By ANN RICHARDS

Born in England, BoardSource President and CEO Linda Crompton moved with her family to Kenya when she was 13. The contrast between her comfortable, middle-class existence in Nairobi and life in the shantytowns outside the city forever changed her understanding of the world. "I spent many years trying to make sense of it," she said of inequities she witnessed. "The experience changed my mindset; it changed the way I thought then and think now." Throughout her career, Crompton has worked "on both sides of the table" as a board member and director of corporate and nonprofit organizations in healthcare, academia, the arts and banking. In 1996, she founded Citizens Bank of Canada, the country's first online bank with a brand based on social responsibility. Crompton believes there are enormous changes in store for the boards of both for-profit and nonprofit boards, presenting an energizing and exciting challenge for BoardSource, established in 1988 to provide programs and services on governance issues for nonprofit organizations. She received her MBA from Great Britain's University of Kent at Canterbury, a Master's degree from the University of British Columbia and an undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University, also in British Columbia. Mott Foundation communications officer Ann Richards interviewed Crompton in Flint, Michigan, where she gave the keynote address at a Nonprofit Governance Summit, co-presented by BoardSource and BEST, a Flint-based collaborative utilizing a pool of local consultants to improve the sustainability and effectiveness of the county's nonprofit organizations. [NOTE: This is the second of two articles on the training and leadership needs of small- and medium-sized nonprofits. The first article is a companion story on a new partnership between BoardSource and BEST, a local nonprofit capacity building collaboration in Flint, Michigan.]

Mott: BoardSource has agreed to partner with Flint-area nonprofits -- most of which are small- to medium-sized -- to build nonprofit board capacity in a specific locale. What do you hope to accomplish?

BoardSource President and CEO Linda Crompton.Crompton: We hope this project will end up becoming a model for us, particularly as related to our desire to regionalize services. It's an opportunity to go deep in one community and gain some insights about what training strategies result in successful skill-building for community boards facing a set of identified social problems. This particular project was put in motion before I became CEO of BoardSource, but I'm very supportive of this partnership with BEST. The Flint area nonprofit community is facing extremely tough social conditions with fewer financial resources. There are lessons to be learned here that will inform and refine our training in other communities.

Mott: You've spent most of your career with a foot in both the corporate and nonprofit worlds. What lessons have you taken from these experiences?

Crompton: I've been interested in that nexus at which for-profits and nonprofits come together -- dating back to my MBA thesis, where I examined the conflicts between the sectors. I believe we're beginning to see a hybridization of the two. Before the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, for-profit and nonprofit were considered separate silos. For the most part, corporations were completely unapologetic about their directive to make money and nonprofits didn't want to talk about money at all. But societal expectations have chipped away at the wall between the sectors. Public opinion has forced businesses and corporations to begin addressing the costs of pursuing a profit -- and to consider a different sort of bottom line. Nonprofits have come under closer scrutiny as well. It's no longer acceptable for them to claim they are acting on behalf of the public or spend federal or private dollars without showing some tangible results. More attention is being focused on the use of federal and donor funds. As that wall disappears, more hybrid organizations embodying the best of both -- fiscal responsibility driven by a social mission -- are beginning to appear. What I bring to BoardSource is a cross cultural perspective -- I've served as a CEO and as a board chair, and head of finance and audit committees, in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. I believe good governance is more than compliance; it's also about delivering tangible results.

Mott: How does this merging of for-profit and nonprofit accountability standards affect the work of BoardSource?

I believe the next stage of board and governance evolution will focus on organizational and institutional intent -- a stepping back to determine what the organization is trying to do and why. It's a tremendous opportunity for boards to rethink the relationships between for-profit, nonprofit and those they serve. When you consider the societal change that is occurring, the new generation of leadership that is emerging, and the demand for greater accountability, we're presented with a great opportunity to create governance training for new organizational models. It's very energizing.

Mott: How do you anticipate that BoardSource will evolve under your leadership?

Crompton: When I joined BoardSource in 2007, there was a strategic plan in place through 2009. All targets have been reached, so it???s a good time to step back and contemplate what we are doing before moving forward with our next strategic plan. We need to grow and evolve as an organization if we are to continue to be effective in assisting other organizations and their boards. We have to develop methods and tools to stimulate and structure creative thinking about the impact nonprofits, ways to harness all the creative energy of board members that drives problem solving. Right now, we can't keep up with demand for our services, so we're going to have to produce more publications and training opportunities. In order to deliver these services and keep them relevant, we need to focus on research -- I'd like to create a discrete knowledge institute that can formalize all these ethereal ideas. Then we have a responsibility to consolidate and deliver what we've learned, and expand our capacity by regionalizing our services.

