Cohesion Through Contrast
The Nonprofit Partnership seeks applicants to its inaugural Mosaic Governance Training cohort
The beauty of mosaic artwork is the way contrast creates clarity. Through the careful arrangement of smaller pieces that stand out from one another, a cohesive bigger picture is achieved.
Across organizations and across industries, homogeneity in leadership is still strongly prevalent. Upon honest introspection, the nonprofit sector found out it was not all that different — in fact, nearly half of nonprofit chief executives admitted that their board members (78 percent of whom were white, and 91 percent of whom were over the age of 35) were not adequately representative of the communities they serve, according to the report "Leading With Intent: Broadsource Index of Nonprofit Board Practice."
Here in Erie, The Nonprofit Partnership (NPP) is aiming to change that with their Mosaic Governance Training program, which is committed to training a diverse cohort of future board members to be paired with compatible nonprofit organizations, and in turn guide those organizations to cultivate more inclusive governance environments.
Program selectees will be invited to:
- The Governance Gateway self-paced online training portal
- To attend in-person engagements with other candidates for networking, team-building, and educational purposes
- To access the expertise of Adam Bratton, NPP executive director, and Marcus Atkinson, principal of M. Atkinson & Associates
On the way to being matched with a nonprofit board that best reflects their knowledge and background, with the stipulation of completing mandatory assignments and attending key events and activities.
"Diversity matters. Study after study have found that diversity in leadership produces better results," said Bratton. "In the nonprofit sector, we tackle society's most important issues, and it is incumbent upon us to produce the best results possible."
The NPP is accepting applications through Friday at yournpp.org. There is no cost to apply or participate.
Matt Swanseger can be reached at mswanseger@eriereader.com
