Many organizations talk a good game when it comes to diversity, but talking about diversity and achieving it are two different things. Too often diversity is that item on the "to do" list that the board talks about but never seems to be able to achieve. Or, perhaps more damaging, diversity is really nothing more that tokenism, where one person is brought on to represent the needs and voice of all people of color, all economically disadvantaged individuals, or all clients.
Here are a few lessons we took away from the study:
· The board needs to come to a shared understanding of why diversity is important to their work and the organization and carefully articulate a commitment to it. Ideally you should be able to put together a statement that can describe: "Here's what achieving diversity would look like on our board," (a vision for diversity) and "this is why it is important to us" (to include a description of the benefits).
· You need a detailed plan of action to become inclusive. This is more than just a plan for how you go about recruiting—it is a plan for how you will recruit, welcome, orient, engage, communicate, include in leadership, reduce barriers, and evaluate.
· There needs to be a process and some frank discussion about board culture and potential barriers to inclusion. The board should be able to address issues identified from answering the question, "What are we doing now in how we operate, how we meet, and how we work together that could be barriers to the kinds of individuals we want to attract and retain on our board?"
· Ensure that you are providing paths to leadership within your board that offer all members of your board the opportunity to build their skills and move into leadership positions. A sign that real inclusiveness on a board has been achieved is when diversity is achieved among its leadership.
· Recruitment efforts must be specifically targeted to reach and be effective with the individuals you hope to bring on board. Your traditional recruitment strategies may not work here. Often times you will have to build links to the communities from which you hope to recruit, and you need to be prepared to take the time to build new relationships.
· A commitment to diversity is not a short-term, one-time event. If you are true to your vision of a diverse board, you'll find that diversity can't be achieved, maintained, and truly lived through a one time recruitment effort.
These are just a few of the conclusions that we drew from the BoardSource study. The big lesson was that people of color join boards for the same reason all people do—because they care about the mission of the organization. So if you can remove the barriers to inclusion, and build a board culture that truly embraces diversity, then it comes down to doing the same thing you need to do with all board members: help them find meaningful engagement in the work of the organization, and give them the support and the tools they need to achieve success.
Look for other advice about recruitment and board and/or advisory committee governance on Starboard's blog or contact us at (207) 992-4400. We would love to hear from you!
