NPQ Webinar: Boards as Social Movement Spaces

On July 28, 2022, the Nonprofit Quarterly presented an intriguing and highly insightful webinar, Changing the Subject: Boards As Social Movement Spaces. It featured Dr. Carmen Rojas, President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Makiyah Moody, Founder and President of Kairos & Heart LLC, and Jenifer Gager Holland, Founder of JLG Consulting. Below is […]

Key Governance Report: Leading With Intent – DEI Provisions

Following up on our post on the recently published Leading With Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices, we explore some of the findings highlighted in BoardSource’s companion report Leading with Intent: Reviewing the State of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Nonprofit Boards. Key Findings Boards may be getting slightly more diverse, but they are far […]

Anchoring Equity in a Mission Statement

Charitable nonprofits are organized and operated to further their tax-exempt missions. For some nonprofits, their mission statement is memorialized in their articles of incorporation and/or bylaws. For others, the mission statement can only be found on their public communications (e.g., website), fundraising materials, and annual information returns (Forms 990). In either case, organizational leaders may […]

Upswell Chicago: Equity in the Center

Equity in the Center’s Pre-Convening to Upswell Chicago was held on November 12, 2019 and provided a day-long, deep dive into how to build a Race Equity Culture. EiC described the convening as follows: Plenary sessions and workshops will focus on how to operationalize race equity, highlighting best practices from EiC’s Awake to Woke to […]

Governance and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – JFKU

I’ll be presenting on Governance and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for The Sanford Institute of Philanthropy and The College of Law at John F. Kennedy University on Thursday, May 2. Recent movements have energized the drive towards greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across our society. Nonprofits have played a major role in these movements, […]

DEI and Fiduciary Duties

The board of directors is the ultimate authority of a nonprofit corporation and ultimately responsible for its activities and affairs. Directors must each meet their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty in their actions and decision-making. They should do so with a focus on furthering the nonprofit’s mission in a manner consistent with the organization’s […]

DEI and Bylaws: Board Composition

As we’ve discussed in a previous post, one way to anchor diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) as a core value of an organization is to include DEI principles and language into an organization’s Bylaws. A common starting place for nonprofit corporations is the composition of the board of directors. Each organization should determine for itself […]