Mott: What prompted you to take on the leadership of BoardSource?

Crompton: I believe very strongly in its mission: to strengthen and support boards of nonprofits. The reputation and history -- its branding if you will -- also attracted me. BoardSource rarely advertises, yet clients continuously seek it out. With the number of changes sweeping through corporate and nonprofit boardrooms and the management training needs that will emerge, this is an exciting and challenging time for the nonprofit field and for BoardSource.

Mott: Any final thoughts about the future of nonprofit governance?

BoardSource, a research and training organization headquartered in Washington DC, is partnering with the Flint area BEST (Building Excellence, Sustainability and Trust) Project, to develop a multi-tiered strategy aimed at generating heightened engagement and leadership among nonprofit boards that serve Flint and Genesee County, Michigan. This is the first of two articles that examine the leadership training needs of small- and medium-sized nonprofits. The second article, an interview with BoardSource CEO Linda Crompton, will appear online at mott.org the week of July 28, 2008.

"We have lots of evidence to support the notion that a strong, high performing board translates into an exceptional management team," Crompton said. "But an organization must have a solid system in place to maintain that type of board -- a culture of inquiry that keeps board members engaged and passionate about their work."

With the support of a $300,000 grant from the Mott Foundation, BoardSource, a research and training organization headquartered in Washington DC, will partner with the Flint area BEST (Building Excellence, Sustainability and Trust) Project, sponsored by the United Way of Genesee County, to develop a multi-tiered strategy aimed at generating heightened engagement and leadership among nonprofit boards of directors that serve Flint and Genesee County. The Ruth Mott Foundation also provided a grant of $54,000 for this project.

Strengthening board competancy is consistently cited as a concern of local organizations, according to Jennifer Acree, director of BEST. Utilizing the knowledge of BoardSource's national consulting pool, as well as the organization's nationally-recognized trainings, BEST will target up to 50 local organizations for board assessment. Ten of those boards will receive in-depth consulting services.

"The partnership between BoardSource and BEST seemed an ideal way to explore greater learning for BoardSource while addressing a crucial need that has been identified by our local nonprofit community," Acree said.

Established six years ago, BEST has acquired extensive knowledge and experience dealing with the unique needs of nonprofits serving Flint and Genesee County. Its pool of local consultants will receive training through BoardSource, which also will work directly with local nonprofits and their boards. The partnership initiative is expected to leverage stronger, more engaged boards as well as a greater understanding of the stewardship, leadership and training needs of boards of small- and mid-size nonprofits.

According to a recent study by the Urban Institute, there has been a major gap in the nonprofit sector's understanding of the unique governance challenges of the boards of mid-sized organizations, which make up one in five of all nonprofits registered with the Internal Revenue Service. Attempting to fill that gap, the study suggests that more research and training must be developed to help these boards improve their recruitment of new members, encourage broader participation in decision-making, and clarify their organizational purpose to deliver results.

For BoardSource, the opportunity to "go deep" in one community ultimately will inform the development, delivery and use of BoardSource resources for mid-sized as well as larger organizations, says Crompton.

"This is an opportunity to gain insight as to what motivates and energizes boards and then provide the appropriate skills-training that will help them figure out how they can be more effective.

For many years, Mott has been funding democracy-building initiatives in the Western Balkans, including Kosovo, through??its Civil Society program. This article is the??last in a three-part series that focuses on Mott grantees' current work in Kosovo.??

??? Kosovo Today: Strengthening the nonprofit sector??[first in series]

?????Kosovo Today: Women on frontlines of democracy building [second in series]

By MAGGIE I. JARUZEL????

These are exciting times to live in Kosovo, says Bashkim Rrahmani, executive director of the??Foundation for Democratic Initiatives (FDI), a Mott grantee.

From his perspective, now is the perfect time to build and strengthen the country???s overall civil society sector, and its nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in particular.

???When NGOs really start working together, it could be like a powerful social movement,??? Rrahmani says.

???For us, it could be like it was in the 1970s in the United Sates when there were many active human rights and women???s groups working together for social change.???

Bashkim Rrahmani is??executive director of the??Foundation for Democratic Initiatives. Although there are 5,000 registered NGOs in Kosovo, only about 500 remain active, Rrahmani says. As a result, before a genuine movement can gain momentum, the nonprofit sector needs to develop a Kosovo-wide survey to determine who the country???s current service providers are, what they do, for whom, and how they are funded. He says that NGOs and grassroots groups also could start asking questions, such as ???What is our social vision for Kosovo????

