Leadership Registry
In Partnership with MAP for Nonprofits, Creating Opportunity and Equity on Nonprofit and Government Boards
What is Leadership Registry?
The goal of Leadership Registry is to increase the number of women and people of color serving on nonprofit and government boards in the Twin Cities metro area so that boards reflect the diversity of the populations that they serve. We will do this by recruiting, training and placing people on local boards.
Why is Leadership Registry Needed?
The Leadership Registry Research Report (2003) has shown that, when compared to the population demographics of the Twin Cities Metro Area, people of color and women are proportionally under-represented on nonprofit and government boards in our community. Almost one-third of surveyed organizations (28%) had no board members of color and of the 5,986 board members surveyed, only 43% were women. To view the full Leadership Registry Research Report, please click here.
Diverse boards enable organizations to have a significant impact on the community. By reflecting the communities in which they serve, organizations with diverse boards are better able to represent and maintain accountability to the entire community, make more thoughtful and informed decisions about programming and strategic planning and broaden the base of donors and volunteers.
The Leadership Registry Program Model:
The YWCA is recruiting women and people of color with an interest in serving on a nonprofit or government board. Participants fill out an application, send in their resume and conduct a phone interview with MAP for Nonprofits. They are then offered, free of charge, MAP's "Board Boot Camp" training that discusses the roles and responsibilities of being a nonprofit board member.
The YWCA is also recruiting nonprofit and government boards that are interested in diversifying. Each board will be asked to select an ally for new board members and attend a YWCA Unlearning Racism Workshop before board members will be placed.
When a board has an opening, MAP will find candidates whose profiles match the organization's needs and contact them to find out if they are interested in learning more about the board. If the candidate is interested in the board, MAP will send on information about the board to the candidate so they can review the organization's mission statement, time requirements, strategic plan, annual budget, etc. If the candidate decides that this board looks like a good fit for them, MAP will send their resume on to the board. The board will then contact the candidate to start the interview process.
Is Leadership Registry for you?
Are you interested in any of the following?
- Fine tuning your leadership skills
- Providing opportunities for you to network with other leaders
- Involving you in decisions that affect your community
- Sharing your skills, experience, and ideas
- Offering you the chance to give back to the community
- Influencing the $21.6 billion dollars that nonprofits invest in our communities annually
If your organization is struggling to recruit or maintain diverse board members or would like to recruit from a different network of potential board members, then Leadership Registry is appropriate for you.
» Get Involved in Leadership Registry!
Leadership Registry Research Report
Released September, 2003
The YWCA conducted a research report with The Urban Coalition in 2003 to document the number of people of color and women serving on boards in Hennepin County. Our desire was to create baseline data for our community so we could set benchmarks for future years.
A total of 383 nonprofit and government organizations responded to our survey and reported on their 5,986 board members.
Of these board members, 16% are people of color, while 84% are white. Almost one-third of these organizations (28%) have no board members of color and another one third (35%) have only one or two board members of color. Slightly over one third of these organizations (36%) have boards with more than two members of color.
Of the 5,986 board members, 43% are women, while 57% are men. Less than two percent (1.6%) of these organizations have boards with no women and 15% have boards with only one or two women. The vast majority of these boards (84%) have more than two female members.
To view the full report as a pdf file, please click the link below.
» Leadership Registry Report (PDF)