The Insider's Guide to Grantmaking: How Foundations Find, Fund, and Manage Effective Programs

Diversity and Foundations

When the big bull market began in the early 1980s, the overwhelming majority of people employed by foundations were white. Although women were fairly well represented (especially in smaller foundations), the officers and trustees of foundations, especially those foundations with over $10 million in assets, tended to be white males. The demographics of foundation employment and board membership began to change slowly during the 1980s, and the rate of that change accelerated slightly in the 1990s. Women and African Americans made the greatest gains, both on the staff rolls and in the boardroom. Latino participation grew more slowly; Asian Americans and Native Americans experienced the smallest increases. The hard truth, ...