According to the most recent data, 41% of the staff of the Hewlett Foundation’s average grantee organization identify as Black, Indigenous, or with another community of color – in line with the overall U.S. population (41%, according to 2019 U.S. Census). Those numbers drop somewhat in leadership ranks: 36% of board members in the typical grantee organization identify as people of color, compared with 29% of heads of organizations, and 33% of senior staff.
In terms of gender, 62% of staff in the typical organization identify as female, significantly greater than the overall U.S. population (51%); a third identify as male, while 1% identify as non-binary and 1% as transgender. The proportion of women is similar among senior staff (63%), but it drops to slightly greater than half when it comes to heads of organizations (53%), and slightly less than half among boards (47%).
Digging deeper into this top-level data, there is greater diversity among grantees surveyed in 2019 than those surveyed in 2018, but also a great deal of variation across different dimensions, such as grantee organizations of different sizes or in different program areas.
Among the key findings:
Each of the Hewlett Foundation’s program teams spent a great deal of time learning about and from these data to inform the foundation’s work going forward, including various actions it is undertaking in its efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Learn more about the concrete actions the foundation is taking, including: