The Community Foundation is a community builder for ALL people and pledges to strengthen our WHOLE community through philanthropy. This includes advocating for, promoting, funding, and supporting equitable policies and practices that ensure justice, safety, and access to opportunities for everyone in our community.
This page contains information on our community initiatives focused on racial justice and equity and provides anti-racism resources.
Nonprofit Board Diversity: A Snapshot of the Capital Region
In 2019, the Community Foundation launched a partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit Leadership and Community Development at the University at Albany to conduct an assessment of nonprofit board diversity and inclusion throughout the Greater Capital Region. The goal of the assessment was to understand current demographics, identify organizations with policies and procedures related to diversity, and evaluate attitudes around diversity. The report identified challenges nonprofits face when recruiting a diverse pool of candidates and recognized the obstacles community members of diverse communities encounter when serving on boards.
Findings from this report highlight three key recommendations:
- Qualify individuals from underrepresented identities. Provide individuals who are passionate and willing to serve with educational training and resources to support their success.
- Match and connect with diverse communities. Connect community members’ skills sets with board opportunities at nonprofits serving our community.
- Create a welcoming space on boards. Identify steps nonprofits can take to ensure they are inclusive, welcoming, and respectful of all identities and expertise.
Access the full report here:
The assessment, underwritten by the Community Foundation and the Charles L. Touhey Foundation, highlighted the need to support leaders in our community as they strive to advance IDEA in our region.
The following initiatives, supported by funding partnerships, are a first step in creating a community that is supporting and uplifting for ALL.
Capital Region Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action (IDEA) Collaborative
Focused on the assessment’s key findings, the Community Foundation convened community stakeholders to share the findings and identify actionable next steps. In August 2020, the Foundation created and convened the Capital Region Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action (IDEA) Collaborative – a steering committee comprised of diverse community experts looking to tackle the issue of diversity on nonprofit boards. The committee will advise the Community Foundation on new initiatives and serve as ambassadors for change in our community.
Steering Committee
Orville Abrahams
NYS Department of Labor, Division of Workforce Development and Empowerment Solutions
Dorcey Applyrs, Dr.PH.
City of Albany
Jason Benitez
Capital Region Chamber
Fran’Cee Brown-McClure, Ph.D.
Union College
Phillip Burse
In Our Own Voices
David Craft, Esq.
Albany Law School
Anthony Gaddy
Upstate New York Black Chamber of Commerce
Peter Gannon
United Way of the Greater Capital Region
Travon T. Jackson
Bluelight Development Group
Hyacinth Mason, Ph.D., MPH
Albany Medical College
Dhanisha Nandigama
University at Albany, SUNY
Aaliyah Outlaw
Berkshire Bank
Ellen Sax
MVP Health Care
Crickett Thomas-O’Dell
Workforce Development Institute
John Eberle
Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region
Jonathan Meagher-Zayas, MSW, MPA
Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region
Catalysts for Change Leadership Program: Nonprofit Board Diversity
The Capital Region IDEA Collaborative is excited to announce the launch of the Catalysts for Change Leadership Program: Nonprofit Board Diversity. Based on Nourishing Tomorrow’s Leaders of The Gifford Foundation, the Catalysts for Change Leadership Program is an 8-week board development series that will focus on increasing inclusiveness and diversity on nonprofit boards. The program is designed for 15 community members currently looking to join a local nonprofit board or new to serving on a board. After completing the program, participants will have the opportunity to connect with nonprofits and join a network of leaders looking to change the state of diversity on nonprofit boards.
More information and applications can be found on our program’s webpage.
Nonprofit Board Inclusion Series
Based on a recommendation from the report Nonprofit Board Diversity: A Snapshot of the Capital Region, the Community Foundation is partnering with Angela Dixon, Senior Vice President/Chief Diversity Officer at Berkshire Bank, to design a training series on ways to create welcoming board cultures representative of diverse, traditionally underrepresented communities. The training series is for current nonprofit leaders looking to foster inclusive leadership within their organizations.
The goals of this training series are to raise awareness and knowledge of the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion for nonprofits; build inclusiveness and diversity on nonprofit boards; advance the cultural competency and sensitivity among nonprofit leaders; educate and inspire those who participate; and provide quality training for our community. Based on feedback, the series will take place over a three part series in April, May, and June. More information on the series can be found on the program’s webpage.
Nonprofit Board Opportunities
To highlight board service opportunities for our Catalysts graduates and other community leaders, the Foundation conducted a survey; inviting nonprofit organizations to share their information to be included on a list of IDEA-committed organizations seeking to increase diversity on their boards.
The Community Foundation received over 100 submissions and this resource is now available online by visiting this link. The listing is a user-friendly and up-to-date Google spreadsheet that can be downloaded and sorted to suit the user’s needs.
If you represent a nonprofit organization and are interested in adding your organization to the list, please complete this brief survey. Your response will be automatically added to the current listing.
If you have any questions, please email us at info@cfgcr.org.