By Brennen Jensen

Arlington, Va.

Bruce Gordon, who resigned in February as leader of the NAACP, told a gathering of black nonprofit leaders and donors today that some black philanthropic efforts are “caught up in ruts and old habits” and said charity leaders need to “depart from the traditional and be willing to think about uncomfortable ideas.”

Speaking to the Sixth National Conference on Black Philanthropy, which opened here on Wednesday, Mr. Gordon acknowledged that as a former businessman he has a “bias towards the for-profit model” when it comes to how to develop and run organizations designed to grapple with the challenges facing black Americans.

In particular, he said charities could benefit by looking at how mergers have helped achieved efficiencies in corporate America.

Mr. Gordon, who stepped down after just 19 months on the job in a clash with the NAACP board, cited the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund as two entities that “share the same brand” that might benefit from uniting.

He added that that black philanthropy should be driven by “process and performance, not personalities,” suggesting that too many organizations “circle around” specific notable individuals.

Of black America, he said it was the “best of times for some and the worst of times for many,” adding, “too many in the community are thinking like victims instead of acting like powerful people.”

His closed his speech by stating that the 2008 election represented a great opportunity for black nonprofit groups to “pump ideas and principles into the campaigns of the people who want our votes.”

In a separate talk on Friday, the veteran children’s welfare advocate Marian Wright Edelman also urged black charity leaders and philanthropists to speak out to influence politicians and policy makers.

Ms. Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, peppered her speech with grim statistics highlighting disparity between white and black children in regards to health care, education, and treatment in criminal justice system.

She spoke of a “staggeringly unlevel playing field” where black children are as likely as white children to be born with a low birth weight, four times as likely to grow up in extreme poverty, and twice as likely to end up in the foster-care system.

Black boys born in 2001, she said a study shows, face a one-in-three chance of being incarcerated during their lifetimes.

“You can give all the personal money you want, all the foundation money you want, if we have unjust public policies these trends are not going go away,” Ms Edelman he added. “Advocacy, advocacy, advocacy—all the money in the world is no substitute for justice.”

Where philanthropic dollars could play an active role, she said, was providing children with “an alternative to the streets.”

“The drug houses are always open and our churches and schools are always closed,” she said.