A report by the HR Council for the Nonprofit Sector has concluded that “the nonprofit sector today is less diverse than the population at large” and that “at present the sector is not well positioned to replace (aging baby boomers) with new sources of talent.”
As a result, the HR Council has launched a new initiative to tackle diversity within the nonprofit labour force. No easy task for a sector that employs 1.2 million Canadians in 69,000 different organizations.
This
follows the HR Council’s 2008 labour force survey that found 89 % of nonprofit
employees self identify as “white or Caucasian” and 39 % are aged 45 or
older. As the baby boomer population
retires there is opportunity to build more diversity within the charitable
sector – not only in terms of age but also cultural and racial diversity and
gender.
