by Mike Gallagher for the CMF NewsWire
Posted 1/14/10

Comparative demographic research data on diversity within Michigan, California and New York foundations collected in 2009 shows board trustees are predominantly white and over 60 years old; CEOs are mostly white and middle-aged; and staff members below senior management level are more diverse than at any time in history.

Those findings confirm what many leaders in the field assumed to be the case.

What’s most valuable, however, is that through the efforts of the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF), Philanthropy New York and three California regional associations of grantmakers, the first sets of regional or state demographic data on foundations trustees, staff and, for Michigan, youth grantmakers, forms the first step toward creating a baseline against which to measure changes in the future.

Lawrence T. McGill, the Foundation Center’s senior vice president of research says these studies are among “the most far-reaching and important work ever done on diversity and inclusion in the field.

“The three states’ data gives us a unique perspective on the current state of diversity and inclusion in philanthropy today,” adds McGill. “We’ve never before had this type, quantity and quality of data that is being brought to the table.”

The Foundation Center has created three sub-committees to move its diversity effort forward.

“One will work to create a standard set of metrics for foundations, another for nonprofits and the third will look for a standard way of assessing who benefits from diverse foundations and their grantmaking,” says McGill.

“I expect to make progress on all three of those areas in the next six to 12 months,” he adds, noting that financial support for this work has been provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Kimberly Roberson, program director for the Mott Foundation, says, “Helping fund the Foundation Center project is a natural extension of supporting CMF’s valuable diversity and inclusion work here in Michigan. It allows the rich data that CMF has developed to be joined with other states so we can get a national picture of what is going on in the field…and great new tools and best practices can then be developed in this area for everyone.”

Data comparisons between the three demographic studies – MI, CA & NY – are still under way, notes McGill.

“I can say from what we’ve seen so far in the MI-NY-CA studies that it is surprising that there are not that many foundations regularly collecting information about their own diversity or that of other nonprofits in regards to boards and staff,” says McGill.

CMF A Diversity Leader

CMF’s Board of Trustees is making diversity and inclusion one of its top priorities, according to President & CEO Robert S. Collier.

CMF launched a six-year initiative (2008-2013) entitled: Transforming Michigan Philanthropy Through Diversity and Inclusion (TMP) with a goal of increasing the effectiveness of organized philanthropy in Michigan.

As part of that effort, CMF in 2008 commissioned the Community Research Institute (CRI) at the Johnson Center at Grand Valley State University to design and conduct the first demographic survey of Michigan foundation trustees, employees and community foundation youth advisory committee members.

Eighty-nine foundations from all CMF constituencies – community, corporate, family, independent and others – responded to the survey.

A priority for the survey was determining the demographic makeup and tenure of foundation leaders; those individuals serving as board chairs and CEOs.

The survey found that the age of board chairs ranged from 35 to 92 years old and CEOs from ages 32 to 92, with the averages being 62 and 56, respectively. Tenure of board chairs ranged from one year to 51 years, while CEOs held their positions from only months to 32 years with an average of 14 and 10 years respectively.

The racial makeup of board chairs showed 79 – or 90% of those surveyed – were white; eight were African-Americans; and one indicated “another race”. For CEOs, 75 were white, four were African-Americans, and two were Asian-Americans. There was no representation of native Americans/Alaska natives or native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders.

The survey also found that there was more racial diversity among board chairs and CEOs in southern Michigan than in northern parts of the state and there was greater racial diversity among younger and less tenured CEOs. Additionally, very few board chairs had a disability.

The portion of the survey centering on trustees and staff other than board chairs and CEOs found that participating foundations had a total of 1,007 board members (ranging from two to 50 members on each board). Those foundations had 93 individuals at the level of vice president or higher (not including CEOs) averaging one per organization. Below the vice president level, foundations reported employing 566 full-time and 89 part-time employees (an average of six and one per foundation, respectively).

The data showed that, on average, women made up 40% of board members. In contrast, the average foundation staff was predominantly female, especially below the vice president level. There also was a low minority representation among executive staff (2.4% Hispanic/Latino/Latina and 6.3% African-American, on average.) For trustees, 1.1% were Hispanic/Latino/Latina and 8% were African-American, on average. Persons with disabilities and non-native English speakers made up a low percentage of boards and staffs.

Under a “Policy and Grantmaking” section of the survey, only one-quarter of respondents indicated having specific goals, policies or guidelines regarding staff diversity, while 43% had policies on board diversity and 20% on executive diversity

In a comparison of foundations with and without those policies, an analysis found that 43% of foundations with board diversity policies appeared to have more racially/ethnically diverse boards and 25% with staff diversity policies had more racially/ethnically diverse full-time and part-time staff.

In a second, related CRI survey focusing on community foundation youth advisory committee (YAC) members, it was found that females accounted for the majority of YAC members; more than 80% were over 15 years old; 80% of YAC members were white, 7% were African-American, 7% Hispanic/Latino/Latina, and 3% were Native American.

What The Data Means For Michigan Philanthropy

“What this all means for Michigan is we need to have a fresh, new outlook on how, why and whom we select as our foundation trustees and top administrators and bring that leadership in line with the growing number of diverse staff throughout the sector,” says Carol Goss, president & CEO of The Skillman Foundation and chair of CMF’s Governance Committee and TMP Advisory Committee.

Sterling K. Speirn, president & CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, CMF trustee and TMP Advisory Committee member, is a long-time advocate of philanthropic diversity and inclusion.

“Our vision (for the Transforming Michigan Philanthropy initiative) is for foundations to be a catalyst for positive social change to transform Michigan communities…and to increase the effectiveness of organized philanthropy in Michigan,” says Speirn.

