By Brigitte Griswold, Andy Hamano, Renée Mullen and Hazel Wong

The importance of embracing diversity is no longer a big idea in most business and non-profit sectors — but it's still a big idea for today’s conservation movement.

The very relevance and continued effectiveness of conservation organizations — including The Nature Conservancy — depends on it. Conservation is going global — and those organizations with a diversity of people, ideas, and perspectives will lead the key innovative solutions and support for effective policy measures.

Homogenity Just Won't Cut It

But conservationists are not mirroring or capitalizing on U.S. demographic trends:

• People of color make up 33 percent of the U.S. population (and will be the majority by 2050).
   
• And communities of color vote more for environmental causes than Caucasians.
    
• Yet only 11 percent of staff and 9 percent of trustees of all major conservation organizations are people of color.

If we are to become a truly global enterprise, we must recognize that a largely homogenous culture will not effectively leverage major support in a world of diversity.

How to Do It: First Steps

So how will conservation organizations succeed in building greater support and diversity? It will take a significant and sustained effort, but there are some promising steps being taken at The Nature Conservancy.

For instance, the Conservancy has an innovative program in which its field and science programs are collaborating with the Conservancy's department of human resources to address the shortage of professionals of color in the environmental field.

The program begins with paid internships for high school students, continues through college and graduate school programs and culminates in a range of employment opportunities. 

Providing these opportunities for youth to develop leadership skills while contributing to conservation builds a continuum of professional support for the people who will ultimately inherit this planet long after we are gone.

In addition to engaging young people, experts agree that conservation organizations must also create cultural change, seek partnerships and collaborations, and connect the generations to address the complexity of this issue.

We must proactively and comprehensively commit to diversity — at all organizational and leadership levels — in order to succeed at our mission.

The effort is not just about meeting numerical targets; it's about ensuring that the investments we make now globally will have traction for future generations.  

Nature picture credits (left to right): © Lynda Richardson (Juvenile white pelicans, Great Salt Lake, Utah); © TNC (Brigitte Griswold, Andy Hamano, Renée Mullen and Hazel Wong)