2006-2007 Diversity and Inclusion Progress Report

Just as diversity and inclusion are at the heart of living united and advancing the common good in our communities, being a diverse and inclusive system is fundamental to achieving our mission and goals in education, income and health.  Our work continues to focus on and be organized around four major strategies: Talent Pipeline Management and Leadership Development; Building Strategic Relationships; Building a Culture of Inclusion; and Cultivating a Reputation for Being Inclusive.  Take a moment to review the exciting work that has been done over the past twelve months.

 

Inclusion Council for the United Way System

The Inclusion Council for the United Way System is a group of United Way staff members that serves as a vehicle to assist in executing the overall Diversity and Inclusion strategy.  Following is a summary of the Council and its work. 

·       Throughout 2007, the Inclusion Council created nine the Business Resource Groups (BRGs).  More than 400 United Way staff members from all levels of organizations throughout the United Way system joined the BRGs and continue to participate in this work.  These groups give feedback and insight on strategic business questions related to their segment of the population to the Inclusion Council as a whole.  The segments are African American; Asian/Pacific Islander; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender; Latino/Hispanic; Native American; Persons with Disabilities; White Engagement; Women; and Young (under 40).

 

·       In October of 2007, the Inclusion Council completed this first information-sharing process and created a summary report of findings, identifying five primary focus areas that were consistent among all of the BRGs.  The five areas were Leadership; Career/Professional Development and Networking; Human Resources Practices and Internal Processes; Marketing and Outreach; and Collaborations and Partnerships.

 

·       The Inclusion Council presented their findings to the National Professional Council (NPC) at its November 2007 meeting.  The National Professional Council unanimously agreed to endorse the Diversity and Inclusion business case, support the ongoing work of the Inclusion Council and further, committed to taking action within their organizations.

 

·       In 2008, the Inclusion Council began a second engagement of the Business Resource Groups, this time working with the groups on issues related to the five focus areas.  Each BRG was assigned to work in one specific focus area to develop resources and related products for the entire field.  These engagements are ongoing and products are expected to be released to the field this fall.  On the following page is a listing of what will be available in each focus area and by each segment.

 

LEADERSHIP:

·       The African American BRG is creating a diversity and inclusion self assessment tool tied to the Standards of Excellence.

·       The Latino/Hispanic BRG is researching and recommending criteria for a national diversity and inclusion award.

·       The White Engagement BRG is developing metrics to measure diversity and inclusion performance at the CEO and senior staff level.

·       The Women’s BRG is working with the Women’s Leadership Council and compiling best practices for increasing female representation on governance boards.

 

CAREER, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and NETWORKING:

·       The Young (under 40) BRG is conducting and analysis of the current mentoring programs within the United Way system.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICES AND INTERNAL PROCESSES:

·       The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender BRG is creating a best practices guide for human resource policies and practices.

·       The Persons with Disabilities BRG is creating a recommended recruitment strategy for persons with disabilities.

 

MARKETING AND OUTREACH:

·       The Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American BRGs are devising outreach and relationship cultivation strategies for their respective segments.

 

COLLABORATIONS and PARTNERSHIPS:

·       All of the BRGs are compiling recommendations for local, national and global partnership opportunities that will enhance relationships with their population segment.

 

Talent Pipeline Management and Leadership Development

·       Diversity and Inclusion: Strategies for Your Organization to Live United

In conjunction with the release of the diversity and inclusion toolkit, a training workshop was offered at the United Way Brand Forum, the Community Leaders Conference and all three of the regional United Way conferences that have taken place in 2008.  This interactive hands-on workshop guides participants through the toolkit and gives in-depth explanation of the principles of strategic diversity and inclusion management.  The workshop is geared toward professionals in all aspects of United Way’s work. As of July 2, more than 100 United Way staff members have participated in this training.  This course will be offered again at the 2008 United Way Inclusion Roundtable. 

 

·       Talent Programs

Several talent programs are in place, including the Summer Associate program, Resident Fellows, LEAD and ExecuSTEP, serving pre-career, early-career and mid-career professionals within the United Way system.  These programs have achieved 34% diversity composition overall.

 

·       United Way Students in Action (UWSIA)

This is a new pilot program in which 10 local United Ways are working to identify how to build college chapters of United Way and engage more young people as leaders in the work of United Way.  The pilot program develops leadership roles for students within UWSIA on campus, in the community, and in some cases, on the United Way board.

 

·      National Women’s Leadership Council (NWLC)

Program content at the 2008 NWLC Leadership Forum highlighted diversity by including a general session focused on generational training and a breakout session on engaging minority women leaders.

 

Building Strategic Relationships

·       Nonprofit Sector Leadership

o        Each year, the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute hosts a Chief Diversity Officer’s Forum for leaders in the field of diversity and inclusion.  For the first time, in 2008, United Way of America created and sponsored a special learning track for nonprofit leaders.  Engaging more than 30 diversity executives from the nonprofit field, this proved to be a valuable asset to the conference and to the nonprofit diversity leaders themselves. 

 

o        An alliance between United Way of America and the National Assembly led to the creation of a diversity and inclusion affinity group for the health and human services sector.  United Way of America initiated and is co-chairing this affinity group.  In addition to building relationships and exchanging best practices, this sets the stage for enhancing United Way’s reputation as a diversity leader in the nonprofit arena.

 

•        Investor Relations Programs

     United Ways have specific strategic market focuses in several areas including: Women, Young Leaders, African American, Latin American, Asian/Pacific Islander and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT).  Together these groups raise more than $135 million for the United Way system.

 

•        Partnerships and Segment Outreach

o        Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE)

     United Way of America has joined together with the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE) to build and strengthen recruitment efforts among the Latino population.  HACE will help United Way by identifying candidates for open positions.

 

o        National Urban Fellows

United Way of America has partnered with National Urban Fellows, a leadership development organization working to counter the under-representation of people of color and women in leadership positions, to build diversity in the system among staff at the mid-career level.

 

o        Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc.

United Way of America has established an ongoing partnership with LEAP, an organization that is "growing leaders" within the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across the country.  Through this partnership, we will work to enhance United Way’s relationship with the API population.

 

Building a Culture of Inclusion

·       Diversity and Inclusion Cultural Awareness Survey

In early 2008, the first-ever Diversity and Inclusion Cultural Survey was released to the entire United Way system.  This ground-breaking study surveyed United Way staff about issues as personal as sexual orientation and as sensitive as personal experiences of prejudice.  The record-breaking response rate, with more than 3,000 staff members participating in the survey, clearly shows what an important role diversity and inclusion play in the culture of the United Way movement.  The results of the survey will be shared at the 2008 United Way Inclusion Roundtable.

 

·       Protected Class Vendor and Supplier Analysis

United Way of America conducted an analysis of protected class vendors and suppliers used in 2006 and 2007.  This analysis showed that in 2007, United Way of America spent 13% of its procurement budget with diverse suppliers.  By way of comparison, Diversity Inc. magazine’s Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity spent an average of 11.6% of their total procurement budgets with diverse suppliers, Diversity Inc.’s Top 50 Companies spent 6.8% of their budgets with diverse suppliers, and the national average for using protected class suppliers is a mere 2% of total budget spending.  United Way of America is proud to be a leader in the area of supplier diversity.

 

·       Living United: A Guide for Taking Diversity and Inclusion Management to the Next Level

The release of this Diversity and Inclusion toolkit marks a significant step forward in United Way’s diversity and inclusion work.  This all-inclusive guide is designed as a resource for all United Ways to help begin, build on and optimize their diversity management strategy.  It provides tools and actions that will aid local United Ways in their efforts to achieve the United Way mission through increasing innovation, finding better solutions, identifying talent, and increasing operational excellence.  The toolkit references more than forty local United Way best practices and includes the business case for diversity and inclusion.  An Executive Summary of the toolkit is also available for use as a quick reference and learning guide.

 

·       Global Best Practice Sharing

United Way of America is sharing best practices, operational tools, standards, guidelines and more with United Way International members.  This sharing began at the Global Summit and continues via email and other tools.  Examples of this sharing include: connecting the United Way in Nicaragua with United Way Online resources; sharing standards and data on overhead with the United Way in Peru; posting the Filipino United Way's annual report on the Knowledge Café; and discussing how United Way of America can support the work of the Nigeria United Way by engaging in strategic discussions with National Corporate Leadership.

 

Cultivating a Reputation for Being Inclusive

·       LIVE UNITED

The new LIVE UNITED Campaign by its very nature is about inclusion and advancing the common good in education, income and health for the entire community. At the center of LIVE UNITED is the view that a victory for one of us is a victory for all of us. Diverse talent is featured in all aspects of the campaign. The LIVE UNITED Campaign is being distributed by the Ad Council with the intent of having media placement across various channels that will include both mass and targeted media to ensure that United Way’s message reaches diverse audiences from all age, demographic and market segments. The television, radio and print public service announcements are in English and Spanish.

 

·       National Football League Partnership

The United Way/National Football League spots will include one TV and one radio spot narrated in Spanish.

 

·       Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) Learning Circle

The new CRM Learning Circle is helping 11 local United Ways move to a more relationship-oriented culture. This includes developing tools, techniques and technologies that change culture improve business processes and create a United Way version of a CRM system. These efforts include making both internal and external relationships more inclusive and diverse.

 

·       Leadership Commitment to Inclusion

o        United Way of America leaders Bill Parrett, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Brian Gallagher, President and CEO prioritize speaking engagements for diverse audiences.  Over the past year, they have both spoken at events designed to focus on target demographics and strategic markets, or incorporated messages into other public events.  Examples include, but are not limited to the following: 2007 and 2008 United Way Inclusion Roundtables, National Multicultural Institute, the Global Summit and the Latin America Regional Meeting.

 

o        In addition, Brian Gallagher serves as a board member of the Johnnetta B. Cole Diversity and Inclusion Institute. 

 

Summary

This summary highlights some of the work that is taking place to advance diversity and inclusion at United Way of America and within the United Way system.  There is certainly more work worthy of sharing and we look forward to presenting our annual United Way Diversity and Inclusion Progress Report soon.  

 

For more information about United Way’s diversity and inclusion work, please contact:

Marveen Henderson, Director, Diversity and Inclusion
Marveen.Henderson@uwa.unitedway.org
800-892-2757 Ext. 847

Deborah Foster, Executive Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Inclusion
Deborah.Foster@uwa.unitedway.org
800-892-2757 Ext. 878

You can also visit http://online.unitedway.org/diversity