Top Tips on Inclusion for Nonprofits
Inclusion is more than a guiding principle — it's a strategic imperative for nonprofits aiming to truly resonate and engage with diverse communities.
This session on Inclusion facilitated by Rose Genele and hosted by The Good Growth Company focused on empowering leaders within these organizations to deepen their understanding and implementation of inclusive practices.
Read on for the top essential insights to ensure your organization embraces and exemplifies inclusion at every level. Equip yourself with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of inclusion, enhancing your organization’s culture and extending its impact.
Key Takeaways
Understanding Inclusion
Rose provided a comprehensive understanding of inclusion by emphasizing its importance in decision-making processes that affect diverse backgrounds. She stressed creating an environment where everyone feels valued, heard and empowered to contribute while ensuring that policies resonate with the communities served by nonprofits.
Defining Nonprofits
Rose defined nonprofits as entities organized for purposes other than generating profit such as charities or social enterprises focused on areas like religion or public safety. She emphasized that nonprofits vary in size from small local organizations to large international groups with budgets ranging from hundreds to millions of dollars.
Importance of Inclusion in Nonprofits
Rose discussed why inclusion is crucial for nonprofits despite their focus on addressing social inequities. She highlighted challenges such as lack of structured approaches towards inclusion efforts within smaller organizations or those not directly related to diversity issues. These are some practical ways through which non-profits can ensure inclusivity across various aspects including governance equity, program accessibility etc., thereby fostering an inclusive organizational culture conducive to all members irrespective of their background.
Leadership Team Expertise
Rose emphasized the importance of including executives with diverse expertise such as technology, finance, and marketing in the leadership team to benefit the organization. She highlighted the significance of considering the diversity of expertise within non-profits, including experience working at different types of non-profits with various missions.
Inclusive Language
Rose discussed inclusive language and its role in promoting equality and social inclusion. She addressed challenges related to gendered languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese. Additionally, she provided examples of inclusive language usage to avoid perpetuating prejudice or stigma.
Inclusion from Leadership
Rose stressed that leaders play a pivotal role in fostering an inclusive organizational culture by embodying and modelling inclusive behaviour through their actions and decisions. She highlighted the responsibility of leaders to systematically integrate inclusivity into processes, policies, and ways of working.
Intentional Approach
Emphasizing intentionality in supporting equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), Rose underscored that it is crucial for nonprofit leaders to pursue EDI with deep intentionality rather than merely expressing support without concrete actions.
Open Discussions & Education Sessions
The importance of having open discussions on inclusion was emphasized by creating a safe space for conversations among stakeholders from across organizations. Furthermore, Rose suggested educating board members, stakeholders, and staff about inclusion as a way to signal its importance within the organization.
Equity Audit Importance
The significance of conducting an equity audit was highlighted by Rose as a means of identifying existing practices contributing to inclusion and guiding future efforts toward meaningful change. She emphasized the need for willingness and intentionality toward change in organizational culture and practices.
Development of Inclusion Plan
The importance of developing an inclusion plan was stressed by Rose as a means of taking accountability on the journey towards inclusivity. She mentioned the need for documenting progress and setting specific goals, and actions while ensuring vested involvement from stakeholders, especially leadership.
Role of Funders
Funders were highlighted by Rose to play a key role in supporting organizations committed to inclusion by supporting such organizations and having conversations with grantees about their work to drive a better understanding across sectors funded primarily by them. Rose suggested that funders have the privilege and significance to indicate prioritization of inclusion based on who they choose to fund.
Equity Audit Resources
Rose suggests consulting with a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultant or firm to conduct an equity audit. She emphasizes the importance of seeking external support for this process and encourages reaching out to DEI consulting practices for assistance.
Accountability in Equity Initiatives
Rose stresses the significance of accountability in driving progress towards equity goals. She recommends establishing an equity working group to implement plans and track progress, citing research that supports the effectiveness of such groups in fostering change within organizations. Additionally, she highlights leadership support, staff buy-in, and board engagement as crucial enablers of DEI practices.
Getting Started with Inclusion
Rose advises initiating inclusion efforts by defining its meaning within the organization's context and evaluating how it aligns with organizational values. She underscores the importance of considering diversity comprehensively while committing to well-defined policies addressing inclusion, diversity, and equity together. Furthermore, she emphasizes swift responses to concerns related to inclusion issues along with investing in capacity building through intentional hiring practices.
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Answering Your Questions
Learn from this summary of the insights shared during the Q&A portion of the session.
Barriers to Inclusivity
In response to a question about barriers hindering inclusivity efforts within organizations, Rose identifies obtaining buy-in from leadership as one major obstacle due to its pivotal role in driving inclusive environments. She stresses that securing leaders' commitment is essential for embedding inclusive practices effectively throughout an organization.
Best Practices & Industry Standards
When asked about best-in-class industry standards or exemplary organizations excelling at inclusion, Rose refrains from singling out specific entities but emphasizes maintaining healthy skepticism while striving toward continuous improvement without idealizing any particular organization. She advocates extending grace both internally among team members as well as externally when assessing other organizations' inclusivity efforts.
Inclusion Initiatives
Rose emphasized the importance of creating space for discussion within nonprofit organizations to kick off change management processes. She suggested starting by asking open-ended questions about existing policies and values around inclusion, encouraging dialogue and reflection on current practices.
Tailoring DEI Programs
Rose highlighted the significance of understanding stakeholder priorities to tailor diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in nonprofit organizations. By gathering feedback through surveys or other accessible means, nonprofits can identify areas where they can make the most impact without stretching their resources thin.
Measuring Inclusion
The discussion touched upon measuring inclusion within an organization. It was suggested that focusing on recruitment retention rates and analyzing demographic breakdowns could provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of inclusion initiatives. Additionally, soliciting both qualitative and quantitative feedback from communities served was recommended as a means to gauge observed changes resulting from inclusion efforts.
Reaching Out for Recruitment Support
Rose offered advice on reaching out to corporations with offerings of diverse talent recruitment support. She proposed personalizing outreach based on a corporation's public commitment to diversity and inclusivity or leveraging professional associations' shared commitments as potential conversation starters when approaching corporations for support in this area.
What’s Next
The New Face of Inclusion Summit Being Intentional About the Business of Inclusion
Join us on September 13-14, 2024 for an unparalleled gathering at the forefront of transformative leadership.
Under the guiding theme of Being Intentional About the Business of Inclusion, this event is for visionary leaders from both growing startups and established enterprises. Inclusive leadership goes beyond just doing what's right and is a pivotal part of succeeding in the contemporary global market.
Through a series of keynotes, workshops, panels, and networking opportunities, you'll develop your leadership skills, and gain insights into embedding inclusivity into your leadership and business strategies. Transform your leadership effectiveness, and corporate culture, to drive innovation.
Learn more and get in touch.
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