In addition, Rrahmani says, NGOs need to reach beyond Pristina, the nation???s capital and largest city, to meet with residents and hear them describe their needs firsthand instead of relying on ???generic pre-packaged strategies??? for change.

By design, he says, FDI works throughout all areas of Kosovo from its main office in Gjakova, a historic city in Western Kosovo, and also plans to have a small office in Pristina. Hopefully, having breadth and depth will enable FDI to use both the bottom-up and the top-down approach to fill a national void, Rrahmani says.

???What we are lacking -??? what all institutions in Kosovo are still lacking -??? is a clear understanding of how to bring citizens close to the government and the government close to its citizens.???

Two other pressing problems cannot be solved without the government and its citizens working together, he says. They are widespread unemployment -- ranging from 50 to 60 percent in some places, to as high as 60 to 80 percent in others -- and equal treatment for Serbian citizens in the new Kosovo where they are now a minority.

For almost a decade, FDI has tried to tackle the region???s toughest issues. Established as a NGO in Kosovo in 1999, FDI began making small grants two years later to other NGOs. It has provided more than 80 grants totaling about $700,000 to Kosovo grantees from 2005 to 2007 alone.

While FDI is Kosovo???s only indigenous grantmaker today, Rrahmani wants that status to change soon.

???Even though Kosovo is a small country, there is still a need to have more indigenous grantmakers because there are so many issues to address.???

T???What we are lacking ??? what all institutions in Kosovo are still lacking ??? is a clear understanding of how to bring citizens close to the government and the government close to its citizens.???hrough its grantmaking, FDI supports projects that encourage citizens, including local youth, to tackle specific community development problems. FDI also provides opportunities for majority Albanian and minority Serbian populations to work together in designing local programs and events that promote the region???s diverse cultural heritage.

Rrahmani says he enjoys meeting with other NGO leaders from the Balkans -- such as those from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia -??? and sharing similar experiences and ideas.

???We discuss common projects, integration into the EU (European Union), and the strengths and challenges of the ethnic groups we have in common,??? he says.

???What we are really doing is opening channels for future cooperation.???

A new report suggests that the U.S. is losing valuable ground as a world leader in education and workforce development, and is at risk of being left behind in the global economy.

Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce??notes that soaring dropout rates among high school students and diminished literacy skills among adults are contributing to an increasingly ill-prepared labor market. And those deficiencies, the report asserts, are seriously undermining the nation???s economic future.

Listen to an audio Q&A with Jack Litzenberg on how community colleges are??addressing issues of literacy, adult education and workforce development. Litzenberg is senior program officer in Mott???s Pathways Out of Poverty program. [6:42 in length]The report, produced by the National Commission on Adult Literacy, was released on June 26. Its findings are based on two years of study by the commission on trends, challenges and opportunities in adult education and workforce development in the U.S.

"Reach Higher, America" points to??job readiness among U.S workers as a growing concern. Many careers that offer growth potential -- such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and alternative energy -- require employees to have increased competency in reading and writing, and at least some education or training beyond high school.

However, studies show that one in three young people in this country drop out of high school before earning their diploma, while nearly 30 million adults lack basic literacy skills.

Such imbalances are challenging the ability of the nation???s employers to compete in the global marketplace. And, notes Cheryl King, the current adult education and workforce development systems aren???t equipped to address the problem.

King served as study director for ???Reach Higher, America??? and is a former deputy secretary and commissioner of adult education and workforce development in Kentucky.

She notes that there are an estimated 150 million workers ages 16 years and older in the U.S., many of whom require adult education and workforce development services. However, the combined annual capacity of federal programs in these areas, such as dislocated worker initiatives and "one-stop" career centers, is about 3 million people.

The report, says King, lays groundwork for increasing the number of individuals served to 20 million a year by 2020.

???The strength and vitality of the U.S. labor market is absolutely key to the country???s economic health,??? she says. ???And it requires that every person have opportunities to earn the skills and experiences needed to succeed in the workplace.???

???Reach Higher, America??? calls for policies and partnerships at both the state and federal levels that:

• substantially increase the number of adults who earn high school diplomas or equivalent certifications;
• improve literacy skills among workers, including those for whom English is a second language;
• grow enrollment of adults in postsecondary education and job training activities, with particular focus on promising sectors of the labor market; and
• help workers already in the labor market strengthen and expand their basic skills.

