Grantee Spotlight: Teen Voices

This unique journalism mentoring program for teenage girls is working with the Diversity Initiative to make sure that the Teen Voices staff and board reflect its commitment to social justice.

In 1990, a group of Boston-area funders established the Diversity Initiative. The program, today called the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative (DII), provides technical assistance and funding to nonprofit organizations in the Greater Boston area that are committed to creating greater racial, ethnic and cultural diversity within their staff and boards. In 2001, the program became part of Third Sector New England.

Nearly 100 organizations have received more than 1.3 million dollars in grant support from the DII. Countless others have benefited from the program’s partnership with grant recipients, as the personal and institutional knowledge gained through this work is documented, published and disseminated in materials such as program evaluations.

Collaborative Learning

Since the first Diversity and Inclusion Initiative grants were given, the program has held collaborative learning as a core value. Fundamental to the work of diversity and inclusion is an acknowledgment that institutional racism exists within nonprofit organizations. Organizations can be transformed to be more reflective of the populations being served racially and ethnically. And they can develop a greater respect for and appreciation of cultural, gender, ability, class and orientation differences.

A Value-Driven Philosophy

In valuing differences, the nonprofit sector builds the capacity and infrastructure of organizations. Organizations are empowered to develop and deliver services and programs that give power and voice to communities. These nonprofit organizations are also empowered to maintain relevance as active, vital contributors to the development of society.

Nearly two decades later, we continue to be committed to these values and are able to demonstrate that transformation can be achieved. The DII works with individual organizations generous enough in their pursuit of change that they are willing to share the successes and failures of their work. The DII has documented and published these experiences in an effort to share the learning sectorwide. Evaluation 2003, Nonprofit Effectiveness – Inclusiveness Matters documents statistically and experientially the DII’s work.

The core work with organizations continues to focus on the systemic changes needed for organizations to succeed. Experience has demonstrated that organizations can and do become more diverse. The next challenge is how those diverse staffs work together in a sustained way while pursuing organizational missions and improving communities.