Nekya Johnson is Director of Community Impact & Grantmaking and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Diva at the Community Foundation of Snohomish County. She asked how should could help get the word out about our fall learning series that centers equity and belonging. I am very grateful that she took time to write a guest blog post on why this work matters.
I once heard someone say, “nonprofit leaders and stakeholders are the superheroes of the world because the world looks to them to solve everyday problems that government can’t solve.” Not sure how true those words are but I do know that most nonprofit leaders and consultants are White and hold power and privilege that influences who gets access to life changing resources. According to the Nonprofit Quarterly, more than 80% of U.S. nonprofits are led by White leaders. This chilling statistic means White nonprofit leaders and consultants cannot afford to “other” their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, mission, and work.
It is my hope that nonprofit allies like Nancy Bacon continue to push themselves to find innovative ways to leverage their privilege and create brave spaces to call in allies, call out White supremacy, and remove barriers. In case you did not know – racism, sexism, and ableism are not societal barriers that exist outside the nonprofit space which means there is no space for allies to “bury their head in the sand.” It is my hope that registered attendees for the Designing Learning Spaces for Belonging workshop series will come with an appetite to learn new strategies for centering their DEI goals and prioritizing their commitment to remove systemic barriers that hinder BIPOC, diversely abled, and underserved populations. After learning about new strategies and making time to unpack the lessons learned from the 3—part workshop series led by the following facilitators with lived experience: (Roo Qallaq (Racial Equity workshop on 9/27), Elizabeth Ralston (Accessibility workshop on 10/27) and Danielle Gines/Margaret Schulte (Culture and Language Diversity on 11/16). I am confident attendees will strengthen their “ally muscle” and walk away with tools and information to better support diverse, under-served communities in need of resources.
The series begins on September 27. Register today to save your spot.