Tips for Creating a More Diverse Board

Most foundation boards are overwhelmingly white, and, according to one recent study, trustees may not see that as a problem. But that may be changing. As more foundations make diversity, equity, and inclusion a bigger part of their mission, they are assessing their own diversity, too.

However, foundations don’t end up with diverse boards by happenstance. First, leaders must commit to including people of different races, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds, and abilities. Then leaders must take concrete steps to attract a diverse set of board candidates.

Three grant makers, the Meyer, Skillman, and W.K. Kellogg foundations, have revamped their boards to ensure the governing bodies reflect people from many backgrounds. We asked leaders from each organization what they would recommend to other groups aiming to do the same. Here’s what they shared.

There’s no ‘right’ way to diversify your board.

Grant makers that commit to diversifying their boards should be ready to put the time in for what could be a “long learning journey,” says Tonya Allen, president of the Skillman Foundation. During the past 10 years, the Detroit foundation’s board has, by some measures, become more diverse. It was heavily weighted toward men a decade ago, and now it is almost evenly split between men and women. During the same time period, black people have gone from a minority to a majority on the 13-person board.

What the board will look like in a decade and how the foundation will use governance and recruitment policies to ensure diversity on its board remain to be seen, Allen says. There are no set parameters for board composition, she says. “We don’t actually know what we should look like at the end of this,” she says. “That’s something that has to evolve as we learn.”

Be open to a broad definition of diversity.

Nicky Goren, who helped shape the Meyer Foundation’s new commitment to equity when she became president five years ago, warns that a diverse board shouldn’t simply be a “numbers game.” A diverse board can mean more of a mix of racial backgrounds and more balanced gender representation, but it can also mean the inclusion of people with different perspectives on the foundation’s work or a set of skills and experiences not found among other board members.”The mistake a lot of organizations make is thinking about diversity very narrowly in terms of the color of people’s skin or their gender, as opposed to their different life experiences and how they contribute to the work of the board,” she says.

Take stock of the board to understand what is lacking.

Since deciding to make racial equity a primary goal of the foundation, Meyer’s board each year conducts a “gap analysis” of its trustees to determine who may be underrepresented. Doing so has helped the board move from having only two people of color to having the majority of its 10 board seats held by people of color.

The gap analyses have discovered other deficiencies, too. For instance, they prompted Meyer to recruit trustees who represented each of the jurisdictions where the foundation makes grants. Meyer supports organizations throughout the Washington, D.C., area, but until recently it did not have a board member from Prince Georges County, a majority-black county that borders the city.

To achieve a more diverse board, Meyer re-examined its criteria for membership. For years, the default was to invite chief executives of local companies. Usually the candidates were relatively old white men, all running in the same circles, Goren says. To attract people with different backgrounds, Meyer dropped the CEO criteria and scrapped expectations that a trustee have a certain educational pedigree or be above a certain age.

Cast a wider net.

Meyer’s governance committee was encouraged to go “three circles out” of its normal orbit to find new board prospects. Doing so allowed them to build relationships with people who were not on their radar, including two current members with community-organizing backgrounds.

To attract a wider selection of potential trustees, Skillman ended its relationship with a search firm and brought board recruitment in-house. An outside consultant, Allen says, might view diversity in terms of meeting a quota of people with select characteristics.

Handling recruitment internally allowed the foundation to make sure candidates were not only highly skilled but were truly representative of the people the foundation serves — meaning, for instance, that they live or work in the same neighborhoods or have the same racial background as the foundation’s beneficiaries.

Allen says it’s important not to outsource “what should be pouring through our DNA” as a foundation focused on equity.

Kellogg, on the other hand, continues to use headhunters to fill open board seats, but they often have to tell the consultants to slow down. As a result both the search firms and potential board members say the process takes a lot longer than it used to. A search firm often will try to wrap things up quickly, says Kellogg board chair Rick Tsoumas. They’ll say, “Here’s a bunch of resumes, boom, let’s go: Pick one or two, and we’ll interview them.’ ”

Often, Tsoumas says, resumes have a lot of “fluff” but show very little in the way of commitment to fostering diversity and equity. He and his colleagues want to find diverse leaders who are committed to their guiding principles, he says. They’ve had to work extra hard to convey to search firms exactly what they want, he says.

