DEI, Representation & Power

Racial representation at the top of nonprofit organizations has shifted substantially, but it continues to narrow in positions closest to formal power.

The share of respondents working in BIPOC-led organizations rose from 25% in 2019 to 42% in 2025, while the share working in White-led organizations fell from 58% to 25%. By 2025, BIPOC-led organizations were the largest leadership-composition group represented in the survey.

Across the broader organizational structure, however, respondents estimated that people of color comprise 58% of communities served and 46% of staff, compared with 36% of top leadership and 34% of boards. Nearly half placed their boards and top leadership in the lowest representation band – less than 25% people of color – while only 15% said the same of the communities their organizations serve. A growing share of respondents work in BIPOC-led organizations even as racial representation remains less common in governance and senior decision-making than among staff and communities served.

Organizational mission and identity vary substantially by leadership composition, particularly in the extent to which organizations explicitly center communities of color.
Across respondents, organizations most commonly identified as people-of-color or multiracial organizations (27%) or reported centering low-income communities (25%), women or feminist communities (24%), and Black communities (23%). These categories overlap because respondents could identify more than one community or organizational focus.

The largest differences by leadership composition appear in explicitly racialized areas of work. Nearly half of respondents in BIPOC-led organizations said their organization identifies as people-of-color or multiracial, compared with 17% of respondents in White-led organizations. Respondents in BIPOC-led organizations also reported higher rates of centering Black, Latino/a/x or Hispanic, and immigrant communities. Respondents in White-led organizations reported higher rates of centering low-income, women or feminist, and disability communities. The survey does not establish why these patterns differ, but it shows a strong relationship between leadership composition and the communities and identities organizations name as central to their work.

Reported DEI activity peaked in 2022, then declined substantially by 2025 across every focus area measured.

The share of respondents reporting that their organization engages in DEI activity fell from 83% in 2022 to 60% in 2025, dropping below the 2019 level of 74%. Among respondents whose organizations engage in DEI work, the average number of strategies measured consistently across all three waves also declined – from 3.9 in 2022 to 2.2 in 2025. Together, these trends indicate a contraction in both the reach of organizational DEI activity and the breadth of strategies being pursued.

The decline extends across governance and leadership, pay equity, learning and culture, hiring and representation, and strategy, measurement, and accountability. In every focus area, respondents reported pursuing a smaller proportion of available strategies in 2025 than in 2022. The largest decrease appeared in strategy, measurement, and accountability, where the average proportion fell from 62% to 23%.

Current strategy breadth also varies by organizational resources and leadership composition. Respondents in small organizations reported about three and a half strategies on average regardless of leadership composition. Differences became more pronounced at higher budget levels: among large and very large organizations, respondents in BIPOC-led and mixed-leadership organizations reported approximately five strategies, compared with about four in White-led organizations. These patterns suggest that organizational resources are associated with broader DEI activity, but leadership composition may shape how those resources are translated into strategy.

Respondents perceive DEI efforts as more effective when organizations are BIPOC-led and when those efforts extend across a broader set of strategies.

Average perceived effectiveness ratings are highest among respondents in BIPOC-led organizations, at 3.6 on a five-point scale, compared with 3.3 in organizations with mixed leadership and 3.0 in White-led organizations. Ratings also rise steadily with the number of strategies pursued, from 3.0 among respondents reporting zero to three strategies to 3.7 among those reporting 12 or more. These relationships do not establish that leadership composition or additional strategies cause greater effectiveness, but they show that respondents assess DEI efforts more favorably when those efforts are situated within BIPOC leadership and broader organizational practice.

Most respondents also report visible signs of organizational commitment. Roughly six in ten agree that their organizations have policies and procedures supporting an equitable and inclusive workplace and take public stands on root causes affecting communities, while nearly two-thirds agree that top leaders demonstrate consistent DEI commitment. At the same time, about one in five disagree with each statement, indicating that organizational commitment is not experienced consistently across workplaces.

Race equity also remains present in most executive-transition planning. More than seven in ten transitioning top executives reported incorporating at least one race-equity practice in every survey wave shown, including 71% in 2025. The share peaked at 80% in 2022 before declining, suggesting that equity-conscious succession practices remain common but have not continued to expand.

Taken together, the findings suggest that perceived DEI effectiveness is strongest where commitment is embedded across leadership, strategy, organizational systems, and succession planning – not where DEI appears as a stand-alone activity.