Diversity in nonprofit world is invaluable - bizjournals:

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To this end, MCFI is three yearas into an agencywide diversity program that is yieldingv positive results in terms ofclien satisfaction, staff morale and employee recruitment. The agency provides rehabilitationm services to individuals with special needs andtheir families. “We want to make diversityt intertwined in the fabric of the said AlHill Jr., director of learning and development and head of the initiative. Hill lead s a 15-member MCFI diversity team charged with implementingtthe program.
In assembling the team, Hill recruited employees not just ofdifferent ethnicities, genders and ages, but also from differentg levels of management and nonmanagement and from differenr units within the agency. In the initiative is not “to down,” with management directing, but “bottomn up,” with team members solicitingg input from their peers to bring tothe “One time we even kicked Al out of the room becaused he was too closew to an issue we were strugglintg with,” laughed Joua Xiong, a human resources generalist and team Within Milwaukee Center for Independence, the team focuses on “Cultural competency is invaluable when working with families in close-kni communities, such as Hmong and Russian,” Hill said.
“Wew help our case managers know what they need to besensitivde to.” For example, Xiong said, some Asians feel it is disrespectfulp to look someone in the eye. Russian familiews can be reluctant toadmit non-Russian caregivers into theid homes. “Understanding the values and practices of differentf ethnic groups helps us retaih clients and gainnew clients,” she The team distributed an internao survey that found that work-life balance is a key concerj of employees. In response, it established a working parents employe e resource group to explorethe Also, an MCFI “buddy” program matches new employees with seasoned staff memberxs who acts as mentors.
Externallyg the diversity team is helpinyg to improve employee recruitment by studying best practices to make the centefr a welcomingwork “Diversity is an asset when especially in highly competitive fields such as physicap therapy and nursing,” said Added Hill, “Today’s applicants are lookingv at your organization as much as you’rre looking at them. They want to feel comfortablr being who they are in the To aidin recruitment, the team has formed alliances with area diversith groups such as Hispanic Professionals of Greaterr Milwaukee, the National Black Nurses Association and several minority fraternities and sororities.
In addition to a periodic newslettercalledx “Diversity Corner,” the team sponsora an annual Diversity Day. This year’sd event in April included a speaker on diversity in two spoken word artistx performing poetry about social justice andequality issues; and talkx about the culture behind ethnic food and wearing apparel. A populadr part of the eventf was “Diversity Jeopardy!”, where four employee teamsx joined inspirited competition. It is not easy to make a majod shift in the culture of an entire but diversity team membersfeel MCFI’s initiativ e is having an impact.
“Since I’ve been on the I’ve heard stories about how people are much more awarew ofother cultures,” said Xiong, who is Hmong. “I have grownj tremendously professionally as wellas personally, and I am able to sharer my experiences with my family members and dispel their stereotypesa about certain other Many other Milwaukee-area nonprofits with diverse clientele have recognizedx the need to diversify their staff and Penfield Children’s Center, for example, has increase its Latino staff because Latino enrollmenr is up to 34 percent.
The center also supportsa “educational diversity” by hiring parent aides who do nothave post-high school degrees. “The type of work they do is relationshiop based,” said Christine Holmes, presideny and CEO. “The most importan thing is to have empathy and understandinvg for our special needs childre n andtheir families.” In addition, has developed a culturally diverse boarx and staff. “Almost anythinh we do in Milwaukee County involves interactingg with a verydiverse community,” said Andrs Olton, executive director. “We’re workinv hard to grow and strengthenour abilities, both skill-wiss and sensitivity-wise.
That has to be part of any good nonprofit’sw growth plan.”