Foundation leadership doesn’t reflect nation’s diversity

Foundation leadership doesn’t reflect nation’s diversity.

That’s the conclusion stated in a recent report from D5, a national coalition to grow philanthropy’s diversity, equity and inclusion.

The coalition is a group of 18 philanthropic infrastructure organizations – including Ohio Grantmakers Forum – that formed two years ago.

OGF began its focus on diversity and inclusion in Ohio’s foundation community in 2007, at a dinner at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center with keynote speaker Julian Bond.  Over the next five years, OGF:

• Formed a Diversity Task Force to explore how we could define and plan efforts to increase diversity and inclusion;
• Created a standing committee of the board, the Committee on Inclusion;
• Adopted the Diversity in Philanthropy Project’s Diversity Principles and encouraged our members to do likewise;
• Initiated a series of newsletter articles introducing the principles and their application to foundation operations;
• Formed a CEO Leadership Circle, a forum for foundation leaders to share learnings and experiences with their Ohio peers; and
• Gathered information on how the diversity principles are being implemented in Ohio foundations.

This June, we are continuing our work with the launch of a first effort to gather data so we can form our own conclusions about the diversity of the foundations in the Buckeye State. We’ll release our own “state of the work” early in the fall, with data and highlights of current activities, then follow up with a session at our annual conference, Ohio Philanthropy Forward ’12, on November 15 in Cleveland. Stay tuned for more on the report and workshop and contact us if you’re an Ohio foundation interested in the topic.