Since we founded LeaderFit in 2009, a key driver of our work has been helping nonprofits diversify their leadership teams. We know organizations are better when they reflect, respect, and amplify the beautiful diversity of our communities.

Our Equity Imperative

We are here to transform the nonprofit and philanthropic community in partnership with leaders who share our values.

We work to dismantle systemic racism and remove implicit bias in nonprofit leadership recruiting.

We bring change to traditional racist and oppressive hiring practices that have over-relied on “who we know,” a premium on elite academic institutions, and comfort in hiring leaders who are familiar.

We elevate and amplify marginalized voices to positions of influence and power.

How do we do this?

We do not over-rely on our network or our partner organization’s networks. We work hard to ensure broad access to every leadership opportunity.

We encourage Boards of Directors and hiring managers to be open to a diverse range of candidates who may be different from their vision of “an ideal candidate” or previous leader.

We work with Boards and leadership teams to understand their shared responsibility in the hiring process, including their role in supporting and ensuring the success of the incoming leader. 

We encourage Boards of Directors and hiring managers to share the power of hiring with staff and community stakeholders in the search.

We push for equitable compensation ranges, and we include salary bands on every job description.

We set reasonable timelines that are not rushed to allow thoughtfulness and intentionality in developing diverse portfolios of candidates.

We proactively seek to share leadership opportunities with leaders of color and others who have been historically underrepresented.

We research and identify a broad and diverse portfolio of candidates who bring different perspectives and lived experiences.

We provide a voluntary, open-ended self-identification form (not a drop-down box!) on every application for individuals to share how they identify, in their own words, if they choose to do so.

We look at competencies in addition to experience when developing candidate profiles. And, we do not believe a candidate needs to have previously done the same role to succeed. 

We strive to provide equal access to information to all candidates. 

We respectfully engage all candidates through intentional communication, updates, and kindness.