Women’s Fund of Rhode Island’s (WFRI) report, the 2024 Census of Directors and Chief Executives of Rhode Island’s Largest Nonprofit Organizations (Census), is an update to the 2019 report of the same name. Assisted by a class from Bryant University, WFRI collated data on 135 of the state’s largest nonprofits, based on revenue. The Census demonstrates how Rhode Island is doing in regards to gender and racial diversity among these nonprofits’ leadership circles. Key findings include:
- Current data shows a significant decline in the number of CEOs who are women: only 37 women (or 27%) lead at these 135 nonprofits. In 2019, women led at 44%. Only 3% of these CEOs are women of color.
- Similarly, the Census shows a drop in the percentage of women serving on the boards for these nonprofits: currently, women hold 872 or 21% of the board seats, compared with 38% in 2019.
- Representation by the BIPOC community has decreased on boards: currently, 8.45% of board members are BIPOC compared to 10% in 2019.