Introduction
WHF was founded on the fundamental belief that excellence cannot be achieved without diversity. WHF is keenly focused on ensuring that all of our members - especially those with intersectional identities - feel a sense of inclusion and belonging within the organization. Building on our existing culture of inclusion and expressed commitment to promoting women in housing and finance, WHF has adopted a more explicit commitment to DEI by incorporating an intentional focus on promoting diverse women, as well as supporting the intersectionality of women on the basis of diversity dimensions other than gender, such as race, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ identity, and disability.
DEI Task Force & Audit
In May 2021, the WHF Board of Directors convened a task force with the mandate to engage around race equity in a more explicit way by providing recommendations to the Board on how to incorporate a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) perspective into the organization’s infrastructure and programming. Utilizing a modified form of the self-assessment tool for organizations from D5, a five-year coalition effort to advance DEI within philanthropy, the task force performed a DEI audit of WHF. The purpose of the audit was to identify where WHF stands with respect to DEI commitment, policies, and procedures in order to be able to take informed steps on “operationalizing” DEI efforts across the organization.
Top findings from the audit were as follows:
- Across the four basic dimensions of diversity (gender, race, LGBTQIA+ identity, and disability), WHF is most strong on gender and race and least strong on LGBTQIA+ identity and disability.
- WHF was found to already follow 11 of the 28 DEI best practices surveyed in the audit.
- WHF is strong in its expressed commitment to DEI and implementation of DEI practices in operations.
- WHF can take intentional action to promote DEI in the areas of authorizing DEI in organizational policy and accountability measures.
As a result of the audit, the task force issued the following recommendations:
- Establish a standing DEI Committee for a two-year term (2021-2023) to oversee a systematic implementation of DEI initiatives and policies across the organization, including implementation of the task force’s recommendations;
- Develop, implement, and analyze the results of a membership survey to understand the existing levels of diversity in the organization through members’ self-identification and to inform how to best implement the task force’s recommendations; and
- Develop accountability measures to monitor DEI progress by conducting biennial member surveys and an annual qualitative review by the DEI Committee.
DEI Committee
WHF’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee institutionalizes WHF’s commitment to advancing DEI within the organization through the following core activities:
- Overseeing the development of WHF’s DEI plan to address policies, recruitment, retention, and training, as well as the organization’s role in fostering DEI among local programs and within the housing and finance industry in New York City;
- Reviewing the DEI plan on an annual basis, assessing the organization’s progress in achieving the plan’s goals, and making recommendations to the Board for any changes;
- Identifying ways to incorporate DEI into the organization’s strategic goals and objectives;
- Working with the Nominating Committee to incorporate WHF’s DEI goals into the Board development strategy and identifying training opportunities for the Board;
- Working with the Executive Committee to identify DEI policies for adoption by the organization;
- Monitoring and reporting on DEI trends;
- Reporting its activities and findings to the Board on a quarterly basis at minimum; and
- Advising the Board on other DEI-related matters as requested.
- Developing and administering an annual membership survey to gauge member satisfaction regarding programming and capture membership diversity based on race, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ identity, and disability
Membership Survey
In 2023, WHF commissioned a survey of its membership to learn more about members’ identities and sentiments regarding WHF programming. The results of this first annual survey can be found here.
Mission Statement Update
In 2024, WHF updated its mission statement to document its explicit commitment to DEI throughout the organization. The updated mission statement is as follows: “Our mission is to promote and support our members’ professional growth through sharing knowledge, exploring issues, and ensuring inclusion and belonging of a diverse membership.”