Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At MPC, equity is at the center of everything we do. It is a core value and underpins our values of learning, relationships, and leadership. Additionally, equity is the foundation of the informed approach we take as we use data, research, and information to do our work.

Equity Commitment

As part of this foundation and our organization’s ongoing commitment to equity, and to create a legal accountability mechanism, MPC added the requirement for a DEI commitment in our most recent by-law review. The commitments outlined in the MPC Equity Commitment are initial ways in which we are committed to uprooting inequitable policy and practice within our organizational structure and creating an organizational culture that centers equity.

Our commitments include action items in our programming and services, governance and operations, and advocacy and leadership, as well as accountability measures. If you would like to share anonymous feedback of how we are doing with our equity commitment, please fill out this form.

Reduced Cost Memberships

In line with our focus on equity, we hope all organizations are able to take advantage of MPC membership, regardless of their ability to pay membership dues. These funds remain available to new and renewing members for whom full cost membership would be burdensome or prohibitive.

For more information about reduced cost memberships, visit the FAQ.

Data Equity Initiative

In response to national and local conversations around equity, demographic data collection, and disparities in funding for organizations led by, founded by, and primarily serving historically marginalized communities, we have added optional, self-selected fields to all membership forms. These fields will be available as filter options in our public Member Directory. We hope this filter will allow funders to discover nonprofits outside their typical network and support nonprofits in finding similar organizations for collaboration.

We have done much research and collaborated with many community partners to create this system of data collection. However, we welcome your thoughts and ideas to continually improve this process. Please send us feedback or questions about this initiative at mpc@mainephilanthropy.org.

Learn more about this initiative.

Programs and Resources

Scroll down for programs and resources related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Knowledgebase

AWAKE to WOKE to WORK: Building a Race Equity Culture

AWAKE to WOKE to WORK: Building a Race Equity Culture report
Publication date: 
July 2018
Achieving race equity — the condition where one’s racial identity has no influence on how one fares in society — is a fundamental element of social change across every issue area in the social sector. Yet the structural racism that endures in U.S. society, deeply rooted in our nation’s history and perpetuated through racist policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages, prevents us from attaining it. The impact of structural racism is evident not only in societal outcomes, but in the very institutions that seek to positively impact them
Resource type: 
Research
Topic(s): 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Resource

Race to Lead: Confronting the Racial Leadership Gap

Publication date: 
June 2017
From the report's executive summary: "The percentage of people of color in nonprofit executive director roles has remained under 20% for the past decade. To increase the number of people of color leading nonprofits, the sector needs a new narrative about the problem and new strategies to address it. Nonprofits have to transfer the responsibility for the racial leadership gap from those who are targeted by it (aspiring leaders of color), to those governing organizations."
Resource type: 
Report
Research
Audience: 
Nonprofits
Topic(s): 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Social Justice
Resource

GCIR Resources for Funders on Immigration

Publication date: 
November 2016
Two fact sheets for funders on immigration developed by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and shared at the 10/20/2016 Community-Engaged Grantmaking workshop. The first is Talking Points on Immigration for Funders, the second is a Funders Guide to Grants and Immigration Status.
Resource type: 
Funder Briefing
Audience: 
Funders
Topic(s): 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Funding Area: 
Immigrant/Refugees
Resource

Hiding in Plain Sight: Implicit Bias Presentation

Publication date: 
October 2015
A burgeoning field of scholarship suggests that unequal racial, gender, and other outcomes may be partially explained by the implicit, or unconscious, bias held by many of us, particularly key decision-makers, such as doctors, teachers, judges, and philanthropists. From the 2015 Funders Forum, the presentation on implicit bias by speakers Johanna Wald and Andrew Grant-Thomas.
Resource type: 
Presentation
Audience: 
Consultants/Advisors
Funders
Nonprofits
Topic(s): 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Knowledgebase

Responsive Philanthropy Special Issue on Implicit Bias in Philanthropy

Publication date: 
May 2015
A special issue of Responsive Philanthropy devoted to what philanthropy can do to combat implicit bias, or the way in which our unconscious minds shape and contribute to our thoughts and actions. A diverse roster of authors explores how this phenomenon both affects the many challenges we as a society face and its implications for how philanthropy addresses these issues.
Resource type: 
Funder Briefing
Audience: 
Funders
Topic(s): 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Social Justice

Pages

Subscribe to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subscribe to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion