The Board of Directors of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation supports passage of California Assembly Bill No. 624, known as the Foundation Diversity and Transparency Act and sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Coto. Our decision to weigh in on this legislation is consistent with the Noyes Foundation’s years of leadership and advocacy within the philanthropic field on issues surrounding diversity and inclusivity. We recognize that AB 624 is imperfect but it has succeeded in generating a robust and much needed conversation within the foundation community.
Our decision in no way ignores or discounts the voluntary efforts to advance diversity undertaken by foundations across the country. We too are among that group. In fact, our efforts go back to 1948 when Charles F. Noyes voluntarily decided that half of the scholarships the Foundation provided were to be awarded to non-white students. And twenty years ago the family, on its own accord, put in motion a diversity plan resulting in a board of directors today that is 41 percent people of color and 71 percent female, and a grantee pool that is 49 percent people of color organizations.
Noyes is not alone. A number of foundations have stellar records in recruiting people of color for their boards and staffs and in making grant dollars available to low-income groups and communities of color. Policies and practices have been developed and are available to assist foundations interested in becoming more diverse and inclusive. Unfortunately, not enough foundations are willing.
In our opinion, there is a disinclination to act and no sense of urgency. The Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ recent report, Philanthropy In A Changing Society, states that "the racial and ethnic diversity of staff and boards of foundations as well as grants and grant dollars targeting minority populations grew with the greatest strides in the 1980s. The momentum since the mid-1990s, however, has been much slower, even as the diversity of the United States and its interdependence with global communities continue to increase at an extraordinary pace."
The Foundation Center’s Foundation Giving Trends (2008) reports that 2006 funding for ethnic and racial minorities "rose 5.5 percent – well below the 16.4 percent rise in overall grant dollars. As a result, this group’s share of grant dollars fell to 7.4 percent [in 2006], down from 8.2 percent in 2005… [while] the number of grants… held steady at just above 10 percent."
In our opinion, the philanthropic field is not sufficiently "moving the needle" to advance diversity and inclusiveness. We applaud voluntary efforts and encourage their continuance. But more is needed to get our profession to better reflect the make-up of society. The legislation being proposed is designed to shed light and hold foundations accountable. We have concluded that a course correction is necessary and AB 624 is another tool in this struggle.
We also agreed to annually post on the Noyes Foundation’s website the racial, ethnic and gender composition of board and staff members and professional consultants, and the number of grants and total grant dollars to people of color organizations.
