Operations Professionals Network (OPN) - Beyond Diversity, Towards Equity and Inclusion

It is no longer controversial to claim that having a diverse group of people (on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, gender identify, ability status) enhances decision-making and contributes to organisational effectiveness. In the philanthropic sector, representing the communities we are serving and reflecting the demographic composition of our societies reinforces our legitimacy and social license to operate. While all sectors have made significant strides towards increasing diversity at many levels, we still have a long way to go, and a similar dynamic is playing out in the philanthropic space. While we need to take urgent action to increase diversity, it is an imperative to go beyond numerical and tokenistic approaches and instead aim for strategies that have ambitious horizons of equity and inclusion.

To go beyond diversity and take an equity-based approach means to acknowledge that situations of injustice have structural elements and deep roots, and different people and geographies remain in disadvantaged positions because of an uneven playing field. To advance equity means to bring down different barriers, which could be keeping parts of society from not attempting to work in philanthropy or applying for funding in the first place. Funding with an equity lens would mean acknowledging that trust-based forms of funding are less likely to reach organisations led by minority groups and those in the global south, and proactive steps are needed to close this gap. The bottom line is that adopting equitable operational practices, from recruitment to partner due diligence and from risk management to governance, is critical work towards advancing our broader philanthropic missions.