Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds

Season 7 Episode #9 Engaging Diverse Stakeholders in Nonprofit Decision Making: Strategies for Inclusive Leadership

• Jebeh Edmunds • Season 7 • Episode 9

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"Real change doesn't happen from the top to the bottom—it happens from the center out." This powerful principle sits at the heart of transformative nonprofit leadership that genuinely serves communities through authentic inclusion.

Most nonprofit organizations face a critical disconnect: leadership boards often look drastically different from the communities they serve. This gap undermines effectiveness and perpetuates systemic inequities. When marginalized community members aren't at the table for key decisions, organizations develop blind spots that no amount of good intentions can overcome.

True diversity extends beyond race and ethnicity to include age, ability, language proficiency, gender identity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Tokenism—repeatedly approaching the same individuals from underrepresented groups to serve on multiple boards—creates burnout while preventing organizations from accessing the full breadth of community wisdom. As one nonprofit leader shares, "I don't want to be the token Black woman on this board. I want to be included for my contributions and expertise."

Creating psychologically safe environments where diverse stakeholders feel empowered to share honest feedback, including disagreement, transforms organizational culture from the inside out. This means normalizing constructive criticism, welcoming opposing viewpoints, and abandoning the limiting "this is how it's always been done" mindset that stifles innovation.

Ready to build more inclusive decision-making processes? Start by meeting communities where they are—attend cultural festivals, patronize local businesses, visit different places of worship, and connect with affinity-based leadership pipelines. Evaluate who's in the room when decisions happen and who's missing. Remove participation barriers by ensuring meetings are accessible in time, location, and language. Balance power dynamics so everyone has an opportunity to contribute meaningfully.

Take one bold step today toward more inclusive, community-centered decision-making. The future of effective, sustainable nonprofit leadership depends on it. Share this conversation with colleagues who are ready to transform their approach to community engagement and create governance models where everyone truly has a seat—and a voice—at the table.


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Speaker 1:

Hey friend, welcome back to the Cultural Curriculum Chat. I'm Jeva Edmonds and your guide for all things diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, as well as cultural competency. So, whether you are in the classroom, the boardroom or anywhere in between, you have come to the right place. Today we are looking into a crucial topic for anyone in the nonprofit world how do we ensure that diverse voices are not just heard but actively shaping the decisions we make? We're talking about engaging diverse stakeholders in nonprofit decision-making with real-world strategies for truly inclusive leadership real-world strategies for truly inclusive leadership. So why do we need diverse stakeholders and why does that engagement matter? We have heard about the traditional non-profit leadership model how it often looks. Usually, it's a lot different than the communities that they serve. You see, the majority culture is on the board and other leadership and the community that they serve. You see, the majority culture is on the board and other leadership and the community that they serve are from people from marginalized groups and oppressed groups. I want you to think about why engaging diverse stakeholders leads to a better, more sustainable outcome, and that's by inviting and including the community members that we're serving so many of us from those marginalized groups. Don't get asked. Or there's that same person that is spread too thin, doing multiple board seats, multiple engagement, which to some it's a passion, which is amazing, but to others they feel like they keep getting asked because they feel like there's nobody else that looks like them to join. And a lot of the times when you see multiple people that are approaching you to be involved, if you are of a different identity, some of the people that are asking are too scared to engage with other members of our community that doesn't look like them or think like them or act like them, and so you tend to see that pattern of the same people holding multiple board situations and board seats and board seats. So just stepping out of that comfort zone and being around and engaged with diversity groups ie going to festivals, going to their businesses and patronizing there that will help you become more engaged and get more diverse stakeholders to your organizations. I always say meet us where we're at, and you have to do that by taking that first step. So again, who are those stakeholders? Those are the folks that are our board members, our staff, our volunteers, our donors and the communities that are being served. You know there are so many people in our places around us that we can have that involvement and outreach.

Speaker 1:

I want you to think about going to certain sites that you haven't traditionally gone to before to recruit and retain new staff, new volunteers, new donors. When I'm talking about diversity, it doesn't necessarily just highlight race or ethnicity. It also includes age, ability, language, gender identity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status and, trust me, there's so many more identities that I haven't even mentioned. So keep that in mind. When I'm talking about diversity, it's not just mainly race and ethnicity, and I want you to think about when you are trying to step outside of your comfort zone, going to community events, going to different places of worship. I want you to think about who's in the room when decisions are being made and who's not, and you can do these things authentically without being performative.

Speaker 1:

You know, if you've got a campaign for fundraising for a particular thing in your organization, don't just wait to the last minute. You need to be strategic in how are you going to get the word out, how are you going to market the need for help and how are you going to be there as that true advocate for your community. I want to give you another tip that has been really helpful when I am recruiting another board member or I'm recruiting another volunteer. Go to networking events. Yes, some of us feel a little intimidating, but when you are going to these networking events, open up that dialogue and say you know what? You've got this awesome fundraiser campaign and I feel like you would be a great fit. Would you like to set up a coffee date or a Zoom meeting to talk more of recruiting and getting new people interested in your organization? And again, I want you to go ahead and find those affinity-based leadership pipelines Black Chambers let's Next Chambers Even organizations that are specializing in helping children and specializing in helping our veterans. Go to those organizations and see how you could collaborate together.

