Cross-Sector Collaboration for a Better Society

Since first learning about the ALICE Threshold at Independent Sector’s National Summit last year, I can't stop thinking about it.

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

It describes households that earn more than the official U.S. poverty level, but less than what it costs to survive in the counties where they live.

Together, ALICE households and households in poverty fall below the ALICE Threshold: the income needed to afford household basics such as housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology, plus taxes.

In the nonprofit sector, about 1 in 5 nonprofit workers (22%) live in households that fall below the ALICE Threshold.

1 in 5.

That is staggering.

And, as is the case with many inequities perpetuated by racism and ableism, the numbers are even more alarming for Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native nonprofit workers, as well as folks with disabilities.

For a sector so dependent on people power, this reality - the fact that more than 20% of our workforce lives in households that are struggling to get by - is something we cannot continue to ignore.

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The answers aren't simple - but there is already important work going on in this space. And it's something the broader philanthropic sector needs to understand and invest in.

Despite 20+ years working in and around nonprofits, last summer was the first time I'd ever heard of Independent Sector, which represents nonprofits, foundations and corporate social responsibility programs.

After attending the Independent Sector National Summit last year - seeing the important topics being discussed and conversations that were happening - LaFemina & Co. became a member and I volunteered for the Track Shaping Subcommittee for the Thriving Workforce track for this year's National Summit.

I am determined to get more great people who are tackling some of our most pressing issues as a sector into these "rooms where it happens." If you’re a leader in the nonprofit, foundation and corporate social responsibility worlds, I invite you to attend this year’s summit.

Independent Sector’s National Summit focuses on four key areas that define a healthy charitable sector:
→ Thriving Workforce
→ Financially Robust
→ Trusted & Well-Governed
→ Active Advocates

The way we address critical challenges - like moving more nonprofit workers beyond the ALICE Threshold - is by ensuring these opportunities for cross-sector conversations are better known, better attended, and stacked with speakers who can share wisdom from their lived experiences and on-the-ground work about what needs our attention and investment if we want our sector - and the people who power it - to thrive.