Photo by Greater Cincinnati Foundation
For a small-but-mighty nonprofit, the idea of dedicating limited resources to large-scale internal efforts can be daunting. But setting high standards when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion—and declaring them to the community you work alongside—is nothing new for Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF).
As the region’s leading community nonprofit foundation, GCF has been committed to connecting people with purpose for 50+ years. With $1.27 Billion in cumulative grants, GCF impacts 3,200 organizations locally, nationally, and globally. In 2019, with a new executive team in place, GCF wanted to better serve its mission by applying the same equity lens leveraged in its external efforts to its internal efforts. In order to be a leading-edge employer of choice that creates meaningful social change, the leadership team knew they needed the right people at the table. Ellequate was a natural next step.
Getting Started With Ellequate
GCF’s leadership team understood the journey wouldn’t be easy. With small teams and an even smaller HR department, they wondered, could the organization prioritize this important, but sometimes time-intensive work? How would they report findings to internal stakeholders and external partners? Was the organization ready to see how they measure up to leading standards for workplace equity?
Despite these unknowns, GCF’s leadership team knew the time was right—not only to ensure internal and external practices were aligned but to elevate the importance of intersectional equity to other employers in the community. The nonprofit’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer were ready to take the first step.
The Ellequate process uncovered employee experiences and perspectives that were previously unknown, introduced policies and practices that the nonprofit hadn’t previously considered and enabled the leadership team to gather valuable feedback from the entire organization.
Ellequate’s work with GCF included:
A policy assessment to help the organization understand their current state, and help them create a plan to reimagine benefits and update their employee handbook
A pay equity audit to examine compensation across level, function, hours worked, education, tenure, demographics and more, in order to identify trends and benchmarks
A collaborative learning cohort that included organizations from diverse industries, providing perspectives beyond the nonprofit sector
A framework for hosting employee listening sessions to ensure meaningful input from employees at all levels within the organization
Widespread participation increased employee engagement with the work, maximized the impact, and promoted transparency and trust, empowering the team to put resources behind initiatives that were important to the staff. According to Will Woodward, GCF’s Chief Financial Officer, “Being able to have mile-markers and touchpoints...you're forced to up your game. And Ellequate forces you to continue to push the needle forward because you can't just stay stagnant.”
“There’s a sense of belonging from all the employee engagement activities—the results of our culture survey, the talent here speaking and feeling empowered, and the number of people applying for jobs. There’s a lot of impact—this was worth the investment.”
With Certification Comes Results
As a result of working with Ellequate, GCF soon found itself implementing a “bottom up” rather than a “top down” approach. The ongoing feedback provided through the listening sessions not only uncovered powerful insights, but the ongoing work dramatically increased internal employee satisfaction—in both anecdotal reports and survey data.
According to Dora Anim, the Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer, “Organizations often recognize this work is important but starting and how to proceed can feel overwhelming. A two to four-year plan, and then a four+ year plan, gives you that roadmap. We are 100% committed because we've seen the value and we want to keep getting better.”
Key actions and results from Ellequate’s work with the Foundation include:
A clear picture of what’s working—and what’s not. Recognizing the organization’s accomplishments provided a good “head start” foundation, but the process also identified areas that could be better
Continuous benchmarks, milestones, and ongoing touchpoints created a framework for continuous improvement
Creation of a specific action plan with prioritized areas for change
Employee co-designed new or improved internal policies including:
A new 16-week paid parental leave policy for parents of all genders, which covers adoption, fostering, and surrogacy
Extended paid family leave policies, including familial care for elder care, child care, military care, and kinship care
Extended paid medical leave that covers injury, illness, surgery, mental health treatment, addiction treatment, and gender transition
Updated and documented sexual harassment policies, including a reporting hotline
Ongoing refining of remote work and telecommuting policies
Transparent compensation policies across the continuum from recruiting through advancement, including published salary ranges in all job postings
The Foundation now includes people of color on all panels to ensure equity in policies, including inclusive language, both internal and external
With all of these changes in place, GCF saw significant improvements in employee satisfaction and engagement, as well as a greater sense of belonging and buy-in. Dora Anim adds, “we have a lot of people that work here now that are fulfilled, supported, and excited.” With all the right pieces in place, GCF is gaining a competitive advantage on many fronts.
Happier people led to a stronger culture. And as word got out about the internal impact across the nonprofit community, GCF has seen a corresponding increase in inbound interest from top talent wanting to join the organization.
Are you ready to boost your DEI efforts with a data-driven and people-centered strategy? Learn how to become an Ellequate member.
