Thriving Leaders Workshop: Equitable Compensation with Sustainable Economies Law Center

This spring, YDEKC hosted a Thriving Leaders Forum on Reimagining Pay Equity in Youth-serving Nonprofits. (Check out our Resource List to learn more.) Now it’s time to dive deeper! To move from ideas to action, YDEKC is continuing our Thriving Leaders series this fall. For our November 16 workshop, we’ve invited a team from Sustainable Economies Law Center to share a case study on equitable compensation. 

This workshop will address the topic of equitable compensation in nonprofits, presenting the Sustainable Economies Law Center as a case study. Using a cartoon-filled powerpoint presentation as an aid, we will cover (1) supportive processes for deciding on shared values and having difficult conversations within an organization, (2) considerations that might go into a compensation structure, (3) the trajectory of the Sustainable Economies Law Center’s pay structure evolution, (4) how a pay structure might move beyond equality into equity, reparations, and anti-capitalist, anti-racist conceptions of merit. Throughout the presentation, we will share information about relevant legal constraints on what an organization can do. We will also utilize small groups to help participants form their own opinions, consider what is possible within their organization, and collectively vision an alternate paradigm for compensation. This workshop is designed for any people in non-profit organizations who are questioning traditional pay structures and wondering what an equitable approach could look like. 

Our speakers are Alejandra Cruz, Alex Sanchez Bressler, Erika Sato, and Hope Williams of the Sustainable Economies Law Center. Sustainable Economies Law Center cultivates a new legal landscape that supports community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment. They provide essential legal tools – education, research, advice, and advocacy – so communities everywhere can develop their own sustainable sources of food, housing, energy, jobs, and other vital aspects of a thriving community. 

At YDEKC we seek to provide events that are accessible and welcoming to all. Here is a list of some of the ways we are making this event accessible: 

• Inviting registrants to share accommodation requests when they register, at least one week before the program begins 
• Sharing participant expectations in the event description — such as whether there will be breaks, breakout rooms, and types of engagement 
• Providing multiple ways to join virtual sessions — for example, via computer or phone 
• Automated closed captioning will be available during the sessions (excluding breakout rooms) via Zoom’s Live Transcription feature 
• Registrants will receive materials associated with the session, such as the slide deck 
• Note that this session will not be recorded, to support participants’ capacity to learn and ask questions in the session