Nineteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Institutional diversity is recognized to be an important component for improving organizational success and sustainability. In the same light, environmental organizations have been found to hinge on their abilities to enhance human and environmental health, as well as advance sustainability by typically looking for the unmet needs and leverage their resources to meet such needs in different and diverse vulnerable communities. This qualitative study examines the level of institutional diversity practices in Virginia’s environmental nonprofits’ board and staff composition, using Virginia’s nonprofits as a case study. The study adopted community engagement/representation and resource dependency theory to explain the importance of improving environmental nonprofits’ board and staff diversity demographics. Also, a secondary data collection strategy and a document analysis were used for data collection and analysis of the racial and gender diversity demographics of 85 Virginia environmental organizations, as reported on eco.usa website and on GuideStar official website. The research analyzed the gender and racial composition of the board of directors and staff members of these organizations, as provided on GuideStar Nonprofits documentation. The study also examined the percentage of data of racial and gender representation of the board of directors and staff as well as board diversity practices to examine the level of institutional diversity in environmental nonprofits. The study found a low level of diversity practices and diversity demographics in Virginia environmental nonprofits. Environmental nonprofits by implication are low on diversity representation and need to focus more on incorporating institutional diversity in their workforce demographics and practices.