Nonprofit Westchester (NPW) recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of Peer-to-Peer, the first-ever affinity group for nonprofit personnel of color in Westchester and the only one of its kind in New York state. The event welcomed nearly 100 guests from local nonprofits and the government and business sectors.
Peer to Peer was created in response to NPW”™s report “Taking Action: Charting and Anti-Racist Path Forward in Westchester”™s Nonprofit Sector,” which highlights racial disparities in nonprofit leadership, bias in treatment of BIPOC personnel and no real change in the racial make-up of nonprofit executives over the past two decades.
Participants at the celebration had the chance to learn about the work of Peer-to-Peer and to hear from Kymberly McNair, director of social transformation at My Sister”™s Place. “These meetings are like church to me. I need a space like this to help recover from working in spaces that don”™t offer the kind of liberated sense of self I need. It”™s a beautiful thing to be in conversation with people who get it and can still find joy,” said McNair.
Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, the keynote speaker, stressed the importance of Peer to Peer and joined the audience in a special tribute to Dr. Alexandria Connally for her leadership of the program.
The Peer-to-Peer group is jointly planned and facilitated by Dr. Alexandria Connally, NPW Equity and Inclusion Consultant, Nonprofit Westchester and CEO and founder of Culturally Responsive Environments and Disciplines (CREAD); Lucria Ortiz, president and CEO of Yonkers Family YMCA and chair, NPW, Peer-to-Peer; and Michelle A. Nicholas, founder and CEO of The NICO Consulting and chair, NPW Racial Equity
Nonprofit Westchester is Westchester”™s only membership organization dedicated solely to advancing and advocating for the needs and interests of the county”™s nonprofit sector, the people and populations served and the nonprofit workforce.
