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Green 2.0 Report Finds NGOs Improving on Diversity, Foundations Still Hiding Data

February 5, 2020

Green 2.0 Team

F or Immediate Release: February 5, 2020
Contact: Daniel Herrera, dherrera@rabengroup.com, 213-694-3353

Green 2.0 Report Finds NGOs Improving on Diversity, Foundations Still Hiding Data

Twenty-six (26) foundations still negligent in reporting diversity data

Washington, D.C — Green 2.0, an independent advocacy organization working to increase racial and ethnic diversity among environmental groups, released new data today on the movement’s top 40 NGOs and top 40 foundations. The data showed positive trends in the diversity of the boards, leadership and staff of major organizations. Nonetheless, the vast majority of foundations and several NGOs continue, after five years of outreach from Green 2.0, to fail to report their diversity data. The third annual “Transparency Report Card” shows that while some progress has been made for the organizations who elected to report their data, much more information is needed, especially among foundations, to know if this progress is representative of the rest of the sector.

The 2019 Green 2.0 Transparency Report reflects data collected through Green 2.0’s ongoing partnership with Guidestar by Candid. In sum, 19 NGOs and 5 foundations have submitted data on the diversity of their boards, leadership, and staff over the last three years. Another 17 NGOs and 9 foundations have submitted partial data. Finally, 4 NGOs and 26 foundations failed to submit any diversity data for any of the three years. 

Robert Raben, Founder of Green 2.0, said: “The positive movement among those organizations who have shared their data is encouraging. However, we still have an incomplete picture of whether several of the environmental movement’s top organizations are all making similar progress, or if those NGOs and foundations who are less transparent are hiding a more abysmal picture. The urgency that the leaders of the environmental movement so often call upon to save the planet should just as strongly inform their commitment to representing and lifting up the communities for which they claim to speak.”

Whitney Tome, Executive Director of Green 2.0, said: “We hope the positive gains in staff and board diversity that we see from participating organizations this year are a sign of institutional changes that will sustain further progress, and not a temporary blip in the data. Diversity, equity and inclusion are not illusive or difficult principles to implement, as younger leaders and institutions in the environmental space have readily proven. Green 2.0 remains committed to using accountability and transparency to push the environmental movement in the right direction.”

Dr. M Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, said:  “Organizations have the potential to make a bigger impact when they bring diverse perspectives with different lived experiences to the table. Local people are often the best protectors of the environment and at Conservation International, we’re committed to ensuring our global team is representative of the countries and communities where we work. I firmly believe diversity makes our work better. As a Sri Lankan-born leader myself, building a diverse team is something that is personally important to me and I commend Green 2.0’s efforts to create a more equitable environment across the global conservation community.”

Gene Karpinski, President of League of Conservation Voters. “The Green 2.0 Report Card is a crucial tool for making the environmental movement more representative of all the people and communities we aim to protect, and to making our own organizations more just, equitable and inclusive. This data has been extremely useful in LCV’s journey to strengthen our own strategies, tools and commitment to racial justice and equity in our external and internal work over the last several years.”

Data for the Green 2.0 Transparency Report Card was voluntarily submitted and self-reported by individual organizations. Individuals who declined to answer questions about their racial and ethnic identity in the survey will not be reflected in their organization’s data. Green 2.0 is continually working with GuideStar by Candid to improve the reporting process for greater accuracy and consistency. 

To view this year’s Transparency Report Card, please CLICK HERE.

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Green 2.0 drives accountability via information and visibility— including praise and exposure of individual NGOs, foundations, and government agencies—and their collective work on national initiatives and priorities. We elevate and sustain public attention on the racial demographics of the leadership of the environmental field and the degree to which these leaders are positioned to embed equity and shape the strategies, programs, and operations of their organizations. Follow Green 2.0. on Twitter and Facebook.