Speaker 1:

And I also want you to think about psychological safety. People can't contribute their skills, their innovative ideas, if they don't feel safe to disagree with what is proposed when it comes to a new idea or revamping an old procedure. And so I want you to understand that if somebody might feel standoffish, you can just see in their nonverbal communication that I don't know if this is a space where I can really give my two cents or my opinion. Maybe you could just normalize it as if somebody is sharing that it's only feedback and it's not going to. I wouldn't say take it personally, but just to normalize that it is feedback and also welcome opposing views, to say you know what. We might not all be on the same page here, but that's why I'm inviting you here, because maybe I'm not seeing it at a angle that everybody else is, and so we really need to get away from that. Oh well, this is how it's always been and you know, kind of get right with the program. That really can be off-putting for others.

Speaker 1:

And I want you to also think about your community advisory panel. Who's there, who's missing, who can we invite into our space? Again, we need to avoid tokenism. I can't tell you how many times some people have come up to me and said, oh Jab, you are so awesome, which I feel good because you know, I feel like I am Thank you very much. And then they come into the next line oh, my God, you'd be great for our board. We need more Black people and exit stage left, right. It's like I don't want to be the token Black woman on this board. I want to be included and invited on my contributions to the community that I'm living in. I want to be invited to the board because of my expertise in education and my experience as an educator and a classroom teacher. Those are the kinds of things that will make me excited to be a part of your board of directors or your organization and share and donate to your cause.

Speaker 1:

So when you're approaching me as a person, that does not match your identity, so, jeb, how can we be the best person that can help engage those diverse folks that are coming into our spaces? You need to remember our diverse groups goes beyond the surface. We need to acknowledge that. We have blind spots, group thinking. You know the majority rules Well, does it really? You know we need to build that trust and legitimacy of your organization. Have people heard about you in your local community? Can they tell you what you do? Can that be reflected on you? How are you putting out your organization and your board of directors with the majority of the folks that you are serving?

Speaker 1:

And again, how does that continue to be equitable in our spaces? How can we be aligned with our own nonprofit values of justice and community empowerment? Are we being transparent with the folks that we serve? Are our decisions up for input, like I talked about before? Are we allowing feedback? Are we allowing dissent and our timelines. If we've got a project or a fundraising campaign, who's helping in that decision making of those timelines and our constraints? You know what kind of nonprofit constraints have we been facing and how can we mitigate that concern for the folks that we are serving? Again, this might mean having listening sessions or trainings for your staff. It could be prepping sessions or giving stipends to community members.

Speaker 1:

How can we be creative in getting the word out and using the tools that we have to continue to make this work prosper when we are continuing to center our equity? That means to remove those participation barriers. Are our meetings accessible in time, location and even our language that we're using? Are our cultural norms even written out and respected? And are we balancing our power dynamics? Is there somebody that's just constantly speaking for others? How can we make sure that all of the voices are heard?

Speaker 1:

To be clear, when we are gaining more diverse voices and folks into our spaces, you need to make sure that not all decisions need full scale engagement. A lot of us look at the big picture and we get so overwhelmed. Well, how can we be that force for good and focusing on the quality of the work that we're doing with fewer and more impactful engagements rather than the quantity of it all. We don't want it to get too watered down, if at all. So if you are a nonprofit professional, especially in the arts or cultural space, and you are ready to dive deeper into this work, I've got something special for you.

Speaker 1:

I am launching the Cultural Competency Arts Nonprofit Lab. It's a new digital course that you can purchase right now and it is designed to equip nonprofit leaders with the tools and the templates and frameworks to build inclusive governance models, facilitate powerful community-led decisions, create that center of equity and cultural humility in every step, which also helps avoid tokenism and truly honor all the voices. So if you are an arts nonprofit, this is for you. Let's build nonprofit systems where everyone has a seat and a voice at that table. And if you'd like to learn more, I've got the link in the show notes below.

Speaker 1:

I'm telling you we dove deep y'all, and that's just skimming the surface. There's so much we can do by harnessing the power that we have within to have transformational, positive change with the communities that we are serving. Again, I want us to be crystal clear Real change doesn't happen from the top to the bottom. It happens from the center out. So if you are a leading nonprofit working in one supporting one, you, my dear, have the power to push for more inclusive, community-centered decision-making.

Speaker 1:

So here's your challenge for this week. I want you to pick one of the strategies I shared from today's episode and I want you to bring it to your next meeting, whether it's advocating for community members or reviewing who's on your decision-making team, ie your board of directors or your leadership. Just take one bold step forward and, as always, if you found value in this episode, share it with a colleague, leave a review and let's keep this conversation going. You can find all the resources that I shared with you in our show notes. Thanks again for listening to the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast, where inclusion isn't an add-on darling, it is the assignment. I'll see you here same time next week. Bye-bye.