Take a moment to absorb the following:
Thomas-Breitfeld said the survey results indicated that executive recruiters often overlook people of color, and when boards are mostly white, they often don’t support candidates of color in reaching their leadership potential.
Fred Brown, president and CEO of The Forbes Funds, said in an interview that before he landed his current position, he was used to feeling like potential employers were just “checking the box” by interviewing him. So when Brown, who is black, applied for the top job at Forbes Funds, he wasn’t sure how seriously the board would take his qualifications, even though he knew he was a strong candidate.
“When I made the top five [applicants], my first inclination was, ‘Yeah, that’s just the Rooney Rule—they ain’t going to hire me. They’re just doing their due diligence,’” Brown said, referencing the NFL rule that requires teams to interview at least one person of color for each head coach or general manager position. “When I got the phone call, I was in disbelief. I kept [saying], ‘This ain’t real, it couldn’t be.’” (Public Source).
Two uber poignant statements to consider:
- "When boards are mostly white, they often don't support candidates of color in reaching their leadership potential.
- Yeah, that's just the Rooney Rule-they ain't going to hire me."
There's not much more to say but "hey, nonprofit boards - turnover is coming, what will you be doing?"