is time for New York City to invest in its BIPOC residents and help them become the leaders we need."
The report used a participatory research design to create two different measurements for "BIPOC-led." BIPOC nonprofit leaders and researchers recommended the research project analyze CEO/Executive Director demographic data alone, and then use a more rigorous definition that includes a majority BIPOC senior management and board, in addition to the CEO/Executive Director. The report explains the nuanced rationale behind this recommendation as an indicator that an organization may have a longer history supporting BIPOC leadership.
"To have a fuller picture of the social sector and the work that needs to be done to address inequities, we encourage the social sector to lower the data collection burden for nonprofits," said Catalina Spinel, director of partnerships at Candid. "When nonprofits share their demographic data with Candid and funders commit to retrieving it from their nonprofit profiles on Candid's GuideStar, it helps fill in the blanks so we can all work toward a more efficient, equitable sector."
"The New York City area's nonprofit leadership reflects similar racial trends as the rest of the country's nonprofits, and the systems upon which our city and nation were built," said Chai Jindasurat-Yasui, Vice President of Policy at Nonprofit New York and lead author of the report. "Foundational, baseline data about who leads nonprofits is necessary, but it's just the beginning. We hope our research 'In Every County, Across All Budget Sizes,' inspires action. Now we must do the work collectively to advance racial equity, and part of that is working to ensure leadership is more reflective of our communities."
The report which is now available to the public can be accessed at nonprofitnewyork.org/in-every-county-report.
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ABOUT NONPROFIT NEW YORK
Nonprofit New York champions nonprofits through capacity building and advocacy to cultivate a more unified, just, and powerful sector. Serving 4000+ nonprofits each year, Nonprofit New York supports organizations that drive the region's economy; create and maintain safety nets; enable communities to make meaningful change; and facilitate civic engagement and voter education. Since our founding in 1984, Nonprofit New York has evolved into the area's "go-to" resource for capacity building and problem solving for nonprofits. Learn more at nonprofitnewyork.org.
ABOUT CANDID
Candid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. Candid finds out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Candid was formed in 2019 when GuideStar and Foundation Center merged. Candid combined GuideStar's tools on nonprofits and Foundation Center's tools on foundations with new resources to offer more comprehensive, real-time information about the social sector. Find out more at candid.org and @CandidDotOrg on LinkedIn,Instagram, and Twitter.
ABOUT SEACHANGE CAPITAL PARTNERS
SeaChange is a nonprofit organization with the mission to serve nonprofits facing complex financial and organizational challenges. Founded in 2008, SeaChange serves as a bridge between funders and nonprofits by creating flexible, innovative ways for funders to support nonprofits. We do so by making grants and impact-first loans, providing advice and analysis, and facilitating referrals to appropriate outside resources. For more information about SeaChange, please visit seachangecap.org.
ABOUT THOMAS ECONOMIC POLICY AND DATA CONSULTING
Thomas Economic Policy and Data Consulting (Thomas Consulting) supports nonprofit, public, and private sector clients with impactful research, data analysis and visualization, and project consulting. Current projects include analysis of state level-migration trends; labor market analyses to assist state-level Paid Family and Medical Leave campaigns; contributing to expert testimony in a series of lawsuits that seeks fair wages for Uber drivers by analyzing driver-level data; and building Tableau dashboards and maps to identify labor, workforce, and demographic insights to support state-level policy campaigns. See more at thomaseconomy.com.
Media Contact
Yesenia Reinoso, Nonprofit New York, (646) 893-1933, [email protected]
SOURCE Nonprofit New York
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