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October 5, 2023
Advancing DEI Within Boards
5 Barriers, 10 Opportunities
Governance consultant Cathy Trower is the former Board Chair of BoardSource, a leading organization committed to inspiring and supporting nonprofit board leadership. In a June, 2022 blog post, Cathy Trower discusses 5 barriers to advancing DEI within boards followed by 10 opportunities to overcome those barriers.
She describes the 5 barriers in great detail but as a list they are:
Lack of individual board member commitment
Group dynamics
Structural issues
Inertia
The good thing is that there are twice as many opportunities to overcome these barriers and those include:
Articulate "Why" and model commitment
Start small (and then build)
Ask better questions
Provide a roadmap (of sorts)
Be intentional about building a diverse board
Measure and discuss board culture
Ensure work at all levels: individual, committee, board
Suggest readings and videos to stimulate introspection and personal growth
Provide safe and brave spaces for DEI dialogue at meetings, with ground rules
Remove structural barriers
For a detailed description of each of the barriers and opportunities, read the full article by Cathy Trower that is linked here.
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