Diversity Assessment of Staff and Board

As part of a comprehensive diversity plan, programs need to conduct an assessment of the current diversity of their staff, volunteers, and Board. This can be a sensitive issue, because individuals may be reluctant to identify themselves as members of a particular group. While demographic questions are off-limits during the hiring process, after hiring new staff members may be asked if they are willing to voluntarily fill out an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) form that identifies some demographic variables.

Any diversity assessment should take place only after a conversation with those involved that clarifies the purpose of such an assessment and asks for suggestions about the process. Because many sexual assault centers have such small staffs that even an anonymous survey would clearly identify individuals, here is a possible alternative process for assessing diversity:

1. Conduct a discussion with staff and volunteers, and with Board members, about the need for a diversity assessment and how the information will be used. Be sure to emphasize privacy and issues the voluntary nature of any participation.

2. With the groups involved, decide upon a few diversity variables that you would like to assess, such as ethnicity, disability status, or sexual orientation.

3. Using an anonymous survey program such as the free Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com), create SEPARATE surveys for each variable. This way, you will harvest aggregate data such as the number of people who self-identify as Asian-American and the number of people who self-identify as disabled, but you would not have a survey response that would tie those two variables together. This will help to prevent the possibilility of creating recognizable individual responses.

4. If you have access to an attorney who reviews your policies, it would be a good idea to discuss this process with that attorney.

5. Be clear with staff, volunteers, and Board members about what will happen to the data you collect. For example, after you develop a report with aggregate data, will you delete the actual survey responses?

6. Provide a short description of the nature and purpose of the surveys along with the clear option not to participate with every survey question you send out. 7. Be sure to word the questions to reflect the idea that these are the individuals' own perceptions of themselves, for example, "Do you self-identify as a) heterosexual, b) lesbian or gay, c) transgender, d) other, or e) prefer not to answer?"

It would probably be helpful to survey the Board separately from staff and volunteers, in order to determine what (if any) steps need to be taken to help these distinct groups more accurately reflect the population of your community.