TY - JOUR
T1 - Transparency about human diversity in transnational environmental NGOs
AU - Meaux, Estelle
AU - Castillo-Díaz, Diana
AU - Pradhan, Namrata
AU - Dayananda, Salindra K.
AU - Balboa, Cristina M.
AU - Goodale, Eben
AU - Mammides, Christos
AU - Primack, Richard B.
AU - Goodale, Uromi Manage
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Conservation and/or environmental non-governmental organizations (CE-NGOs) have recently been scrutinized about their leadership's human diversity. Increasing diversity is an ethical obligation for CE-NGOs, and could benefit them by strengthening their problem solving, fundraising, and interactions with local communities across the world. Providing statements regarding their commitments, and including biographies and photographs of their leadership on their websites can indicate a CE-NGOs' dedication to diversity. Surveying 155 transnational CE-NGOs' websites, we found 26% did not mention human diversity in the mission statement, 65% did not use the words of equity, justice or inclusion, and 84% did not acknowledge historical or current power imbalances. A connection to local or indigenous peoples was incorporated twice as much as any other aspect of diversity. The CE-NGOs that had diversity statements were more transparent than those that did not, including more biographies and photos of their leaders. Small CE-NGOs (annual expenditures <$2 million) had fewer statements and were less transparent than large (>$10 million) ones, and CE-NGOs that fund, but do not themselves engage in conservation or environmental activities, were also less transparent. Having biographies of leaders could force a CE-NGO, whatever its size or type, to ask itself whether it represents the world it works in, stimulating self-correction, as well as generating public pressure to increase diversity. Nevertheless, providing this information should not be just for public display: it must be combined with an inclusive and equitable organizational culture that allows each member of the leadership opportunity to shape decisions.
AB - Conservation and/or environmental non-governmental organizations (CE-NGOs) have recently been scrutinized about their leadership's human diversity. Increasing diversity is an ethical obligation for CE-NGOs, and could benefit them by strengthening their problem solving, fundraising, and interactions with local communities across the world. Providing statements regarding their commitments, and including biographies and photographs of their leadership on their websites can indicate a CE-NGOs' dedication to diversity. Surveying 155 transnational CE-NGOs' websites, we found 26% did not mention human diversity in the mission statement, 65% did not use the words of equity, justice or inclusion, and 84% did not acknowledge historical or current power imbalances. A connection to local or indigenous peoples was incorporated twice as much as any other aspect of diversity. The CE-NGOs that had diversity statements were more transparent than those that did not, including more biographies and photos of their leaders. Small CE-NGOs (annual expenditures <$2 million) had fewer statements and were less transparent than large (>$10 million) ones, and CE-NGOs that fund, but do not themselves engage in conservation or environmental activities, were also less transparent. Having biographies of leaders could force a CE-NGO, whatever its size or type, to ask itself whether it represents the world it works in, stimulating self-correction, as well as generating public pressure to increase diversity. Nevertheless, providing this information should not be just for public display: it must be combined with an inclusive and equitable organizational culture that allows each member of the leadership opportunity to shape decisions.
KW - Foundations
KW - Gender diversity
KW - Leadership
KW - Nonstate actors
KW - Organizational diversity
KW - Racial diversity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101726061&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109027
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109027
M3 - Short survey
AN - SCOPUS:85101726061
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 256
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
M1 - 109027
ER -