PCTA Acting Executive Director Megan Wargo spoke Tuesday at a press briefing in Sacramento by Latinos LEAD, joining Patrick Salazar, Latinos LEAD Founder & Executive Director, and Geoff Green, Latinos LEAD board member & CEO at Santa Barbara City College Foundation.
PCTA Acting CEO Megan Wargo with Latinos LEAD’s Geoff Green and Patrick Salazar.
[View the KCRA News coverage of the event here.]
Based in Lawndale, California, Latinos LEAD is a nonprofit whose mission is to promote more inclusive and effective civil society organizations by preparing and recruiting Latinos for nonprofit board leadership; helping nonprofit organizations to develop governing boards that reflect their constituents; and collaborating with partners to increase ethnic diversity in nonprofit governance.
[Read the NPR/Capital Public Radio story about the event here.]
At the briefing, Latinos LEAD presented findings that spotlight the lack of Latinos in the leadership of Sacramento’s nonprofit sector—as well as many other nonprofits nationally, particularly those in cities with substantial Latino populations. The findings come from a study of Latinos LEAD’s own Boards Count! online database, which according to the organization is “the most extensive objective tabulation ever of Latinos serving on nonprofit governing boards.”
[Read the Sacramento Bee’s story here.]
Megan shared PCTA’s experience working with Latinos LEAD in recent board member recruitment, which ultimately led to three new Latino/Latinas joining PCTA’s board in 2022 through the engagement.
“Our board recruiting was getting insular,” said Megan, “and we tended to look at our existing board’s friends and network, not bringing in a greater diversity of thoughts and cultures. A couple of years ago, we heard from our community that the PCTA board did not represent that community. We realized we could do better, we needed different perspectives, and how important it is for people to see themselves in our board leadership.”
[Read the Sacramento Business Journal’s story here.]
Patrick Salazar shared that the findings in the study by Latinos LEAD are “not to accuse and point fingers, but as an invitation to work together.”
“Nonprofits are not in this alone,” he said, “and it is a challenge for many to reach out beyond themselves. We’re here to help. The PCTA has gone through some wonderful evolution in terms of their governance.”
“It began as a lot of internal work to make a safe and appropriate space to invite new leaders into,” said Megan. “How are we making sure our mission is still up-front when doing this? For us, the mission has always been about reaching out to find new people who really connect with and care about the outdoors! We’re now finding them from new communities and connections—and we’re still learning how to do this.”