DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION COMMUNITY REPORT2019 United Way of Greater Cincinnati

TABLE OF CONTENTS01 | Executive Message

02 | The Challenge

02 | Our Journey - UWGC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Efforts

03 | Regional Demographics - Ahead of the Curve

05 | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practices: Our Network

07 | Leadership Demographics: Accountability for Change

08 | Leadership Demographics: Data

09 | Conclusion & Call to Action

10 | Appendix

12 | References

GLOSSARYDiversity: The quality of being different or unique at the individual or group level. This includes age, ethnicity, gender, language differences, nationality, parental status, physical, mental and developmental abilities, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, skin color, socio-economic status, work and behavioral styles, the perspectives of each individual shaped by their nation, experiences and culture and more.

Equity: The state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial and fair. To be achieved and sustained, equity needs to be thought of as a structural and systemic concept. To achieve our goals, we recognize disparities by race, class and gender are pronounced and require we intentionally focus resources on vulnerable and traditionally marginalized populations.

Inclusion: A strategy to leverage diversity. Diversity always exists in social systems. In order to leverage diversity, an environment must be created where people feel supported, listened to and able to do their personal best.

Supplier Diversity: A policy/statement promoting an inclusive procurement process that provides the maximum opportunity for small and diverse businesses to participate as partners and suppliers of goods and services. To be considered a diverse business the businesses must be 51% owned, controlled and operated by a minority, woman, veteran or lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person.

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EXECUTIVE MESSAGEIt is with great pride and enthusiasm that we share the inaugural United Way of Greater Cincinnati (UWGC) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Community Report. This document serves as a current summary of DEI efforts within the UWGC ecosystem; inclusive of our organization as well as our 140 partner agencies. We have listened and are being responsive to the need for increased intentionality to produce more equitable outcomes. The information that follows will detail our journey to build a more equitable and inclusive community. It is our goal that other funders and non-profits that have DEI efforts at various stages of maturity can learn from our experiences.

UWGC has a vision that within our region all people have an opportunity to thrive. We are focused on helping to break the cycle of poverty for Greater Cincinnati families. We recognize that there are deep disparities, racial and otherwise, within our community and specifically for community members experiencing poverty. Without clear intention to focus on DEI, we know that community level progress could come at the expense of greater disparities for some. An increased intent around DEI will lead to more equitable outcomes for all.

To solve our community’s most challenging issues will require all voices and experiences to be heard and valued. Building an environment that celebrates differences, encourages authentic participation, and creates trust will ensure everyone within our region has the opportunity to thrive. We believe that each United Way community member, donor, volunteer, advocate, and employee must have equal access to solving community problems to create sustainable change and a lasting impact. Thank you to our agency partners that shared information and all of our stakeholders that are committed to uniting communities to change lives!

Ross MeyerInterim CEO

Jennifer A. IngramVP Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Have a question for us?

Contact us at: uwgc-dei@uwgc.org

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THE CHALLENGEAcross the U.S., organizations are grappling with how to create inclusive, equitable communities that reflect our growing diversity. Philanthropic and non-profit organizations are the proverbial engine of the social service sector, committed to providing support to individuals and families during times of need. These entities have a critical role to play to actively address internal systems that contribute to the stark disparities plaguing communities. One challenge in identifying where disparities exist is the ability to disaggregate data. In a 2013 report, D5, a coalition of philanthropic organizations committed to promoting equitable practices, asked the question – “Is philanthropy staying ahead as America’s diversity continues to increase?” The response indicated that as an industry, data collection mechanisms were severely lacking. Without intentional action, organizations will continue to passively perpetuate actions and activities that disproportionately have a negative impact on segments of the populations they exist to serve.

It is well documented that historically disadvantaged and marginalized groups have less opportunity to lead full lives and will experience disparate outcomes across multiple domains – including education, financial stability, basic needs and health. In 2019 United Way Worldwide indicated that United Ways, as leaders in local and national social service systems, can play a stronger equity leadership role in communities. This includes publicly committing to equity, ensuring our organizations internally reflect equitable practices, and integrating explicit strategies and approaches to close persistent disparities in the communities we serve.

