There's many revolutions going on. One more that has erupted in of all places is in the Berkshires. Yup, that bucolic world in northwest Massachusetts where titans built mansions and rolling hills crouch between mountains and during the summer music and dance abound along with meditation and yoga centers. Bucolic right? Not so much if you aren't a rich person (of course this is true everywhere, this failure to distribute the wealth so that all boats float). But I digress. Meanwhile, in the Berkshires those who make the events and curators of archives and antiques and pretty much everyone who "does" receives a disproportionate pay and role in their nonprofit institution. And they are tired of this and aren't going to take it anymore. An instagram campaign is supporting the moment. One part of the story written on this subject in the Berkshire Edge caught my eye in particular:
This is partly caused by “very privileged, tone-deaf boards,” often hand-selected by the executive director. “The board members come in with certain expectations, of elevating the provenance of their own objects they collect, or creating these exclusive environments in which to rub elbows and have cocktails with other people like themselves. They never want to donate to something that isn’t flashy or sexy, so they never give it to the bottom line, to paying the employees. They always want to create a new project, which in turn creates more work for underpaid employees. It’s this constant cycle.”
Sound familiar even if your nonprofit does not focus on the arts? Yes, disparity among the haves and have-nots and privileged and not and yes, white and not lives, not a surprise, but gets prominently translated into action in the nature of nonprofit boards. And hence, a revolt......