Representation of diverse perspectives matters

Here in Linn County, nonprofit organizations provide many of the services and amenities that make our communities thrive. From arts and culture to health care and human services, these organizations connect us to the world and ensure our most vulnerable residents are not left behind. The Community Foundation is proud of its nonprofit partners and of the service that they provide for our community. These agencies strive to serve everyone in the community, and it is important that their governance structures represent the community’s diversity of backgrounds and perspective.

The Community Foundation has benefited greatly by increasing diversity on its board of directors. As has been suggested by research conducted at the Stanford University Law School, diversity at the board level can lead to better decision making and a broader view of the community being served.

Representation of diverse perspectives truly does matter — in popular culture, in the systems that serve our communities, and in the rooms where decisions are made. We tell our children they can be anything when they grow up, but do they see people who look like them in positions of influence? As Brandon Fleming said in a recent webinar sponsored by Tanager Place and supported by the Community Foundation and others, representation is the lens through which we shape our aspirations and see our opportunities. We all appreciate the feeling that we’re helping our community, but are we considering everyone’s vision for what our community can be?

Organizations like the Community Foundation have the ability to change our community for the better, not just through the services they provide, but by reflecting and including the very communities we serve. By elevating voices that have previously been marginalized, we can create a future that works for everyone in our community.

It’s exciting for the board of directors of the Community Foundation to have its first Black chair. While it’s often tempting to say that a glass ceiling has been broken when a person of color rises to a position of leadership, it is perhaps more realistic to say that what has been broken is one panel of a large glass ceiling. There is certainly room for growth.

We have a wide range of voices and perspectives in Linn County. Let’s make sure we hear all of them.

Okpara Rice is CEO of CEO of Tanager Place and board chair of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. Les Garner is president and CEO of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.