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[Marsha Levinson Mason]

The trick is always to focus on the skill set of the person you are recruiting. If you focus on the attribute only (diversity), especially if the desire to diversify is donor-driven, that's a recipe for failure.

There are many local associations you can approach:  The Latino MBA Association, traditionally black sororities and fraternities, Black MBA Association, Latinos in Finance and Accounting,etc. Also, the clergy of African-American churches can help you identify people in their congregation that might be interested in a cause like yours (someone who has a developmentally disabled family member for an ARC group, a retired educator for an education group, etc).

To get you closer to the ideal of diversity, make sure you ask any potential board member you are recruiting what groups they belong to. If you can ascertain that they either live, work, or play with diverse groups, you can be one step closer to your diversity goal. Ask questions in their interviews that will help you assess whether they value diversity. Pick people who bring those values to the table.

[K.D. Burns]

Greetings,

I am on the board of a credit union and we are beginning
(yes, just beginning) the process of focused board diversification.

I appreciate the articles I've read here.

One of the challenges we also face is that our directors are elected and so must not only be contacted for consideration, but must also get the votes on that fateful night.

A fraction of our membership attends the AGM.

We are moving ever so slowly to a more universally easy method of voting (i.e., mail, e-mail, etc.) however, right now the big AGM experience is still it.

Any advice?

Regards, and thanks.