United Way's 10 to Watch: supporting under-represented nonprofit leadership

According to United Way of the Greater Triangle, an audit of their own funding portfolio prior to 2018 found that of the nonprofit organizations they funded, those led by men had three times the assets as those led by women.

In order to address that inequality, UWGT launched its "10 to Watch" initiative in 2018, a program that mentors, amplifies and funds under-represented leaders. The initiative invests more than a half million dollars over two years — $25K invested in each leader and organization per year — in ten high-impact organizations in the Greater Triangle led by Black, Latinx and/or woman leaders

The organization partners with other nonprofits and corporate sponsors to power the initiative, with the goal of addressing racial, gender and resource disparities in local nonprofit leadership.

"We have a multi-year relationship with United Way, centered in their Equity In Leadership pillar. One of the main ways we support that pillar is by providing leadership development and community building opportunities for the 10 to Watch leaders. The 10 to Watch participate in two programs with us, focused on affirming the work of these leaders who are most impacted by inequities," said Kristine Sloan, CEO of Leadership Triangle, a nonprofit that educates leaders and promotes regionalism across the Triangle. "For Leadership Triangle, our involvement is all about how we break harmful cycles and transform leadership and systems from the inside out. We see the 10 to Watch as models of the type of leadership we want to see more of in the Triangle."

"All of Leadership Triangle's programs are designed with an equity lens and an acknowledgement of power — how power works, how power moves and how power is bolstered in the community," said Sloan.

As part of the 10 to Watch program, Leadership Triangle designs classes on intentional leadership, storytelling, leading high performing teams, and working with values based tensions.

"Each leader is in session with us for more than 40 hours this fall and is assigned a peer coach, so they have one-on-one coaching through the program," said Sloan. "In the Spring, the 10 to Watch leaders and their organizations will participate in Transforming Teams, which is a program that we developed last year. Not only does the leader participate, but their full team as well. Transforming Teams is designed to help these leaders take their new learnings and commitments and align them with the policies, process, and structure of their organizations."

Jenice Ramirez, executive director of ISLA — a nonprofit that offers educational Spanish language and cultural immersion programs — is one of the 2021 10 to Watch participants. Ramirez's organization also received a grant through United Way's Cradle to Career pillar, which allowed them to focus on providing youth with opportunities to build their financial literacy skills and cultural, generational wealth.

Ramirez didn't plan on participating in 10 to Watch, though.

"The opportunity for 10 to Watch came up, and I wasn't sure if I was a good fit. There were some peers of mine that received it in previous years, so I decided to give it a try — especially since the first cohort hadn't had any Latinas participate," said Ramirez. "One of the hardest things being in the nonprofit sector is finding leadership opportunities where you can really talk to others about leading an organization as an executive director, so that was the part that excited me. For a long time, I felt like I needed that leadership development to be in a space with other leaders that may be going through some of the same things that I'm going through, as a woman and Latina in the space."

For Ramirez, the initiative and support that comes with it gives her the chance to make a change not just in her community, but also through empowering other Latina women and girls through representation.

"My real passion is about being able to change the status quo for our Spanish-speaking population and pushing for more opportunities, particularly in the field of education. I think about our students that come to our heritage language program and my daughter and I wonder: 'How can I be a positive example of leadership that centers on the community that I work for?' said Ramirez. "I don't want to be a leader that is focused on recognition or accomplishments. I want to be focused on how we're facilitating a space for women and Latinos in our community to really grow and close the opportunity gap for our students and families."

United Way's financial contributions to ISLA have already made a major impact on the organization. Now, Ramirez is excited to see how the additional support and funding from 10 To Watch could amplify those impacts.

"My hope is that I'm able to actually take these strategies and skills to be a strong leader and to be able to share those with my team and the community. I want to open that door and make that space at the table for others, even on my team, intentionally hiring individuals who want to be lifelong learners," said Ramirez. "Sometimes we all need that nudge to say, 'Actually, you know what, I do have those leadership skills. I do have that ability to advocate for myself and for my community.' By getting this training through United Way and talking to others, I can see how we can take these things and apply them to what we're doing as an organization. Every single one of our team members, our families, our students can continue to become leaders in their own way."