“There are a lot of great high-profile candidates, but we’re not looking for high-profile candidates. We’re looking for the most authentic, community-engaged people that we can find that support and are aligned with our values.”

During the past 30 years, Kellogg has gone from a board that was 82 percent white and 73 percent male to 38 percent white, 50 percent African American, 12 percent Hispanic, and split evenly between men and women. Getting there has meant identifying candidates who are thoroughly immersed in efforts to combat racism in the geographic areas Kellogg serves.

Create a committee of nonvoting members.

The Skillman Foundation created a committee whose members aren’t full trustees, but they sit in on many board discussions and accompany trustees on site visits. A sub-board such as this can help attract people interested in your mission who may step into a full board role in the future.

Sometimes, the nonvoting board members have a great deal of experience but different backgrounds than full board members. That’s the case with Nick Khouri, the former Michigan State treasurer who serves on the sub-board. Khouri brings in-depth knowledge of public finance and is Arab American and a Republican, two attributes in short supply on the full board.

Consider paying board members.

Traditionally board members are older professionals who become trustees after a long, successful career. Board members who better reflect the people a foundation serves are often just starting out in their careers. Board service isn’t attractive for people who have difficulty getting time off for board meetings and other assignments.

Allen, Skillman’s president, hopes to use the nonvoting committee to attract younger Detroiters. Currently the foundation is attempting to recruit a younger member who has navigated the challenges of growing up in Detroit where a declining auto industry and the city’s bankruptcy in 2013 presented some grim realities. To do so, Skillman will put money on the table. The details are being worked out, Allen says, but paying for board service could help the foundation attract a more diverse selection of candidates.

“Compensation brings people to the table you wouldn’t ordinarily have,” she says. “It allows us to have somebody who doesn’t control their own schedule, who can’t take off a full day to serve because they can’t afford it. It’s a way for us to value their expertise, which may not necessarily be valued by everybody else.”

Expand your board, but keep a few seats open.

Meyer has made structural changes to its board to reduce barriers to board service. For example, it reduced the maximum length of service to three three-year terms, or a total of nine years, so fresh perspectives will arrive more regularly. Previously, trustees could serve four terms, or 12 years. Meyer also expanded the size of its board from 12 members to 15. By design, the three seats created by the expansion have been left open. If in the future the foundation enters a new line of grant making and determines that the board lacks certain necessary experience, it can recruit new members to fill the gap.

Make the board a learning place.

Achieving the benefits of diversity doesn’t end with the search. At Kellogg, Meyer, and Skillman, board members undergo ongoing training on diversity, and board meetings regularly feature presentations on equity.

Each board meeting at Skillman includes a presentation on diversity, and the board and staff have held retreats focused on the subject. As the Meyer Foundation placed its focus squarely on equity, it attracted board members steeped in the subject. They have led education sessions in board meetings designed to introduce subjects such as “movement building” to other board members who may not have worked to advance equity and social justice.

“They’ve been able to subtly coach their peers on the board, who maybe weren’t there yet,” Goren says.

The Kellogg board completed multiday training offered by a company called White Men as Full Diversity Partners. To achieve a transformative change, the group coaches white men on how to be fully cognizant of the power they wield and the role they must play to end white dominance in boardrooms.

Kellogg’s board members have also taken part in “racial healing circles” as part of its Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation program. The circles are discussions, aided by facilitators, in which participants share the pain they’ve experienced as a result of racism and are encouraged to listen to others’ stories and respond with respect to gain deeper understanding of other peoples’ life experiences.

The practice is carried into board meetings: Once a month trustees meet “in a safe space for a deep dialogue,” Tsoumas says.

Those discussions can help orient a board toward the value of diversity, including diversity within its ranks. But don’t expect instant change, warns Tsoumas. “It’s not going to happen overnight,” he says. “You need to take your time.”