Latinos LEAD, CIELO Fund report lack of Latino representation on nonprofit boards

Even though Latinos make up 54% of the Inland Empire’s population, they occupy barely 13% of the board positions that govern nearly 200 of the region's nonprofit organizations.

That's what a recent report from the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF), the oldest and largest community foundation serving the IE, stated upon its release last week. The report — “Inclusive Leadership: Examining Disparities in Nonprofit Leadership for Latinos in the Inland Empire” — is the result of a partnership between Latinos LEAD and The CIELO Fund at IECF, the latter of which is celebrating its first anniversary this month.

The report also found that:

• More than 40% of Inland Empire nonprofits have no Latino board members

• There are no Latino board members on 67% of nonprofit with youth and children missions

• Health & Human Services (14%), Housing & Homelessness (18.3%), and Arts/Culture & Museums (8.7%) subsectors all have disproportionately low levels of Latino board representation

“This report challenges nonprofit organizations to assess whether their board recruiting practices include their constituents at all levels," Latinos LEAD Executive Director Patrick Salazar said in a provided statement. "We don’t propose that nonprofit boards reflect proportionally the Inland Empire’s 54% Latino population, but I think we can all agree that having one Latino board member — or none at all — is simply unacceptable.”

Jesse Melgar, founder and chair of The CIELO Fund, told The Desert Sun that CIELO commissioned this report beause part of its mission is to help prepare the region for a transition that's swiftly approaching.

"Today, the Latino population in the Inland Empire is 52% based on latest census data, but what we know — we have a report coming out with USC and they're doing some projections — that by mid-century, by about 2050, 2060, those projections are expected to be about 74%," Melgar said. "What we thought was important to understand with this data is, if we know that's the case, and if we know this region's changing, what does it look like as far as representation goes?"

With that goal in mind, The CIELO Fund partnered with Latinos LEAD because it's a nonprofit that focuses on this very issue, Melgar added. Latinos LEAD looks at various cities across the country and does a deep dive on a sample of nonprofit organizations in that given region, so in this case, it sampled 198 nonprofits across the IE and looked at the makeup of each Board of Directors.

A clear representation gap emerged, Melgar said.

"This is important to acknowledge and to figure out ways that we can work with our nonprofit partners to increase representation," Melgar said. "These nonprofits are critical to our region, critical to our cities, critical to our neighborhoods, and they do life-changing work, oftentimes, especially for those who need it the most. We know that when our boards are diverse and when they reflect the people that they serve, and they include people who are passionate about the issues that we're talking about, then ultimately organizations and communities benefit."

When asked for examples of how to increase representation, Melgar said it's important to remember how most people end up on boards. It's all about networking, and we're more likely to network with people who look like us or who come from similar backgrounds. People who are college educated and have access to resources are also more likely to get on a nonprofit board, and Latinos don't always check those boxes.

But, he added, a board member's value isn't soley determined by how connected they are or how much schooling they've had. Everyone brings something unique to the table, and that's something boards have to keep in mind during the recruitment process.

"I think that if they're able to see themselves on boards of directors, and if they're given that opportunity, I think they would be more than happy to answer the call and serve their communities," Melgar said. "Civic engagement isn't just voting. Civic engagement is volunteering, it's ... serving on these boards and doing your part to make sure that you know perspectives from your community are represented as these important decisions are being made about service allocations or where resources are going."

During an in-person briefing on the report Sept. 21, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), chair of the Latino Caucus in the California State Legislature, said that including Latinos in these conversations helps uplift voices that might otherwise go unheard.

“The lack of Latinos on nonprofit boards is a missed opportunity for community leadership development, and contradictory to the essence of the nonprofit sector – to uplift and represent all members of our society,” said Cervantes. “(These) findings underscore the urgency of this issue in the Inland Empire and the work needed to ensure Latinos, and every community, have a seat at these important decision-making tables.”

One way to help set IE youth on the right track for potential board involvement is through scholarships. Last year, The CIELO Fund's research revealed that only 1 in 10 IE Latinos have a bachelor’s degree or higher. That's why CIELO announced in August that it's awarding $125,000 in scholarships to 83 Latino students throughout the IE as part of the inaugural CIELO Fund Scholars Program, the funding for which was made possible thanks to the S.L. Gimbel Foundation and SoCal Gas’ ¡GENTE! Latino Employee Committee.

The scholarships were awarded to Latinos attending Inland Empire colleges and universities, especially those intending to remain and work in Riverside or San Bernardino counties upon completing their studies.

"I've been able to have a very successful career, but it was early investments in my education that really helped me to succeed and get to the point where I'm at in my life," Melgar said. "A lot of folks on our leadership committee have similar stories ... we're the first in our family to go to college, we were given these opportunities, and now we're in a position to be able to do something and give back. So our hope is ... those folks (who got scholarships) stay in the region, get the jobs that are more middle class jobs, and are able to then return the favor and do what we're trying to do."

More: Coachella Valley nonprofit helps support the next generation of Latino entrepreneurs

Coverage of nonprofits in the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun is supported by a grant from the CIELO Fund through the Inland Empire Community Foundation. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Report details lack of Latino representation on local nonprofit boards