OUR JOURNEY: UWGC DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION EFFORTSFor over a decade, UWGC has invested in work around diversity and inclusion and broadened the scope to include equity in 2017. Stakeholder feedback along with Diversity & Inclusion best practices informed the creation of our first DEI Strategy in 2018. The strategy is anchored around four pillars: Workforce, Workplace, Community, and Commerce. In February of this year, the UWGC Board approved the 2019 business plan which integrated the four-pillar DEI strategy and defined this as one of the organization’s top priorities.

UWGC is committed to looking in the mirror and investing in the work that must be done to be a more inclusive and equitable organization. In 2018, the decision was made to invest in advancing the organization’s DEI efforts from a foundational level of awareness to the next stage of maturity when the first executive level position to lead this important work was filled. It is our vision that UWGC fosters authentic appreciation for all dimensions of the human experience. We do this by building inclusive internal and external communities through the implementation of strategies and systemic

On average, life expectancy for African American men in Cincinnati is ten years less than White men (63.8 years vs. 73.8 years), and African American women is six and a half years less than White women (72.4 years vs. 79 years).

The infant mortality rate (IMR) for African American families in Cincinnati from 2010-2014 was 15.6, while the IMR for White families in Cincinnati was 6.1 per 1000 live births.

Though only 12.5 percent of Ohio’s population, African Americans make up more than 45% of the state’s incarcerated people.

source: The State of Black Cincinnati

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REGIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS: AHEAD OF THE CURVEUnited Way has led in using data to understand how we are doing as a community through initiatives such as bi-annual State of the Community reports, ongoing financial support of the FactsMatter data portal and the Community Research Collaborative (CRC) and collecting annual demographic data of individuals and families served by funded partners. This data helps show a few of the ways in which counties across our service area are vastly diverse and continually changing.

As reflected in the tables below the non-white population of Hamilton County, Ohio continues to grow. According to research from PolicyLink, Hamilton County is projected to become majority people of color in 2040, four years before the nation. “The U.S. population as a whole is expected to follow a similar trend, becoming majority-minority in 2044. The minority population is projected to rise to 50.3 percent of the by 2044 compared with 38 percent in 2014.” In 2018, we improved upon how we have traditionally collected demographic data to reflect more inclusive definitions and demographics categories. Understanding the demographic make-up of a community and the populations served is a critical first step in embarking upon a journey of ensuring that staff and volunteers are reflective of the community. For more detailed community demographic data visit: FactsMatter.info

The Cincinnati Project harnesses the expertise and resources from the University of Cincinnati faculty and students, and from Cincinnati community members, non-profits, governments and agencies in order to conduct research to create a more equitable community.

“We’re matchmakers — we connect College of Arts and Sciences faculty with communities and agencies thatserve disadvantaged populations in Cincinnati to improve people’s lives, particularly people who don’t have avoice or who are marginalized.”- Jennifer Malat, Co-founder of The Cincinnati Project

transformation that ensures everyone within our region is treated with dignity, respect, and has the opportunity to thrive. To achieve this vision, we believe that sustainable transformation is required. It’s imperative to define metrics and examine an organization’s systems; establishing a baseline to measure future progress and assess the impact of any subsequent interventions. The recommendation to conduct a series of equity and inclusion audits was made and approved by the UWGC board in late 2018, paving the way for a methodical approach towards progress.

After a comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation of proposals from vendors across the nation, members of the UWGC executive team and board unanimously selected The Cincinnati Project (TCP) at the University of Cincinnati to perform phase one assessments (a holistic equity audit and climate assessment). Their evaluation will use a social equity framework to conduct a detailed analysis of our organization’s systems and broad stakeholder engagement, that will inform the construction of a survey instrument for quantitative data collection. The audits will produce a series of recommendations and strategies that we will implement to transform our policies, practices, and procedures resulting in more equitable outcomes. The development of indicators and identification of benchmarks for ongoing assessment of equity, inclusion, and cultural competence holds UWGC and its stakeholders accountable for the strengthening of equity and inclusion both within and outside the organization.

