Women make up two-thirds of the professional work force at nonprofit groups, according to a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article, Flexibility and More Mentors Will Expand the Number of Female Nonprofit CEO’s, by Shifra Bronznick and Didi Goldenhar, yet only 19 percent of the nation’s 400 largest charities have a woman as CEO.  Outside of traditional routes to helping women and minorities advance, such as providing mentoring and improving executive search processes, this piece points to flexible work environments (job shares, telecommuting, and compressed work weeks) as the key to dramatically lower barriers to advancement for women.

Clearly, creating flexible workplaces is incredibly important for nonprofits and women leaders – but also because many predict a leadership deficit for our sector in the coming years. Take note: the article also states that 89 percent of younger workers and 87 percent of baby boomers rated work-life balance as a key attribute of desirable employers.

For ideas on creating flexible work environments, check out this webpage by Catalyst, a leading research and advisory organization working to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work.

Has your organization created a flexible workplace? Do you have tips for truly making a flexible environment work? If so, send them to me at nataliel@collinsgroup.com I’ll post them in a follow-up entry.

Filed under: Trends by Natalie Lamberjack on December 1, 2009