Diversity in nonprofit world is invaluable - Kansas City Business Journal:

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To this end, MCFI is three years into an agencywide diversity program that is yieldinbg positive results in terms of client staff morale andemployee recruitment. The agency provides rehabilitation services to individuals with specia l needs andtheir families. “We want to make diversityt intertwined in the fabric ofthe organization,” said Al Hill Jr., directort of diversity, learning and development and head of the Hill leads a 15-membefr MCFI diversity team charged with implementing the In assembling the team, Hill recruited employees not just of differentt ethnicities, genders and ages, but also from different levelsx of management and nonmanagement and from different units within the agency.
In addition, the initiativse is not “top down,” with managementg directing, but “bottom up,” with team members soliciting input from theid peers to bring tothe team. “One time we even kickedc Al out of the room because he was too close to an issue we werestruggling with,” laughec Joua Xiong, a human resourcess generalist and team member. Withinj Milwaukee Center for Independence, the team focuse s on education. “Cultural competency is invaluablre when working with familiesin close-knit communities, such as Hmonv and Russian,” Hill said. “We help our case managerd know what they need to besensitive to.
” For Xiong said, some Asians feel it is disrespectful to look someonde in the eye. Russian families can be reluctant toadmitg non-Russian caregivers into theirt homes. “Understanding the values and practices of different ethniv groups helps us retain clients and gain new she said. The team distributed an internalp survey that foundthat work-life balancd is a key concern of In response, it established a working parents employee resource group to explorre the issue. Also, an MCFI “buddy” programm matches new employees with seasoned staff membersz who actsas mentors.
Externally the diversityh team is helping to improve employee recruitmeny by studying best practices to make the centeer a welcomingwork environment. “Diversityh is an asset when recruiting, especially in highly competitivse fields such as physical therapy and said Xiong. Added Hill, “Today’s applicants are looking at your organizatiojn as muchas you’re looking at They want to feel comfortable being who they are in the To aid in recruitment, the team has formed allianceds with area diversity groups such as Hispanicf Professionals of Greater Milwaukee, the National Blacjk Nurses Association and several minorityy fraternities and sororities.
In addition to a periodid newslettercalled “Diversity Corner,” the team sponsors an annuap Diversity Day. This year’s event in April included a speaker on diversity in two spoken word artists performing poetry aboutr social justice and equality and talks about the culture behind ethnic food andwearingf apparel. A popular part of the event was “Diversity Jeopardy!”, where four employee teams joinexd inspirited competition.
It is not easy to make a majorr shift in the culture of an entire but diversity team membersfeel MCFI’s initiativew is having an “Since I’ve been on the committee, I’vw heard stories about how peoplwe are much more aware of other cultures,” said who is Hmong. “I have grown tremendously professionally as well as and I am able to share my experiencess with my family members and dispell their stereotypes about certainotherf cultures.
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