Specific strategies highlighted in the report include expanding local access to workforce development services via schools, libraries and nonprofit and social service organizations, as well as Web-based resources. The report points to community colleges, which provide a third of the country???s adult instructional services, as ???vital educational forces??? that can help shape the nation???s labor market.

The report also notes the importance of redefining adult education to include such topics as interpersonal communication, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork. And it highlights the role of the business, philanthropic and nonprofit communities in helping the country to rethink issues of education and workforce development, and invest in new approaches to worker training and advancement.

King notes that, while the tasks outlined by ???Reach Higher, America??? may appear daunting to some, the long-term costs associated with adopting a ???business as usual??? approach to adult education and workforce development are truly alarming.

???We???re at a critical crossroads in this country,??? she said. ???The next steps we take on these issues will determine our economic standing, both at home and around the world, for decades to come.???

For many years,??Mott has been funding??democracy-building initiatives??in the Western Balkans, including Kosovo, through??its Civil Society program. This article is??the??second in a three-part series that focuses on Mott grantees' current work in Kosovo.??

?????Kosovo Today: Strengthening the nonprofit sector??[first in series]

?????Kosovo Today: NGOs could stir ???powerful social movement??? [third in series]????

By MAGGIE I. JARUZEL

Since Kosovo became the world???s newest nation, traveling internationally has become easier for Igballe Rogova.

???If you come from an established country with widely recognized travel documents, you cannot imagine the feeling of not having an identity and trying to explain the place from which you come,??? she said.

Igballe Rogova is executive director of??Kosova Women???s Network. Prior to?? independence, Kosovo had been a province in Serbia but administered by the United Nations since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999. This left Kosovo in somewhat of a legal limbo for the past decade, said Rogova, executive director of??Kosova Women???s Network (KWN).

She was one of many residents who danced in the streets when the small country in the Balkans region declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008. In April, Kosovo???s assembly adopted the nation???s first constitution, which was hailed as another move toward full statehood.

???Finally we have a name, finally we have an identity, finally we are one step closer to a peaceful future for our country and the region,??? Rogova said.

The monumental events have been especially significant for the women's network, based in Pristina, the nation's capital and largest city. It's??membership includes 85 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are located throughout the country and represent the nation???s many ethnic groups. Collectively, these groups work to support, protect and promote the rights and interests of women and girls throughout Kosovo.

Among other things, KWN provides??members with opportunities to interact and learn from one another and it helps strengthen their organizations internally. Additionally, the network partners with members for joint educational and informational media campaigns about a variety of issues, such as the nation???s election procedures, gender laws, domestic violence, transitional justice, peace and security, and other topics.

Rogova said she and others were bewildered that not a single Kosovar woman was invited to participate in the United Nations??? negotiations in 2006 that helped determine Kosovo???s legal political status. Fortunately, she said, KWN representatives did meet several times with staff of the Special Envoy for Kosovo. They shared their expertise and experiences as Kosovar women, including their work for peace. ??

???Back in the 1990s, we wanted to show publicly that as women from different ethnic, religious and national backgrounds we were standing in solidarity against the war,??? Rogova said.

???While the men were fighting, we women were standing together in peace.???

Although Kosovar women have engaged in peace activities for more than a decade, a formal independent coalition -- Women???s Peace Coalition -- wasn???t created until 2006. It was then that KWN partnered with Women in Black-Serbia, an international peace network whose members wear black for mourning and stand in silent peace vigils.

???Finally we have a name, finally we have an identity, finally we are one step closer to a peaceful future for our country and the region.??? Kosovar women also have shown solidarity when meeting with officials of the European Commission (the executive branch of the European Union), the Swedish International Development Agency, and several ministries and departments within the Kosovo government. Together, they proclaim that pressing women???s issues -- insufficient education and health care, and prostitution prompted by high unemployment ???- should be named as top national concerns, Rogova said.

In early 2008, Mott provided a two-year,??$50,000 grant to KWN in support of its efforts to ensure that women actively participate in the nation???s decisionmaking processes related to its political, economic and social development.

The network promotes these goals by sharing women???s concerns with decisionmakers at the local, national and international levels; encouraging and preparing women to be political candidates; and providing venues for women???s groups to work together for common causes.

Rogova???s dream is to see Kosovar citizens continuously pushing government officials to fulfill their campaign promises.

???I???d like to say to them, ???We are the voters. Pay attention to us!??????

Created in 2000 as an informal network and then registered as an official NGO in 2003, KWN???s name and its work are both gaining recognition, she said.

