Press Releases

Philanthropy Finding Innovative Ways to Promote Diversity

23 October 2007—Charitable organizations are developing a wide array of strategies to achieve greater diversity among their staffs and boards, advancing the effort to ensure that the U.S. nonprofit sector is more representative of the nation it serves.

A special report published by The Chronicle of Philanthropy profiles the work of nonprofit organizations, including the Ford Foundation, to promote diversity both within their own ranks and the organizations they work with. Examples include:

• A new fellowship program at The Chicago Community Trust that trains minority staff members for senior-level jobs at arts and cultural institutions throughout the city.
• A special initiative of the Council on Foundations that educates grantmakers about the benefits of diversity, provides fellowships for emerging minority nonprofit leaders, and disseminates demographic data about the grant-making field.
• Washington Area Women's Foundation, which has helped promote philanthropy among African-American women by facilitating "giving circles," small networks of neighbors and colleagues who encourage each other to take an active role in philanthropy and make donations to community causes.
• The Denver Foundation, whose Expanding Nonprofit Inclusiveness Initiative provides training sessions and materials to help charities achieve greater diversity among their staffs.

The Chronicle's report also profiled the Ford Foundation's commitment to diversity and the positive impact it has on Ford's programs.

Ford has been a champion of diversity for more than three decades. The report notes that since the early 1970s, Ford has set an example for grantees and other philanthropies by dramatically diversifying its staff and board. Minorities now make up 31 percent of the foundation's professional staff and 40 percent of its board, up from just 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in 1973. Women account for 52 percent of professional staff and 62 percent of the board, up from 23 percent and 13 percent over the same period.

Diversity is especially critical to the work of an organization like the Ford Foundation, whose mission focuses on the needs of marginalized and underserved people—whether shut out from economic opportunity, human rights, or access to education. A diverse board and staff help ensure that the foundation is in touch with these communities and that initiatives designed to serve them are credible and effective. They bring a variety of perspectives to Ford's operations and grant making, and embody the foundation's commitment to achieve excellence by drawing on diverse talent.

Last month, Ford Foundation President Susan V. Berresford was invited to testify before a U.S. Congressional committee about the foundation's track record serving minority and low-income communities. She described how Ford's diverse staff has successfully spurred economic development in urban and rural areas, brought homeownership to tens of thousands of minority and low-income families, strengthened key legal advocacy organizations, and increased access among marginalized groups to higher education.

“I am proud that we have a diversity of grantee partners doing this work with us,” Ms. Berresford said in her testimony. “Only when all sectors of society align resources for equality and fairness will we see lasting results.”

For more information about the Ford Foundation's efforts to promote diversity, read the article from the October 18, 2007 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy: "Ford Foundation Seeks to Set Example for Grantees."

Photo:
Steven Rubin

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.