The outcomes of the audit will inform the development of a network DEI roadmap for unified learning and systemic transformation journey. Phase one assessments will run through the summer of 2020. Vendors to conduct phase two audits (cultural competency assessment and community perceptions study) will be identified following completion of phase one. We look forward to transparently sharing learnings from our equity and inclusion audits in future DEI publications. All UWGC staff and board demographic data can be found in the appendix.

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Note: For this RACE calculation, the NON-WHITE category excludes individuals who are of Hispanic ethnicity.

Note: For this ETHNICITY calculation, the Hispanic category includes Hispanics of all Races.

Table 1

Table 2

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DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION PRACTICES: OUR NETWORKTo better understand both current state of DEI across our network and identify opportunities for UWGC to advance on a shared DEI journey, we asked our 140 agencies qualitative and quantitative questions aligned with our four pillar DEI strategy which focuses on workforce, workplace, community and commerce. We recognize that many agencies are embarking upon individual DEI journeys; we commit to serving as a partner, leading the way by example and convener for this imperative work. We will continue to track this data annually, assessing effectiveness of interventions over time. The critical question we are assessing is how might we gain a better understanding of the nonprofit landscape in Greater Cincinnati related to diversity, equity and inclusion so that we might improve?

The 2018 year-end reporting data that follows was collected between January and March of 2018. Information gathered was self-reported by the agencies and was submitted electronically through our electronic reporting system. After aggregating and theming partners’ data, it is clear that many share the same DEI challenges within their organizations.*

· 59 partners: Staff and Board Diversity· 33 partners: Serving clients with unique needs- disabilities, LGBTQ+· 17 partners: Cultural competency

*Demographic questions: Respondents were instructed to invite individuals to self-report how they identify across the following indicators: race/ethnicity, age, and gender. The agency’s Executive Director was responsible for signing off that all data was accurate. UWGC will use this data as a first-year baseline prior to the introduction of any UWGC sponsored intervention/offerings to funded agencies.

Advancing Economic Inclusion Through Supplier Diversity: The National Minority Supplier Diversity Council indicates that the first goal in supplier diversity development is for organizations to establish a supplier diversity policy. In 2011 UWGC adopted a supplier diversity policy and tracks tier 1 annual spend. The commerce pillar of our DEI strategy supports efforts to refine processes and update procurement policies to ensure we are maximizing efforts to economically support small and minority business enterprises within our community. When asked if the organization had a supplier diversity policy 99% of agencies responded with only 16% reporting yes. When asked if the organization tracked the amount spent with diverse suppliers only 17% responded; 42% reported yes, 46% reported no, and 12% indicated that they were unsure.

Committing to Equity: According to the All in Cincinnati Report, advancing equity—just and fair inclusion—is both the right thing to do and critical to securing Cincinnati’s economic future. Research proves that inequality and racial segregation hinder growth, prosperity, and economic mobility in regions, while diversity and inclusion fuel innovation and business success. When asked, 84% of UWGC funded agencies reported having an organizational focus on equity with 12% reporting no organizational focus, and 4% were unsure. Moving beyond conveying a focus to reflecting equitable practices, specifically strategies to disaggregate data, continues to be an area of opportunity for both UWGC and organizations within the network. We are committed to identifying evidence based solutions that will result in more equitable outcomes ensuring everyone within our region has an opportunity to thrive.

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IN THE WORDS OF OUR PARTNERS“Our biggest challenge is meeting the needs of non-English speaking clients. We sometimes have counselors available with Spanish skills, but none have been able to converse in languages other than Spanish or English. We do not have counselors available that deeply understand cultural differences, even though many of the residents in our area are Hispanic.”

“Too often, discussions of poverty solutions exclude any mention of issues related to disability. In disability circles, services are often designed without consideration of the challenges for families in poverty – even through people with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than any other demographic group.”

