Posted on: Sunday, May 30, 2004
HAWAI'I NONPROFITS
Lack of support drives young talent away from nonprofits
By Kelvin H. Taketa
It's graduation time and along with this milestone comes the question: Where does everyone go from here?
As with every new generation of graduates entering the workforce, many are eager to pursue dreams of professional careers or as business entrepreneurs, or at least to pay off their student loans quickly.
But how about working for a homeless shelter, or as an advocate for the environment, or a teacher? Now, more than ever, it is critical to our community to attract more skilled leadership to the public sector. We hope some graduates from this year's class will consider making a difference a career.
Not surprisingly, those who do choose to work in the nonprofit sector do it mainly for intrinsic rewards.
Mission and personal satisfaction rank highest as reasons for current career choices, according to a national study on nonprofit executive director issues commissioned by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Hawai'i Community Foundation. Most respondents (98 percent) took their jobs because of the organization's mission and because they wanted to give back to the community (90 percent).
Sadly, the best of intentions and enthusiasm are often not enough to offset the barriers that prevent talented individuals from entering or staying in public service.
About a year ago, a group of young professionals from various fields of public service began meeting informally to share ideas and discuss common challenges.
All were in their 20s and 30s and in the early stages of their careers. Some were from government agencies, others from the nonprofit sector, still others from businesses with a social mission. Though they came from a variety of fields and organizations, they shared a common commitment: each had chosen a line of work with a public purpose.
The group quickly found that they had something else in common: regardless of the sector, issue, or occupation, they shared a sense of professional isolation. Though they knew of other young people working to improve society, they had few opportunities to network and collaborate with them. In short, they found a community of young public servants and social entrepreneurs lacking.
In response, the group formed Envision Hawai'i, an organization designed to convene and support young professionals in public service.
Still in its formative stages, Envision Hawai'i provides young public servants and social entrepreneurs with opportunities for networking, professional development and collaborative action.
Growing interest in public service careers among this younger generation is critically important as the nonprofit sector faces a leadership drain in the near future. Almost 90 percent of executive directors in Hawai'i are older than 40. As the baby boomers start to retire, a new group will need to fill the gap.
There are ways to help make the sector more appealing:
• First, nonprofit executives and their staff deserve fair compensation and benefits. Hawai'i's nonprofit executive directors made
13 percent less than the average of the Mainland cities in the national study mentioned above. These organizations and their leaders perform vital services for our community and if we expect them to be effective, we should be willing to seek out excellent leaders and pay them accordingly.
• Second, a structured career development strategy needs to be formulated that would allow for improved training opportunities and career mobility within the nonprofit field. Many certification programs and other formal training like the Weinberg Fellows have been initiated.
Training for nonprofit staff is essential and should not be regarded as discretionary. Many young men and women enter the field with promise only to leave feeling unsupported. Further, there needs to be a collaborative effort among nonprofits to allow for upward and lateral mobility for professionals without losing their existing benefits.
• Finally, for many college graduates who want to go into public service, the financial burden of paying off student loans and other related expenses is so great that they feel they have no choice, but to go out and get a "real job" instead of working at a nonprofit agency.
Hoping to help alleviate the pressure of student debt and to attract more professionals to public service, the owner of U.S. News & World Report and The Daily News gave $10 million to Harvard to support students who chose pursue public health, education and government degrees.
Harvard will use the money to award fellowships to about 25 students annually.
Fortunately, there are signs of growing interest in cultivating future advocates, leaders, and caring stewards of our community through service-learning programs in the schools.
For example, Youth Service Hawai'i began in 1996 as a coalition of educators dedicated not only to teaching high standards in academics, but also to the idea of preparing students for their role as citizens. Today, Youth Service Hawai'i extends to hundreds of private and public schools throughout the state.
Public servants lead the organizations that support communities, serve the poor, educate children and adults, conduct scientific research, explore artistic boundaries, fight for social justice, and protect the environment. And they do so with spirit and commitment. If this pool cannot be sufficiently replenished, we all pay the price.
Kelvin H. Taketa is president and CEO of the Hawai'i Community Foundation. E-mail him at kelvin@hcf-hawaii.org
