Neighborhood Organizations where “All voices are heard & represented”

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Another important finding addressed in the Summary of Findings from the Neighborhoods 2020 Cafes was the expectation of participants that “all voices are heard & represented” in neighborhood organizations. This post discusses the issues around diversity on neighborhood organization boards. The City has routinely criticized neighborhood organization boards as not being diverse enough and not fully representing the communities they serve. And this is a fair issue to raise. However, care should be taken to make sure we are more fully understanding the problem in order to properly address it.

A 2017 study by NCR on neighborhood board diversity reported on a 2016 survey of neighborhood organization board members. The study noted that only 19% of participants were people of color, compared to 39% of residents of the City who are people of color.

While this is an important finding, and needs to be addressed, finding an appropriate solution means understanding the problem correctly and asking the right questions. NCR has assumed that this is a problem unique to neighborhood organizations, and is indicative of an inherent bias in neighborhood organization structure. The proposed solution often indicated by NCR is to require some form of quota.

However, this is not a problem unique to neighborhood organizations. A recent national study of nonprofit boards by BoardSource, Leading with Intent, stated that:

Boards are no more diverse than they were two years ago and current recruitment priorities indicate this is unlikely to change. Despite reporting high levels of dissatisfaction with current board demographics — particularly racial and ethnic diversity — boards are not prioritizing demographics in their recruitment practices. (Page 9)

In fact, according to the study, nonprofit boards nationally have gone backwards in this regard in the last two years with the number of caucasian board members increasing from 80% to 84% (page 12).

Why is this important? As the Leading with Intent report notes:

At the most fundamental level, who serves on a board impacts how it functions and the decisions it makes. While board composition is not one-size-fits all, a board that is homogeneous in any way risks having blind spots that negatively impact its ability to make the best decisions and plans for the organization.

The blind spots created by a lack of racial and ethnic diversity are particularly concerning, as they may result in strategies and plans that ineffectively address societal challenges and inequities, or even reinforce them. (Page 12)

In short, having more diverse and representative boards will improve neighborhood organization effectiveness.

So, how can neighborhood organization boards most effectively address this situation? Leading with Intent recommends that nonprofit boards need to significantly revise their board recruitment practices:

Strategic board composition does not happen on its own. Boards must define what the ideal board composition looks like — not just in terms of diversity, but also in expertise, experience, and networks — and then be vigilant about finding it through focused and disciplined board recruitment.

For some boards, this means changing the way they identify potential candidates by moving beyond the personal networks of existing board members and considering nontraditional recruitment strategies, such as a posted board search or use of a search firm. (Page 14)

Can this strategy be effective at the neighborhood organization level? An example from Victory Neighborhood Association in North Minneapolis indicates that it can be a winning strategy:

Example: Victory Neighborhood Association and Board recruitment

In their 2016 Annual Report, Victory Neighborhood Association reported on their successful work to recruit more diverse and representative board members:

The Victory Neighborhood Association made a concerted effort in 2016 to increase representation from communities of color on its board and in its volunteers. The organization did this by directing targeted outreach efforts to neighbors who more broadly reflect the racial demographics of Victory. The efforts resulted in increased participation from African American community members, including two new African American board directors. The primary factor in the strategy’s success was the intentionality that ViNA employed to increase diversity amongst its membership. Once the organization identified the need, it worked to intentionally reach out to communities of color in the neighborhood.

ViNA recognizes that it has more work to do to ensure that it is best representing all residents of the neighborhood and in 2017 plans to direct efforts to increase participation from renters in its membership, its board, and in volunteer activities.

It should be noted that, to achieve a population of board members that more closely resembles the population of Minneapolis as a whole, at least racially, won't require much--in fact all that will be needed is to recruit on average between one to two people of color for each neighborhood organization board.