The 2018 year-end report also asked partners to self-assess their DEI Readiness. “Readiness refers to an organization’s capacity and preparedness to foster diverse viewpoints, support employees and partner organizations through inclusive and equitable practices and culture.” (Diverse Green- Beyond Diversity). The chart below details the percentage of our partners that fell within each tier. Half of respondents indicated they were at a progressive level while only 5% had not initiated any DEI work. We will continue to create platforms to for shared learning, elevating the experiences of partners that are making progress on their DEI efforts to increase peer to peer learnings from the field.

1. Inactive: No D&I work has begun; diversity and a culture of inclusion are not part of organizational goals.

2. Reactive: A compliance mindset; actions are only taken in compliance with relevant laws and social pressures.

3. Proactive: A clear awareness of the value of D&I; starting to implement D&I systemically.

4. Progressive: Implementing D&I systemically; showing improved results and outcomes.

5. Best Practice: Demonstrating current best practices in D&I; exemplary for other organizations globally

Indicators sourced from Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks, 2015

In 2018, DEI readiness assessments completed by United Way’s executive leadership team resulted in a score of 3, or proactive, on the readiness tier. We know there is work to be done within our walls, and are partnering with other leaders in this space to help guide our work.

“We cannot provide trauma informed and intersectional services if we do not have a trauma informed and intersectional [work] environment. An additional task is helping staff identify implicit bias, micro-aggressions, and discrimination while giving them the needed tools and strategies to address it, in order to ensure (a) safe working environment.”

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LEADERSHIP DEMOGRAPHICS: ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CHANGEHaving a workforce and board that mirrors the population an organization serves is critical for non-profit organizations. The Council of Non-Profits outlines the following rationale for diversifying at the leadership levels:

• A diverse leadership team will be better positioned to not only connect with the people it serves, but will have more success with donors and partners within the community.

• A diverse leadership team will be better able to stay abreast of external influences—policy changes, cultural changes, economic factors—that affect the population served.

• Boards that are not diverse will perpetuate the lack of diversity. If all leaders spend their time with the same social circles, finding new team members will be an ongoing problem.

In the 2015 report, The State of Diversity in Nonprofit and Foundation Leadership, researchers from Battalia Winston surveyed 315 of the largest foundations in the USA and found that while 42% of organizations have female executive directors, 87% of all executive directors or presidents were white, with only minimal representation of African Americans, Asians, and Hispanic individuals. Similarly, research has also shown that despite younger generations entering the workforce at faster rates than Baby Boomers and Traditionalist the generational shift is lagging as it relates to the presence of individuals under the age of 40 on non-profit boards. This research grounded the way in which we asked agencies to report on the demographics of the executive director/CEO and their direct reports at the director level and above and board leaderships.

IN THE WORDS OF OUR PARTNERS“A challenge on the board level is recruiting diverse board members outside the network of the current board members.”

“We have difficulty recruiting quality applicants with diverse backgrounds sometimes because these people are often highly sought after and our pay structure as a non-profit may not be competitive enough.”

“We are highly aware of and working on building an equitable workplace and equitable opportunities for program participants. ...Our large primary service area, is now one of the more diverse communities in Greater Cincinnati in terms of race, ethnicity, language, culture, economic status, education, housing, etc. We are making strides to ensure the organization is building equity across these areas of difference. One example is the successful integration of a program participant onto our board of directors with plans to increase participant voice on the board and in other areas of our work.”

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DEMOGRAPHICS: NETWORK DATAThere is much work to do to ensure philanthropic and non-profit leadership better represents the groups they serve. UWGC’s equity audit will look at internal practices around hiring, talent management and advancement, specifically to ensure that organizational leadership and board is reflective of our community. The audit will also make recommendations for improving practices and we look forward to lifting and sharing these recommendations with our partners to inform their own practices. Our learning community is also exploring best practices and innovative efforts of partners who currently have more reflective leadership.

Overall, demographic information collected across our network is in line with national data. Points of consideration include:

69% of partners’ Executive Leadership is female, with 51% over the age of 45.53% of agency board members are male, with only 15% under the age of 4415% of agency board members are under the age of 45

Agency Race & Ethnicity Data

Agency Age & Gender Data

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CALL TO ACTIONWe encourage other funders to join us in being more reflective in their practices and acknowledge the potential unintended consequences of not exploring decisions through an equity lens. To do this, we ask the following:

• Data collection: Modernize data collection efforts and disaggregate data, expand demographic fields to be representational of various dimensions of diversity, and use inclusive language encouraging respondents to self-identify.

