Minority Women Are Likely to Bring Noncharity Management Experience to Nonprofit Executive Jobs, Says Survey

JOB MARKET

By Lara L. McDavit

Minority women who head charities are more likely to have had management experience in government or business compared with nonprofit leaders overall, according to a new survey by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a group in San Francisco that offers management consulting and training. The survey encompassed 49 female minority charity leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The study focused on gaining a better understanding of such women, with the intent of learning how a professional network could be established to best serve their needs. CompassPoint’s survey was financed by the Levi Strauss Foundation, in San Francisco, and was conducted via written questionnaire during May and June 2002.

The respondents were a median of 48.5 years old — meaning that half were older and half were younger. Nearly half of the respondents classified themselves as Asian Pacific Islanders, which is also, according to the 2000 United States Census, the largest minority group in San Francisco. Nine respondents identified themselves as African-American, and eight said they are Latino. (Participants were requested to check all ethnic or racial identities that applied to them.) The study also found that one-quarter of the participants are immigrants, and English is a second language for 10 respondents.

The survey indicated that the minority women who head Bay Area charities are highly educated, with 18 of the 49 respondents having bachelor’s degrees, while 22 have a master’s. The executives surveyed reported that they had been employed in the nonprofit field for a median of 14.5 years.

Although most of the women — 37 — reported that they are heading a charity for the first time, 41 reported having had managerial experience in other fields before taking their current jobs. Compared with a previous CompassPoint survey of executive directors overall, a greater percentage of respondents in the new survey reported having had previous management experience outside the nonprofit field: Thirty-five percent had been managers in government offices and 52 percent had been managers at for-profit companies. This stands in contrast to the findings of a 2001 CompassPoint study that found, of the 231 Bay Area executive directors surveyed, only 15.4 percent had been government managers and 35 percent were former business leaders.

Despite their extensive résumés, many female minority charity heads reported they had only been serving as executive directors for a short time, spending a median of 3.75 years on the job. Twenty-one executive directors, however, worked at their present organization before becoming executive director — an indication, the report concluded, that charities are most likely to promote minority women of color for leadership positions rather than hire them from outside groups.

Staffs and Trustees

To an overwhelming degree, the respondents’ organizations serve minorities: Thirty-seven executive directors reported that their groups aim to help a specific subset of the population. Furthermore, the study requested that participants indentify the three causes or social issues that their organizations primarily address. Human services received the most responses (18), followed by education (15), health (12), and public advocacy (9).

The largest group of respondents — 15 — lead organizations whose budgets range from $1-million to $4.9-million.

The study found that organizations led by minority women in the Bay Area have an overall median staff size of 12. Moreover, the majority of respondents said they headed organizations that had a high number of minority women serving as staff members or trustees: A median of 62 percent of their staffs and a median of 44 percent of their boards are composed of minority women. (The median was derived from percent figures given by each respondent about her organization’s personnel.)

Based upon the survey’s findings and communications with respondents, CompassPoint will hold a conference this spring to come up with ways to build a professional network for Bay Area minority women who lead charities. The conference, says CompassPoint staff consultant Anushka Fernandopulle, will feature a community or political leader as a guest speaker, as well as discussion panels that will focus on fund raising, balancing work and personal lives, and developing a leadership style.

“On the Rise: A Profile of Women of Color in Nonprofit Leadership” report is available for downloading on the CompassPoint Web site. Copies of the report can also be ordered for $15 each from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 706 Mission Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, Calif., 94103 or by fax at (415) 541-7708.