Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nonprofit Leadership: Research on Gaps and Progress

The nonprofit sector in the United States occupies an often-contradictory position: organizations with explicit missions of equity, justice, and community wellbeing are frequently led by people who do not reflect the communities they serve. Research on leadership diversity in the nonprofit sector documents persistent and significant racial disparities in organizational leadership, particularly at the executive director and board chair levels, that have proven resistant to change despite decades of sector attention. Understanding what the evidence shows about the extent of these gaps, their causes, and what interventions show promise for producing meaningful progress is essential for a sector that claims equity as a core value. Survey research on the demographic composition of nonprofit leadership has been conducted periodically by sector associations and independent researchers. Studies consistently find that white leaders are significantly overrepresented relative to their share of the general population, while leaders of color are underrepresented, particularly in larger organizations, more established organizations, and organizations with larger budgets. The disparity is most pronounced in the chief executive role: research finds that approximately 80 to 90 percent of nonprofit chief executives are white, while the populations that nonprofits serve are often majority people of color. Compensation disparities compound the leadership representation gaps. Research on nonprofit executive compensation finds that executives of color, even controlling for organization size, budget, and sector, earn less than white executives on average. These disparities reflect multiple contributing factors including the concentration of executives of color in smaller organizations with smaller budgets, discriminatory compensation practices, and the lower salaries in some specialty areas where executives of color are overrepresented. Compensation gaps contribute to retention challenges for talented leaders of color who may have better financial opportunities elsewhere. Pipeline explanations for leadership diversity gaps, which attribute underrepresentation to insufficient numbers of qualified candidates of color in the talent pipeline, are challenged by research on the actual pipeline. Studies find that people of color are well-represented in entry and mid-level nonprofit positions, in graduate social work and nonprofit management programs, and in community leadership roles, but that they are promoted to senior and executive roles at lower rates than white counterparts with comparable qualifications. This pattern suggests that pipeline deficits are not the primary explanation for leadership gaps, and that organizational practices around recruitment, promotion, and compensation are more important factors. Research on the organizational practices associated with successful diversity in nonprofit leadership finds that intentional practices make a meaningful difference. Organizations that include diversity criteria in executive recruitment processes, that actively recruit from diverse networks rather than relying on referrals from predominantly white professional networks, that provide culturally competent supervision and support for emerging leaders of color, and that create accountability mechanisms for diversity progress show better outcomes than those that approach diversity as aspirational without structural support. Organizational culture is another significant factor. Research on the experiences of leaders of color in predominantly white nonprofit organizations finds patterns of isolation, microaggressions, lack of support, and differential treatment that contribute to turnover. Retention is as important as recruitment for building a diverse leadership pipeline, and organizations that invest in creating inclusive cultures where leaders of color can thrive produce better long-term outcomes than those that focus primarily on recruitment without addressing retention factors. Board composition affects hiring and organizational direction in ways that research has documented. Boards that are themselves predominantly white tend to hire white chief executives and may have blind spots about the value of diverse leadership. Research on the relationship between board diversity and executive hire diversity finds that more racially diverse boards are more likely to hire chief executives of color. This finding has practical implications for board recruitment as a lever for improving organizational leadership diversity. Funders have both the incentive and the capacity to support nonprofit diversity, but research on funder practices finds persistent disparities in funding to organizations led by people of color. Studies of foundation grantmaking find that organizations with BIPOC leadership receive less total funding, smaller grants, and more restricted grants than organizations with comparable work and comparable demographic characteristics led by white executives. Funder commitments to equity in grantmaking represent a significant opportunity to shift resource flows in ways that could support organizations led by people of color and disrupt cycles of underfunding.