???Some people have heard leaders say, ???We have to make sure that gender issues are included. Otherwise, we will hear from the Kosova Women???s Network,?????? Rogova said with a smile.

???That makes me happy. They know we will not remain silent.???

The paint is dry, boxes are unpacked and the staff of the??Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) is settling into its new office space on the second floor of the Community Foundation Building in downtown Flint.

The 15,000 square foot building, located at the southwest corner of S. Saginaw and W. First streets, has opened after an 20-month, $2.5-million renovation. The project included the unification of two existing structures into a single facility, as well as extensive work on the interior and the outside facade.

The renovation -- launched in September 2006 via a partnership by CFGF with Uptown Six LLC and??Uptown Reinvestment Corporation -- is one of several development projects??under way in and around downtown Flint with Mott Foundation support. Others include the mixed-use Wade-Trim and Rowe Incorporated buildings; the??Berridge??Place Lofts project; and a 310-bed student dormitory on the campus of the University of Michigan-Flint.

A ribbon cutting ceremony on June 17 marked the grand opening of the Community Foundation Building??in downtown Flint.The success of the CFGF building renovation symbolizes the power of partnerships -- philanthropic, nonprofit, government and entrepreneurial individuals -- in creating local change, said Lawrence E. Moon, chair of the CFGF Board of Trustees, at the building's formal grand opening??on June 17.

???Today, we are making history," Moon said. "The Community Foundation Building is a symbol of hope for a new, vibrant future for downtown Flint.???

The renovated building, in addition to housing CFGF offices on the second floor, offers commercial space at street level. The third floor has been adapted into two residential loft apartments. CFGF???s portion of the renovation costs became an asset in its investment portfolio, while a??$1.3-million endowment grant from Mott will help CFGF offset any additional operating costs associated with the relocation.

Kathi Horton, CFGF president, said the new building will help the organization grow and strengthen its level of service to Flint and Genesee County.

She also believes that ongoing redevelopment in the downtown area will help energize and inspire local families and businesses.

???As these stories are shared, more people will sense the changing tide taking place in Flint and its vital connection to the well-being of surrounding communities. This new building is just the next story in that vibrant, exciting development.?????

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Click??here to read a CFGF press release about the opening of the Community Foundation Building.

• Click??here to view local news coverage of the opening of the Community Foundation Building.

For many years, Mott has been funding democracy-building initiatives in the Western Balkans, including Kosovo, through its Civil Society program. This article is the first in a three-part series that focuses on Mott grantees' current work in Kosovo.

?????Kosovo Today: Women on frontlines of democracy building [second in series]

Executive and trustee compensation levels have long been of interest to Terry Odendahl, a member of the advisory committee for What Drives Foundation Expenses & Compensation, the first large-scale, long-term, systematic study of independent, corporate, and community foundations' expenses and compensation patterns and the factors behind them.

A joint project of the Urban Institute, The??Foundation Center and Guidestar, results of the three-year study were published in early 2008, with major support from the Mott Foundation.??The study, and the 87-page report, were undertaken to inform foundation practice, public policy debate, government oversight and sector self-regulation.

"There's a paucity of good data on executive and board compensation in the foundation field," said Odendahl, who has co-written several books on philanthropy and currently serves as president of the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers in Santa Fe.

"This new research is much more thorough than previous efforts," Odendahl continued.

"Back in 1990, my first book dealt with compensation levels in the field, but this new research enables the field to take a good, hard look at its practices.??I'd like to see more of this type of self-scrutiny in the future."

"The field needs to be more transparent -- this report absolutely serves as a step in that direction."

Foundation expenses and compensation were hot-button issues in 2003, according to Elan D. Garonzik, former Mott Foundation program officer who now is vice president of programs for??The ELMA Philanthropies Services (U.S) Inc., in New York City.

"Nonprofit, and subsequently, foundation compensation was the focus of several media investigations that brought the issue to the attention of the Senate Finance Committee," Garonzik said.

"There was a real possibility that the activities of a few foundations would tarnish the field," he continued.??"Mott green-lighted funding to document the administrative expenses and staff compensation of the country's 10,000 largest foundations in part to determine whether the media examples represented a few bad apples or the whole barrel."

Garonzik discovered that no one institution tracked executive and trustee compensation.??However, three Mott grantees -- the New York City-based Foundation Center, which maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants; GuideStar, a public charity located in Williamsburg, Virginia that provides information on over 1.5 million charitable institutions through its database, and the Urban Institute, which has developed a platform to support e-filing for nonprofits, the??NCCS??990 Online system through its??National Center for Charitable Statistics -- each held "a piece of the puzzle."

