A recent study citing the dearth of minorities on nonprofit boards has spurred charities and civic leaders in Cleveland to create an antidote, reports The Plain Dealer, in Cleveland.

The Urban Institute released a report last year that surveyed more than 5,000 public charities around the nation and found that 86 percent of nonprofit board members were white, followed by 7 percent black, and 3.5 percent Hispanic.

To combat this, several black professionals in Cleveland started the Minority Board Member Pipeline Initiative, a service to match professionals of color to nonprofit boards.

Randell McShepard, one of the group’s founders, said, “I was appalled when I saw the Urban Institute research. Who the boards are serving, in the majority of cases, are people of color.”

Another group in Cleveland, Business Volunteers Unlimited, also steers minority professionals to nonprofit boards.