It's important to have an authentic conversation about diversity on your board.
How do you define diversity? Why is it important? How does it relate to your mission and vision?
When boards think about diversity, they quickly jump to race and ethnicity. And, yes, this kind of diversity is vital. But a robust conversation about diversity should include gender, age, socio-economics, sexual orientation, and even geography.
You are trying to build a strategically assembled team with the skills, temperament, and life experience to govern a multimillion-dollar public enterprise.
The more diverse your board is, the less groupthink you will have and the better your creative problem-solving will be.
Ask yourselves:
- What role should diversity play on your board?
- How does your current board make-up align with your organization’s mission and vision?
- How does your current board composition align with your student population, service area, and the broader community?
Use the Members Report to examine the data on your board’s current diversity levels.
It highlights age, ethnicity, and gender, showing how these key elements will change as trustees' terms end.
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