Leadership in the voluntary and charity sector

Fewer than 1 in 10 employees in the voluntary sector are from a BAME background 10% and are therefore not representative of the communities that rely on these organisations for support.  A third of the largest charities have all-white senior leadership teams and boards. In order to promote better outcomes for communities this level of underrepresentation will need to shift.

The #charitysowhite movement, has given a voice to BAME people working in the charity sector and empowered them to highlight their experiences of discrimination.

Partnership projects between ACEVO and Voice4Change England have developed greater communication on inclusivity, with greater training provisions and workshops created to remove  unconscious bias from the sector and some charitable funders are now asking charities to include details of diversity on their boards as part of funding applications which is encouraging but needs to occur more consistently.

In its recent report 'Home Truths: undoing racism and delivering diversity in the charity sector' by ACEVO the online survey of BAME people showed that racism was a significant feature of their charity life:

• 68% of respondents (335 out of 489 people) said that they had experienced, witnessed or heard stories about racism in their time in the charity sector.
• 50% of respondents (246 people out of 490) felt that they needed to ‘tone down’ behaviour or to be on their ‘best behaviour’ in order to fit in in the charity sector

In terms of direct experiences of racism:

• 222 people had been subject to ignorant or insensitive questioning about their culture or religion.
• 147 people had been treated as an intellectual inferior.
• 114 respondents had been subject to excessive surveillance and scrutiny by colleagues, managers or supervisors.

These experiences cause harm.

• 116 people stated that direct experiences of racism had had a negative or very negative impact on their health and emotional wellbeing.
• A further 94 respondents who had experienced racism said that it had had a negative or very negative impact on their ‘desired career path’.

Resources

• Read the Home Truths: undoing racism and delivering diversity in the charity sector.
• Listen to a discussion on the report here: on #SoundCloud.
• Video - How to get serious about Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
• Video - Colour Blind or Brave
• The Colour of Power:

The subject of race can be very touchy. As finance executive Mellody Hobson says, it's a "conversational third rail." But, she says, that's exactly why we need to start talking about it. In this engaging, persuasive talk, Hobson makes the case that speaking openly about race — and particularly about diversity in hiring -- makes for better businesses and a better society.

Organisations will need to evaluate where their organisation is now in order to understand where it needs to go next, for example, do you have a diverse leadership and senior management team?