Leadership of charitable organizations unlikely to fully reflect those they serve: survey
A recent survey by Carlton University’s Charity Insights Canada Project has found only 18 per cent of respondent charities have leadership that fully reflects the communities they serve.
A further 30 per cent said their leadership “moderately” represents their clients, while 28 per cent of charities described their leadership as “somewhat” representative of the demographics they work with.
Another 18 per cent indicated their leadership was “minimally” representative.
Some charities that participated in the survey elaborated on their answers with comments like, “We’re really, really small” or “We hire who we can get, not much choice in rural Canada.”
Research has consistently found that white people predominately fill leadership roles at Canada non-profits in Canada.
According to a 2023 study by CivicAction and the Diversity Institute, only 18.2 per cent of leadership roles at Ontario non-profits are held by racialized people.
Indigenous Peoples hold an even smaller percentage—less than three per cent—the lowest of all equity-deserving groups.
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