LibraryScenariosWhen your board talks about community input but controls the outcomes
Scenario

When your board talks about community input but controls the outcomes

Our nonprofit board keeps saying we need to center community voices but when community members actually show up with different ideas than what we planned, we find ways to redirect them back to our agenda. I can see us doing it but I don't know how to stop the pattern without calling out people I have to keep working with.

Juana
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

The gap between stated values and enacted power reveals how groups protect their existing decision-making structures even when they genuinely want to change.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Colorism and intraracial identity?”

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.