Catch up on the latest Pro Bono Perspectives podcast episodes from October 2021! Hear host Danielle Holly’s conversations with Melissa Madzel, Managing Director, Equity Initiatives at mission-driven executive search and strategic advising firm Koya Partners, and Steven Clarke, Senior Director of Climate and Energy at sustainability advocacy nonprofit Ceres.
“Examining the Great Resignation’s Impact on Nonprofits” with Melissa Madzel, Koya Partners
In August 2021, 4.3 million people or nearly 3 percent of the workforce quit their jobs. Months into the Great Resignation, turnover is still high – something Melissa Madzel can attest to from her vantage point at executive search firm Koya Partners. She explores how these changes are impacting the nonprofit sector and hiring practices, especially as they relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“When I started my career, people weren’t talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion. I just knew that I always felt different. As I continued through different chapters of my career, I became more and more focused on how to make other people feel less different in their work so that they can just show up and do what needs to be done. We have too many important causes for that feeling of difference to hold people back from realizing their skills and their talents.”
“Accelerating Corporate Action on the Climate Crisis” with Steven Clarke, Ceres
On the heels of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that was dubbed a “code red for humanity,” Ceres Senior Director of Climate and Energy joined us on Pro Bono Perspectives to stress the urgency of the climate crisis – and share cause for optimism in the form of companies hearing the sirens and stepping up their sustainability commitments, even taking intersectional approaches to addressing climate change.
“We’ve seen an increasing awareness and recognition amongst companies and investors that the justice and equity component to all this work is integral to all of it. It’s not ancillary, it’s not something to address after the fact as an add-on issue… We’ve seen a very encouraging shift amongst companies that acknowledge racial justice and equity is an absolutely integral component to addressing the climate issue. Companies are actively looking for ways in which they can address historically marginalized communities [and] long-standing discrepancies.”
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