Read

Practical Ideas for Improving Equity and Inclusion at Nonprofits 
by Emily Teitsworth. 

Points to Highlight

·         “Yet while references to equity, inclusion, and diversity (DEI) are seemingly everywhere, as a white executive director, I am acutely aware that nearly 90 percent of all nonprofit executive directors or presidents are white. In my field, environmental conservation and outdoor recreation, people of color hold just 12 percent of staff positions, and participants in outdoor recreation programs overwhelmingly identify as white.”

·         “When we place the onus on marginalized people to “just do it,” we ignore the systems of oppression that have created barriers to accessibility.”

·         “Addressing a DEI leadership vacuum at the top of organizational hierarchies is the work of those in positions of power. If the executive director, CEO, or president is not conscious of the dynamics of oppression operating within their organization and committed to making change, even well-meaning efforts are bound to fail.”