Your board is diverse. Great from September Voice 2022

Your board is diverse. Great.

But do board members feel they belong?

It’s a given that nonprofit boards should reflect the diversity of the community they serve in all its hues, and for good reason.

People who have been marginalized — whether because of color, sexual orientation, disability or some other characteristic — bring life experiences that the white middle-class professionals who constitute the vast majority of board members simply can’t fathom.

But there’s a distinction between a board that’s diverse and one where all members feel in their bones that they belong. Too often, once the diversity box is checked, the new board member is left to sink or swim with little nurturing from board colleagues, becoming a casualty of tokenism. It doesn’t have to be that way, however.

Here are some tips to help your board cultivate a culture of belonging.

Recruit the whole person

Jim Taylor, the former vice president of leadership initiatives and education at BoardSource and now chief equity officer at the Urban Institute, writes of his experience being recruited by a White board member to join a board that wanted to become more diverse. When Taylor asked the White recruiter what value he thought Taylor could bring to the board, the man couldn’t answer. Taylor’s conclusion: “I was being recruited because — and seemingly only because — I was Black, and my board membership would support the organization’s board diversity goals.”

The antidote: Recruit the person for skills and life experience, not just race. And do your homework before making your pitch — learn about the value the board candidate brings to the role. If you’re serious about getting the best qualified person as well as diversity, very often, one person can help you achieve both goals. You just have to be intentional about it.

Assign a board buddy

This ought to be part of the standard onboarding process for everyone. According to Taylor, a buddy gives a new board member someone “to contact with questions and/or ideas that they may initially feel more comfortable sharing one-on-one” than in a meeting with the full board.

Listen

We claim we want our boards to reflect the community, but diversity only matters if diverse voices are listened to. For diversity to matter, it’s essential that people of different colors, sexual orientations and abilities know that their ideas matter. So, listen carefully. And follow up with questions that encourage diverse board members to elaborate — good follow-up questions convey respect

Watch your language

All organizations develop their own language—the mix of jargon, acronyms and technical terms that makes it easy for insiders to communicate quickly with one another. But insider-speak is by nature exclusionary. And that’s a problem for nonprofit boards. Brad Roos, president of Sustain Rockford and a longtime nonprofit executive, recalls the reaction of veteran directors when a board added community members. “The board went ‘all business,’” he said. “The conversation didn’t track with those (new) folks.”

It was a case of experienced board members going to where they were at ease. “When people are uncomfortable, they go to their happy place,” he said.

The moral of the story: Ask yourself whether your language is accessible to all. Better yet, commit to speaking in plain English.

Make sure social events are inclusive

Taylor encourages boards to make social events welcoming to people of color and to rethink them if they’re not.

These tips are common sense, not rocket science. But they provide some simple ways you can make sure that all members feel at home on your board. That’s what belonging feels like, after all.

Mark Baldwin coordinates the team of consultants in the professional services group at the Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence. For questions, email nicne.niu@gmail.com.

The views expressed are those of Baldwin and do not necessarily reflect those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.