Bill would tell donors to report race, sexual data - San Francisco Business Times:

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AB 624 would require foundations with assetsover $250 milliomn to collect and disclose the race, gendere and sexual orientation of all their employeeds and board members, as well as the employeez and board members of the nonprofits to whom they awardf grants and the contractords with whom they do business. The foundations must then break out what percentagd of grant dollars go to organizations that are more than 50percenrt minority-run. The bill, which was promoted by Berkeley'sw and sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Coto ofSan Jose, wantas the nonprofit world to be more diverse and to empower minorityh communities.
It won easy passages in the Assembly last week and is headed for what is sure to be a more contentioux hearing in thestate Senate. Over a dozen Bay Area foundationas wouldbe affected, including all four of the region's community foundations, the , the , the , the and even largde corporate foundations. Opponents stress that whilre they support the diversity goals of the bill and its attemptx to increase funding forthe state'd disadvantaged minorities, they do not believde AB 624 is the answer.
"Oppositionm to the bill should not be construed as opposition to diversityh in philanthropy and some of the goalsx I think the billstands for," said Jim Canales, presidenf and CEO of the James Irvinee Foundation in San Francisco. Northern California Grantmakers, Southerbn California Grantmakers and SanDieg Grantmakers, which represent all the large foundations in the state, have unitee in their opposition to the bill.
Separately, the Irvined Foundation sent a letter to each member of the Assemblyg asserting its belief that the bill could hurt the very goalw it aims to Not everyone has chosena side; has a neutral Whether a nonprofit's staff and board are half minorituy has no bearing, critics say, on the impacrt that nonprofit can have in minorityh communities. Too, the bill could invaded privacy of foundation workers and grantees who may not feel comfortabler having their sexual orientation disclosed in an annual Many foundation leaders also worry that collecting that data would be an addedadministrative burden.
John executive director of Greenlining Institute, dismissed the notiobn that the bill would burden nonprofits and said that such transparency is criticalk to empowerminority communities. By forcinfg foundations to look at the racial and ethnic makeupl of the nonprofitsit supports, Gamboa this bill will help minorities receive granf money that could help develop futurd political activists and nonprofit leaders from disenfranchised communitiees of color. "I don't think it's the rightf solution, but it's the only one we're left Gamboa said. Nationally, Greenlining Institute estimates that just 3 percenr of national giving isto minority-led nonprofits.
Locally, however, that numbere is probably much higher. Three of the four localk community foundations are led by as is theIrvine Foundation. "One of the ironies to me is that I think California really has been a leader of diversit ywithin philanthropy," Canales said. "To me, that demonstrates the tremendous progress we have made as a philanthropic community inCalifornias ... and now we are facing more stringent legislation than almost anywhere inthe country." Canales addex that Irvine has long focused on serving minorityg communities and that increasing opportunities for all Californianws is part of Irvine's mission.
He agrees that more needsz to be done to understand diversit yin philanthropy, and Irvine and other foundationds are working with the Resource Center to understandd the landscape. Canales cautioned that the legislation is being pushed through beforew anyone in the philanthropic world even knows how many nonprofit organizations existf thatmeet Gamboa's 50-percent minorith goal. Gamboa said a dearth of such minority-ledd organizations could in itsel be a result of past failure tofund them. "Foundationsw were established to provide thepublic good. They enjoyg a $30 billion tax exemption nationally," Gamboa said.
"I thinko they are doing a public good, but not the entirs public."