We began this series by asking the question, “Who is not in your boardroom?” Recently, we posed the follow-up question, “What are the biggest challenges you face in building a board that reflects the diversity of the communities you service?” In a survey of our nonprofit partners, the following four reasons rose to the top, accounting for the majority of responses: Lack of access to […]
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The costs of a diversity quota
Most boards actively seek people of color in their board recruitment and development efforts. But in their pursuit of racial diversity, some boards take an “any person of color will do” approach to grow their board. It is not enough to know that people hold nuanced identities.
The case for Black board leadership
Black people serve on boards. Black people should be considered for nonprofit boards. Black people’s contributions on nonprofit boards should be valued in the same way that contributions from other board members are. Here are three reasons it is important for Black leaders to be in nonprofit boardrooms.
What does it mean to have a board that reflects the community we serve?
Most organizations have a sense of their unique and pressing needs. But over the past two years, the single most common response among the nonprofits we speak to is: “We want to have a board that better reflects the community we serve.” When pressed for more clarity, this typically boils down to wanting more racial and ethnic diversity on the board.
One Year Later: An Update on Our Race Equity Commitment
On June 5th, 2020, I wrote to our community sharing Cause Strategy Partners’ message of solidarity and commitment. We pledged ourselves to an “action-oriented agenda,” promising to leverage “our core knowledge, assets and resources to be a part of the solution.” We also committed to measure our progress and report back in one year. That is my reason for sharing this update today.
3 Data-Driven Resources for Next-Gen Employee Volunteering
Our favorite resources that explore what innovative employee volunteering programs can look like and what it can do for engagement.
BoardLeader Spotlight
Our personal interests and passions are a fuel. When we move them to the forefront, we can engage in a purpose that is unique to each of us. This is what we need and hope for the social good sector and nonprofit leadership. Purpose-driven board leaders have an incredible capacity to transform the board’s ability to accomplish mission. So when […]
An Interview with Our Founder: 1,000 BoardLeaders Elected
As Cause Strategy Partners celebrates 1,000 BoardLead participants elected to nonprofit board positions, Rob Acton, Founder and Principal of Cause Strategy Partners, responds to questions that look back at the firm’s growth, and also looks toward a greater future for the nonprofit sector, galvanized by an injection of motivated leaders. What do you think are a few of the primary […]
On Hope and Leadership
I sat in horror on January 6th with my fellow Americans as we watched scenes of violence, insurrection and white supremacy take place at the Capitol. On January 7th I sat in reflection. Public statements were made, emails poured in, and I was left with an overwhelming sense of despair and uncertainty, asking like many Americans, how do we come […]
Who Joins a Nonprofit Board During a Global Crisis?
During the overwhelming and frightening days of April 2020 — exactly a month after the World Health Organization formally declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic — I was asked by one of Cause Strategy Partners‘ Advisory Board Members if I thought interest in nonprofit board service was likely to decrease because of the risk of nonprofits going under.