By Greg Bassett

A new effort to ensure Salisbury-area nonprofits and service groups maintain leadership that ensures diversity is off to a most-promising start.

The Lower Shore Black Professionals Alliance is made up of Lower Shore black professionals and community stakeholders, all working together to advance community involvement through volunteerism, advocacy and outreach.

Simply put, the mission is to give black professionals the opportunity for service on nonprofit boards, as well as opportunities to serve on local county and municipal government commissions.

The LSBPA was the idea of John Allen, a Vice President at Delmarva Power, who is well known for his community service through an array of nonprofit groups and community organizations.

Tapping the networking and organizational strengths of the Greater Salisbury Committee, an acknowledged need is well on the way to having a solution, as organizers chart a more inclusive spirit of community service.

“John Allen was the inspiration,” said Sonya Whited, the Senior Retail Product Development Director at Perdue Farms.

“People -- especially on boards -- tend to recommend and nominate people they know. My visibility from my work with Perdue led me to being on the board of United Way and Salisbury University Foundation. I know some phenomenal people who could also serve, people who others don’t always see their faces.”

Whited has also served on boards for the Wicomico County Education Foundation, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the local U.S. Census campaign and is a new member of the Wicomico Charter Review Committee.

“I come from the point that I’m going to inform (groups) to broaden their horizons -- get the diversity you need on your board or commission.

“We need to take action and provide options,” Whited said. “Let the community see you and learn from your experiences -- expand exposure.”

Finding the right mix of people to serve on a board or commission can be difficult. Ensuring a diverse group can be even harder. But LSBPA is committed to helping provide the necessary human capital to expand the capacity and availability of viable board candidates.

“Representation has always been an issue on the Shore,” said Karl Binns Jr. of Merck Animal Health and Lower Shore Land Trust.

“Committees need to reflect the people who live here. We need to bring all to the table,” he said. “How much good work could we be doing with all voices at the table?”

Binns said both businesses and nonprofits alike have learned that they must understand, engage and respect potential customers and supporters across the socio-economic and diversity spectrum.

“There has been a renaissance in thinking,” he said. “Those who have been losing opportunities for customers are recognizing the demographic shifts of consumers.

“There has been an underlying belief that means lowering your standards,” Binns said. “We want to dismiss that myth. Social capital that you gain 10 times your opportunity for impact.”

Binns previously served on the boards of End Hunger Maryland and the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement.

John Allen is a former Chairman of the Greater Salisbury Committee, where Mike Dunn serves as President and CEO. GSC’s paramount function is to identify problems and offer solutions -- Dunn said the absence of diversity representation on boards and commissions has always been evident.

“I’ve been on a lot of boards, been on the (Salisbury) City Council,” said Dunn. “I’m a Wi-Hi guy, so I went to East Salisbury, Wicomico Middle, Wicomico High School -- schools that are diverse. 

“When I got in this position at GSC and began working with nonprofits, I could see the problem was obvious -- but it wasn’t called a problem. Rooms were filled with too many people who looked like me,” Dunn said.

“It’s imperative our community works together to help remove the barriers which continue to disconnect our black neighbors, nonprofits and civil service opportunities,” said Pam Gregory, President and CEO of the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore. “The group’s commitment to stepping up and becoming a catalyst for change will help our community grow and thrive.”

Dunn said Allen’s inspiration and his membership’s support made working to establish LSBPA a real possibility.

“Once we saw there was a problem, we also saw there was an opportunity,” he said. “We started meeting monthly and working on solutions.”

We have to do better as a community,” Dunn said. “Every nonprofit realizes they have a diversity member problem.”

The driver of the initiative gave the credit to others.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the establishment of the LSBPA,” said Allen.

“I want to extend a huge thank you to Mike Dunn of the GSC. I floated an idea to him on how to better engage young Black professionals in our area and he took it to the next level.

“I am also thankful to the young Black professionals who were willing to engage me and provide their candid feedback about their experiences,” he said. “All anyone needs is the opportunity to walk through the door. I’m thankful that the door is now open wider.”