067. DEI trends in US development agencies, by the numbers – Shiro Gnanaselvam @ Social Impact

SummaryWhat is the state of DEI in US-founded international development organisations (both for-profit and nonprofit), and how has this state changed since 2021?  What has been the action, as compared to the professed intentions for action?  In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Shiro Gnanaselvam, President and CEO at Social Impact, on DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) trends in US Development agencies. Shiro’s Bio:CEO of Social Impact, a US-based mid-size consulting company that offers MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) services to the international development sectorFormer EVP and COO of Social ImpactCOO of AfriCare, largest and oldest African-American founded international NGO focused exclusively on the continent of Africa.Senior Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Millenium Challenge Corporation We discuss: Racial and ethnic minorities remain under-represented in positions of powerThe global development sector remains predominantly white and female, including at the topDisability reporting shows signs of greater awarenessOrganizations have invested in establishing governance structures for DEI: policies, strategies and staff with dedicated responsibilities as well as collective staff bodies (DEI councils etc.)There are modest improvements in how diversity data are capturedCommitment to DEI remains, but competing priorities and resource limitations are a severe impediment to progressThere are tensions between global DEO, localization and domestic DEI that need to be resolved – but also many points of similarity Resources:Shiro’s LinkedIn ProfileSocial Impact websiteSocial Impact’s blog post on overall survey resultsSocial Impact blog post on 7 actions the US development sector must take YouTube video of this podcastClick here to subscribe to be alerted when new podcast episodes come out or when Tosca produces other thought leadership pieces.Or email Tosca at [email protected] if you want to talk about your social sector organization’s needs, challenges, and opportunities.You can find Tosca’s content by following her on her social media channels: Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Youtube