“This research will guide our future actions as to our individual hiring, strategic planning and grantmaking to make us a champion of diversity in our sector. I can think of no better way for us to be that catalyst than to increase our number of representative voices reflecting our society as a whole. It has to begin with us.”

Fellow TMP Advisory Committee Member Douglas Bitonti Stewart, executive director of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, agrees.

“The findings clearly show the need for a more reflective and determined effort at increasing diversity at all levels of foundations,” says Stewart.

Collier says the CMF’s board commitment to fostering a more diverse philanthropic sector “is grounded in the connection between diversity and inclusion and foundation effectiveness.

“We believe that diversifying perspectives, talent and experience can help ensure philanthropy’s continued leadership in today’s rapidly changing society,” notes Collier, who adds that CMF’s trustees since 2002 have passed seven resolutions supporting diversity and inclusion.

Vicki Rosenberg, vice president, education, communications and external relations, and Kimberly Burton, vice president, corporate services and director of diversity and inclusive practices, are co-leaders of TMP.

“Having a baseline against which to plan and measure change over time is vital,” says Rosenberg. “Being one of three states collecting this data for the first time made it possible for us to strengthen our understanding of the sector in Michigan and make an important contribution to the first wave of collecting comparable state-by-state data that can inform work across the country.”

“We recognize that the changing demographics of our state and the communities served by foundations make it more important than ever to attract new, diverse leaders and staff who can bring unique perspectives to the table to help address the many issues impacting us today,” says Burton.

California Diversity Study

Joining CMF in leading the research effort to inform voluntary efforts to increase diversity in the philanthropic sector are three partnering California regional associations for foundations – Northern California Grantmakers (NCG), Southern California Grantmakers (SCG) and San Diego Grantmakers (SDG) who commissioned their state study – along with Philanthropy New York (PNY). NCG led the California initiative.

NCG launched its diversity research project after a controversial effort by California’s Greenlining Institute to pass state legislation called AB 624 which would have mandated foundations and their nonprofit grantees to publicly disclose wide-ranging diversity data in areas of staffing, board makeup, grantees, grants and more.

That legislation was withdrawn after a group of the state’s top foundations – called the Foundation Coalition – came up with a plan to strengthen nonprofit organizations serving low-income and minority communities.

NCG’s study, published in 2009, reports findings on baseline data from 115 California foundations – 90 independent and 25 community foundations – on the demographic composition of their boards and staffs and on the types of diversity-related data collection and grantmaking in which they are involved.

The research highlights include:

• People of color make up 14% of board members, 14% %of chief executives, 24% of executive level staff, and 45% of administrative and support staff at the independent California foundations surveyed.
• Among all staff at the surveyed independent foundations, women outnumbered men by more than two to one – white women make up 41% of staff, followed by women of color (28%), white men (18%), and men of color (13%).
• One quarter of staffed independent foundations (25%) have policies regarding staff diversity, while 17% of all independent foundations surveyed have policies regarding board diversity.
• Few foundations had “specific policies, goals, or guidelines” in place regarding either grantmaking that serves people of color (13%) or grantmaking to organizations led by people of color (8%).

Colin Lacon, NCG’s president & CEO, says, “On the whole, the findings from this study suggest that the surveyed foundations have taken some important steps in addressing diversity-related issues.

“The staffs of these foundations increasingly mirror the diversity of the state: women of color constitute the second largest demographic group behind white women (outnumbering both white men and men of color), and nearly one-quarter of chief executives hired since 2001 have been people of color.

“It is also worth keeping in mind that most of the surveyed foundations (69%) are family foundations that may be operating under some historical constraints regarding such things as board composition and philanthropic mission,” he adds.

New York Study

Ronna Brown, president of Philanthropy New York, says the results of the foundation diversity demographic study for her state did not surprise her.

“At the program officer level there is a lot of diversity and inclusion, but much less the farther you go up the ladder,” says Brown. “Also, a small but significant percentage of nonprofits whose CEOs were white said they considered themselves minority-led because the people they serve are primarily minorities, their boards were primarily people of color or their CEO was a woman. It meant something different to each of them.”

The report – entitled “Benchmarking Diversity: A First Look At New York City Foundations And Nonprofits” - examines the demographics of foundation and nonprofit staff members’ race, gender, sexual orientation and disability status.

It also looks at grantmaking policies and data collection around diversity and inclusion, examines the institutional capacities of nonprofit organizations and looks at the range of ways that nonprofits define themselves as “minority-led.”

Among the PNY research findings:

• Foundations are diverse, but less so at senior staff levels
• Women are in the majority except at the board level
• There are small percentages of LGBT individuals and people with disabilities
• Foundations with diversity policies tend to be more diverse

“We found 43% of all staff at the surveyed foundations are people of color and that ethnic and racial diversity varies by job level,” says Brown. “Nearly half of all administrative and support staff (48%) are people of color, as are 43% of program officers, 30% of executive level staff (excluding CEOs), 16% CEOs, and 18% of board members.”

About 25% of all CEOs hired since 2000 have been people of color, she adds.

Brown says because so little diversity information was known about the nonprofit communities being served by foundations, the study attempted to gather data on NYC nonprofit staffs, boards and populations served.

“We really wanted to determine whether the experiences and needs of ‘minority-led’ organizations differed in important ways from those of non-minority-led organizations,” says Brown. “We are still looking at our data to determine that. We don’t want to draw over-arching conclusions or offer specific recommendations until the Foundation Center has a chance to review our findings.

“We do know, based on our research, that there is definitely a need for more information and suggestions for becoming more diverse and inclusive, especially in our higher executive and board levels,” she notes.