Charities are not doing enough to create a more diverse working environment, according to the founder of Charity Women.
Lizzi Hollis, corporate partnerships manager for St Mungo’s, set up Charity Women almost a year ago to improve the gender balance of leadership in the sector.
In an article for Fundraising magazine, published by Civil Society Media, she said that while there are more women in the sector, men still hold most of the leadership roles.
Earlier this month the Charity Chief Executive Survey for Charity Finance magazine found that just 27 of the chief executives at the largest 100 charities are women.
“We are almost entirely overshadowed by our male colleagues in every aspect,” she wrote. “In areas of pay, seniority and recognition, men are still doing better – and this in a sector that prides itself on equality and progress.”
She set up Charity Women “as a way that we can have our voices heard” and “begin to have a positive impact on the gender balance in our sector”.
Hollis also called on the whole sector to do more to be more inclusive.
She said that Charity Women’s own committee is “majority white, straight and able-bodied” because it is a “reflection of the charity sector”.
The sector “must do more to attract people with different experiences,” she said. “In the fundraising sector we must start working harder to encourage people from BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) backgrounds.”
Subscribers to Fundraising magazine can read the full article here.
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