By Marissa Lewis and Molly Penn Take a good look around and you will see lots of new faces in leadership in the nonprofit sector. We have reached a sea change moment that has long been predicted, but seems to be in the process of finally unfolding. Many nonprofit leaders (quite a few of whom […]
IDEA
We tend to think of strategic planning as a long process comprising many meetings among internal stakeholders (board and staff) working together diligently to turn their intentions into clear strategy to propel the work. Often, we recognize we need the help of a consultant to add discipline to our thinking, create the process that will
By Sofiya Cheyenne More than 1.3 billion people today live with a disability. This is 17 percent of the global population, making disabled people the largest minority group in the world. Yet when we think of underrepresented minorities, people living with disabilities rarely enter the picture. We’re getting better at being allies for People of
“I am deeply moved by our ambition and desire to be seen and heard and valued in our full embodied excellence.” —Tema Okun, professor at Duke University, author, speaker, and writer As a white accomplice leading a diverse consulting firm that provides diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) services, I am keenly aware of how
Today there are increasing discussions around these power dynamics in fundraising, accelerated by the social justice movement of 2020. This article will explore how approaching grantmaking through a lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) helps to dismantle traditional power imbalances.
by Molly Penn We’ve been going over all of our “traditional” organizational development practices with a fine tooth comb to build the IDEA lens into everything we do with clients. This article focuses on strategic planning and how to rethink the process of planning so the result is a plan that furthers the organization’s IDEA
by Marita Phelps and Molly Penn Many of us are asking ourselves, in both our personal lives and professional roles: What can I do to end racism and create equity for people of color? Last year, many formerly complacent Americans woke up. The deaths of people like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Garner, and Tamir
By Molly Penn and Sofiya Cheyenne “They’re a great culture fit.” Have you truly considered what you mean when you play the culture fit card? The notion of “culture fit” has been exposed for what it is – a way of upholding white supremacist, ableist culture in organizations. By definition, culture refers to the collective
by Molly Penn and Marita Phelps To what degree is your leadership structure the result of intentional design? Change—even forced change—is good: It makes us reimagine our future, innovate and adapt, and learn new skills to thrive. It is difficult for many executives to emerge from the daily hustle and take a step back. One
In the 2020 workplace, people are fully showing up. Your employees are juggling more today than ever before, attempting to work, parent, teach, and survive—all while isolated from critical community resources and support. In this new working normal, how are you creating an environment where employees feel safe, seen, heard, and respected?
A global pandemic, an economic recession and an exploding social justice movement are convergent forces calling on nonprofit leaders, funders and consultants to do our work differently going forward. For the first time in modern memory, we have an opportunity to reevaluate all of our assumptions, perceptions, procedures and systems.