Race To Lead Insight Hub
Explore nearly a decade of Race to Lead data to understand who works in the nonprofit sector, who advances into leadership, and what conditions help people thrive.
About the Initiative
What Is Race to Lead?
Race to Lead is Building Movement Project’s flagship research initiative examining race, leadership, and work in the nonprofit sector. Since 2016, the Race to Lead survey has collected the experiences and perspectives of thousands of nonprofit employees across the United States, creating one of the largest and most comprehensive datasets on nonprofit workers and leaders.
The initiative was launched to better understand who works in the nonprofit sector, who advances into leadership, and how race, gender, organizational practices, and workplace conditions shape career pathways and workplace experiences. Over four survey waves, Race to Lead has helped document persistent leadership inequities, emerging workforce challenges, and the changing realities of nonprofit work.
The Insight Hub brings together findings from the 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2025 surveys, allowing users to explore trends over time and examine how experiences vary across identities, roles, and organizational contexts. Whether you are a nonprofit leader, funder, researcher, journalist, or practitioner, these data offer insight into the people who power the nonprofit sector and the organizational conditions that shape their ability to lead and thrive.
Explore By Topic
How are nonprofits responding to backlash, uncertainty, and shifting priorities?
How do executives enter leadership, navigate challenges, and plan for succession?
How do compensation, class, and financial pressures shape nonprofit careers?
How are leadership, governance, and DEI efforts distributed across organizations?
How do belonging, burnout, benefits, and workplace culture shape nonprofit work?
How do workers advance into leadership — and what gets in the way?
Who makes up the nonprofit workforce and what organizations do they represent?
Featured Insights
Compensation & Economic Inequality
Class Background & Mobility
This subsection explores how respondents’ socioeconomic class positions have changed since childhood and how patterns of mobility differ by race and current role in the nonprofit sector.
DEI, Representation & Power
Leadership & Organizational Composition
This section examines who holds organizational power and how racial representation in top leadership and boards compares with staff and the communities organizations serve.
Who Works in the Sector?
Where Do People Work in the Nonprofit Workforce?
This section explores where Race to Lead respondents work within nonprofit organizations, including their role level, frontline status, and years of experience in the sector, to better understand the makeup of today's nonprofit workforce.
Workplace Experiences & Conditions
Workplace Belonging and Inclusion
This section explores whether nonprofit employees experience their workplaces as inclusive, supportive environments where they feel a sense of belonging.
Race to Lead Library
Explore nearly a decade of Race to Lead reports, briefs, and companion publications documenting the nonprofit workforce and leadership over time.