• Advancing equity: In 2016, UWGC partnered with Design Impact to conduct research that resulted in a set of six Metathemes offering clear implications for a new path forward for all of us working to create equity. Explore ways that your institution can adopt these practices resulting in more equitable practices.

• Maximize revenue to increase impact: With changes in giving trends and shifting community demographics, it’s imperative that organizations diversify funding streams as well as their donor base.

• Invest in this work: Move beyond trainings and conversations to understanding that sustainable change takes dedicated resources. Allocate funds and encourage staff participation to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the same manner as any other business imperative.

CONCLUSIONUWGC has committed to stepping backwards to move forward, putting the mirror on ourselves first, which was a recommendation from the 2017 Black Led Social Change Report. Results from 2018 year-end reports gave us the critical information we needed to understand the strengths, opportunities and challenges that exist across our network as it relates to DEI efforts.

A 2018 report produced by Policy Link, indicated that Cincinnati metro area’s GDP would have been $9.9 billion higher if racial gaps in income were closed. We believe that a community-wide effort to engage philanthropic organizations and the social service sector in a unified DEI journey will produce a vibrant community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Successfully implementing DEI efforts is critical to not only for clients of social service agencies, but for the success of our region as a whole. We are committed to being a part of the solution… Will you join us?

Source: Design Impact Metathemes: Designing for Equitable Social Change

• Expand the table: Be inclusive in co-creating strategies to address community challenges; be intentional about inviting constituents with lived experience to decision making tables.

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APPENDIXUWGC WorkforceUWGC workforce data is comprised of full-time and part-time UWGC employees (excluding: temporary and seasonal

workers/loaned executives) as of 11/23/2018.

UWGC Workforce Overview

UWGC Workforce Overview- by organization level

*Line percentages may vary slightly compared to gender totals due to rounding, all totals equal 100%

*Line percentages may vary slightly compared to gender totals due to rounding, all totals equal 100%

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APPENDIX

There are no employees or board members that identify as transgender, non-binary, or third gender.

United Way Board

Unique Individuals: 63Self-reported in Fall 2018: 37%Historical Institutional Records: 63%

*Line percentages may vary slightly compared to gender totals due to rounding, all totals equal 100%

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REFERENCESThe Cincinnati Projecthttp://thecincyproject.org/

d5 Coalition: State of the Work http://www.d5coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/D5_State_of_the_Work_2013.pdf

Battalia Winston http://www.battaliawinston.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/05/nonprofit_white_paper.pdf

Lending with Intenthttps://leadingwithintent.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/LWI2017.pdf

Council of Nonprofitshttps://councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/diversity-nonprofit-boards

All-In-Cincinnati Report https://www.gcfdn.org/Investing-in-Our-Community/All-In-Cincinnati

State of Black Cincinnati http://www.ulgso.org/state-of-black-cincinnati-and-dayton https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-tps16.html

City of Cincinnati Health Profilehttps://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/health/assets/File/execsummary.pdf

Green 2.0https://www.diversegreen.org/beyond-diversity/

Black Led Social Change Projecthttps://www.uwgc.org/docs/default-source/annual-report-documents/case-study_black-led-social-change-project.pdf

Metathemeshttps://d-impact.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Design-Impact_Metathemes-Report_Jan2017_small.pdf

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NOTES

United Way of Greater Cincinnati2400 Reading RoadCincinnati, OH 45202-1478513.762.7100

Clermont & Brown County948 Cincinnati Batavia PikeCincinnati, 45245-1332513.536.3000

Middletown Area6820 Roosevelt Avenue, STE DMiddletown, OH 45005-5798513.705.1160

Northern Kentucky2146 Chamber Center DriveFt. Mitchell, KY 41017-1669859.525.2600

Southeast Indiana227 Walnut StreetLawrenceburg, IN 47025-3465812.537.2009

UWGC.org