5. The Unique Challenges for Women Nonprofit Executive Directors

Relish Your Role

I have been coaching and conducting performance evaluations for nonprofit leaders for over twenty years. Most of the agencies I work with are headed by women. I had this sense that were issues they dealt with which are unique to their gender and I wanted to know more.

I wanted to step back from the consultant/coach role and go on a listening tour to learn what the issues women nonprofit EDs face. I was curious if their challenges were disproportionately impacted by the fact that they were women leading their organizations.

It was not a scientific approach, I reached out to my network who helped me find women nonprofit leaders from across the country who were willing to talk with me. These women leaders generously gave me their time and thoughts about;

· what they loved about their jobs,

· what challenges they face,

· the skills they believe they possess to navigate the rocky waters, and,

· what they wished for, for themselves, their staff, their boards, their agencies and community.

These women covered the spectrum of age, ethnicity, they led all different types of nonprofits of varying size, but they had so much in common.

I found that there are issues which are not exclusive to but are more pronounced for women leaders. These interviews convinced me that women do face unique challenges in running their agencies and motivated me to start Relish Your Role.

Today’s podcast will identify the five unique challenges I heard repeatedly from women nonprofit leaders.

Unique Challenges for Women Nonprofit EDs

Based on my experience, the literature and my interviews with women nonprofit leaders, there are five major unique challenges they face.

1. They feel their expertise is often minimized.

2. They experience backlash when exercising authority.

3. They feel forced to adopt a performative posture in aspects of their jobs.

4. They juggle their executive director roles with that of a primary caretaker.

5. They struggle with a sense of Isolation in their role.

This is not to say men never experience these challenges, only that these five issue are experienced acutely and repeatedly by women nonprofit leaders.

If we want the best for these women and help them be effective in their work, it is vital to talk about these concerns and make the changes necessary to lessen their impact.

Today I am just going to give some context to these five areas and will address each one in depth in future episodes, so stay tuned.

Minimized Expertise

Hard as it is to believe in 2023, women are still questioned that they really are “the boss”.

An accomplished leader of a multimillion-dollar nonprofit told me a story of being addressed as ‘little lady’ by an architect who suggested they wait for the person in charge to arrive at their first meeting for the planning of an addition to her agency’s headquarters.

A male Board chair from the private sector told an ED that the agency’s services were comforting but hardly ‘rocket science’. This woman ran a cutting-edge agency piloting a multi-generational intervention program for Alzheimer patients.

Many women spoke of the dismissive manner men in the community, and sadly sometimes on their own board spoke of the work of their agencies and dismissed their content expertise.

Whether they were working in financing low-income housing, environmental justice, educational enrichment, increasing medical access, these leaders brought substantial content and organizational leadership expertise to t

Find more practicable tips on my website Relish Your Role. com. I have so much respect for the work you do!
Thanks for listening.