Jeanne Tedrow, President & CEO, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits
To intentionally build an inclusive organization, there needs to be a culture of belonging, where differences are recognized and celebrated. “Belonging” was the theme of our 2021 Conference, where Jaki Shelton Green, NC Poet Laureate and our opening keynote, spoke about the power of our stories. She referenced the American author, Joan Didion, who once said, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”
Jeanne Tedrow, President & CEO, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits
Patti Gillenwater, CEO, Elinvar
What does board commitment to equity look like at this moment in time? This workshop explores 3 key elements: 1. Board readiness: Bringing in new people won’t change anything if the board isn’t ready to listen and change. What questions can boards ask to invite meaningful self-assessment, listening and change ? How do boards intentionally change their culture? 2. Recruiting- Boards generally spend minimal time on recruitment, and lack good systems to build pipelines. Let’s explore good recruitment practices and then apply to a DEI lens. 3.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and America’s racial reckoning of 2020, communities are clear the only ways to rebuild, re-energize and recover are to work collaboratively to address complex social problems. It is no longer enough to focus on strengthening individual nonprofits with the hope of enabling them to meet community residents’ needs. Yet, the mere commitment or desire to collaborate, no matter how strong, has never resulted in successful solutions to even the tamest of community challenges.
Many nonprofit service providers would gladly work themselves out of a job if solutions could be found for the most pressing issues of our time. However, we are generally so overextended just treating the symptoms of social and environmental problems that it can be difficult to engage effectively, if at all, in changing public policy and other structural conditions. The result is a nonprofit sector that too often does for people, rather than pursuing social change with them, which can reinforce barriers to advancing equity.
Contributors: Jeanne C. Tedrow, President & CEO, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits; and an Interim Executive Director currently serving at a nonprofit in North Carolina
Communications Toolkit: A Guide to Navigating Communications for Social Impact - Currently in its 4th edition, this resource covers nearly every topic in communications, whether the purpose of the messing is to raise funds or raise awareness.
Contributors: Khamiah Alderman, Student and Intern; Caroline McDowell, Marketing & Communications Manager; April Turner, Student and Intern, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits
Jeanne C. Tedrow, President & CEO, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits