Create * Space * So * We * Can * Lead
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58% of people of color expressed an interest in becoming a leader in their nonprofit
Recent studies have found that people of color are underrepresented in nonprofit leadership, making up just 8% of executive directors nationwide.
Out of all respondents in the Race to Lead survey, 58% of people of color expressed an interest in becoming a leader in their nonprofit, while only 38% of white respondents said the same.
We have had a long and difficult year. We are dealing with loss, trauma, and some new anxieties due to pandemic stress. But I’m not talking about something new or due to pandemic stress here. I’m talking about something we’ve been struggling with since before the pandemic and now we in the bipoc community have pandemic stress on top of this.
I see nonprofits taking steps to make sure they’re being more inclusive in the nonprofit sector. It brings me joy. But at the end of the day, it’s not about what other nonprofit leaders are doing. It’s not even about what our future non profit is doing. It’s about what I’m doing as a human, who has endured racism, to create a world where bipoc will never have to endure it themselves, especially the underhanded microaggressions that typically get ignored.
Standing up for the bipoc community isn’t new to me. My natural hair journey started before the hype. It started when I finally found a black hairdresser who taught me to love my hair in all its beauty. She wouldn’t even touch my head with harmful chemicals. I needed that. But the one workplace I worked at didn’t make frizzy hair welcome. They said things like, “just cut it,” “Just style it,” “well, I use products and heat in my hair… “ I heard whispers and such that I also ignored. At that point there was no movement to support my natural hair journey. Not only was there no movement to give me some semblance of support, I am also mixed, raised by a white mom, who worked hard on doing my hair for years, even so there wasn’t a lot of accessible information that would…