"The challenge was merging the three databases and ensuring the data was clean," Garonzik said.

Ultimately, the study used individual-level compensation data reported??by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) for officers, trustees and key paid staff to determine executive and board member compensation.??All three partner organizations provided financial and programmatic data from IRS Forms 990 and 990-PF.??The Foundation Center collected additional survey data.

"The field needs to be more transparent -- this report absolutely serves as a step in that direction."

Although Mott was the initial funder, the Ford Foundation also provided major support for the project.??The California Healthcare, W.K. Kellogg and Rockefeller foundations provided additional funding.

Originally conceived as a one-year research project, the report ultimately collected data?? from 2001, 2002, and 2003, the latest years for which information on charitable administrative expenses were available.

Responsible for 78 percent of all foundation giving and 77 percent of all foundation assets, the country's 10,000 largest foundations are a dissimilar group of funders, according to data examined by the study.??About 70 percent of these foundations did not employ staff, but among those that did, size, number of staff and staff-intensive activities tended to increase cost ratios.??The report also discovered that foundations incur various types of administrative expenses that are not captured well by Form 990 PFs. The enormous diversity in foundation structures, resources and operating characteristics had significant effect on expense levels.

Most foundations do not pay board members, although this type of compensation likewise is influenced by the type and size of the foundation and the complexity of its programs.

"One of our members recently asked me about appropriate compensation levels for trustees," Odendahl said.??"He has a hard-working board that supplements a small paid staff and he needed some comparison data to determine what was appropriate.??I was able to give him the report, along with some other materials that helped him get a balanced picture."

If the foundation field is serious about self-regulation, it is essential that more research on its practices be undertaken and made widely available, she said.

"Over the long term, that is one of the benefits of the study," Garonzik noted.??"It has helped establish bandwidth of what should be the norm for expenses according to foundation personality and characteristics -- international grantmaker or targeted local funder, staff size, grant budget size, and so on.??It has helped create parameters to guide the field."

Although the study is not being extended, the Foundation Center will continue to collect expense data from the largest 2,000 foundations in the country.

A peek behind the doors of the nation???s foundations today, compared with the foundations of 25 years ago, reveals that the field has become more diverse in nearly all aspects. Yet, there is still much that can be done to make U.S. foundations more reflective of the country???s overall diversity, says a newly released report by the??Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA).

???The good news is that there has been much progress over the 25 years, but it has not been consistent with the greatest gains seen in the first half of that period,??? said Melissa Berman, president and CEO of RPA, an independent nonprofit organization with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

???We hope that this report will help colleagues find new ways to accelerate diversity in the field.???

The report, Philanthropy in a Changing Society: Achieving Effectiveness through Diversity, is the first of three publications to be released by RPA that explore the subject of diversity in philanthropy. According to the report???s authors, it is the most comprehensive study of diversity in foundations for this time period. ??

Key findings include:

• From 1982 to 2006, diversity in overall foundation staff grew from 12. 6 percent to 23.2 percent, and board diversity rose from 4.3 percent to 13.0 percent.
• Most advances in diversity were made in the first half of the 25 years studied, resulting in a tripling of CEO and board diversity for the entire period, although only 41.5 percent and 32.7 percent of the respective change occurred between 1994 and 2006.
• Diversity within foundations varies greatly, evidenced by minorities representing 35 percent of program officers in 2006, when compared with only 15.4 percent years earlier. The percentage of minority CEOs grew from 1.6 percent to 5.8.

As a result of its findings, RPA made several recommendations to the field, including:

• Increase advocacy and outreach by networks of foundation leaders and philanthropic affinity groups;
• Improve and expand existing internships/fellowship and community foundation programs; and
• Increase research on trends in diversity staffing, board composition and grantmaking.

The report was funded by??two Mott grants totaling $112,250 that were earmarked for collecting the data and sharing it broadly within the field of philanthropy and also with media outlets.

???We hope our colleagues will join us in exploring and implementing models that will promote greater inclusiveness within the field, and, in turn, better help society???s underserved communities,??? said Maureen Smyth, Mott???s senior vice president of programs and communications.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• News release: http://rockpa.org/news/press-releases/
• Report (executive summary): http://rockpa.org/pdfs/Philanthropy_in_a_Changing_Society_summ.pdf
• Full report: http://rockpa.org/pdfs/Philanthropy_in_a_Changing_Society_full.pdf