Bending the arc of nonprofit leadership toward justice: Impacts of racial representation and organizational publicness on diversifying executive leadership

Abstract

Nonprofits are critical partners in the delivery of government‐funded human services in the US, but there is evidence of a persistent racial leadership gap in the sector, whereby Black and Latino Executive Directors are dramatically under‐represented. Why does this gap persist despite increased attention to this issue in recent years? And what organizational and community‐level factors do shape the likelihood that nonprofits will hire a Black or Latino Executive Director (ED)? We answer these questions through a mixed‐methods sequential design, drawing on survey data from 606 nonprofit organizations across the US, along with interview data from 12 nonprofit executives representing expert informants in the Chicago metro area. Consistent with theories of representation and publicness, we find demographic representation at the board level positively linked to the hiring of a Black or Latino ED, but government funding has inconsistent effects. We further elaborate on these findings through our qualitative data.

Justice in Black and Brown: The impact of political control and representative bureaucracy on street level outcomes

“…First, the finding that the race of top elected officials affects the outcomes of the juvenile justice system indicates the need to account also for principals' identity as well as agents' identity. Such studies likely have ramifications for other government agencies and for non‐profit organizations that deliver public services (LeRoux & Medina, 2022). Second, we find that sheriffs affect street‐level outcomes more through race than ideology; that is, the theory of representative bureaucracy explains street level arrests better than political control.…”

Trust, power, and organizational routines: Exploring government's intentional tactics to renew relationships with nonprofits serving historically marginalized communities

“…Additionally, the "whiteness" of nonprofit sector values embedded in the contracting out and grantmaking processes systematically marginalize nonprofits serving racial minority communities (Heckler 2019;LeRoux and Medina, 2022;Nickels and Leach 2021;Ray 2019).…”

“…Additionally, the “whiteness” of nonprofit sector values embedded in the contracting out and grantmaking processes systematically marginalize nonprofits serving racial minority communities (Heckler, 2019; LeRoux & Medina, 2022; Nickels & Leach, 2021; Ray, 2019). According to a recent survey conducted in New Zealand, nonprofit organizations serving indigenous communities had a shorter length of contracts, endured a higher intensity of monitoring, and bore more compliance costs, compared to more generic, white service providers (Came et al, 2018).…”

Civics and civility: A darn on threadbare fabric or the fabric itself?

“…Levin finds that expanding the traditional dyad of agencies and stakeholders to a triad that includes private consultants may preserve or deepen epistemic injustices, particularly for citizens who belong to vulnerable or marginalized communities. LeRoux and Medina (2023) are concerned about the persistent racial leadership gap in the nonprofit sector. Why, they ask, are Black and Latino executive directors underrepresented?…”