CREATING CULTURES OF BELONGING Format: PB - PAPERBACK

With increasing interest from donors and board members to see faith-based, missional organizations reflect the diversity of God's kingdom, these organizations desire to have women in positions of leadership. However, this proves difficult when the organizational culture is one that silences and even penalizes the unique giftings that women bring to the table.

Many organizations still lack the ability to embody a new culture–what Beth Birmingham and Eeva Simard call a belonging culture. Such a culture is one where all employees are secure and recognized, where leaders seek productivity and connectivity, and where the organization is committed to supporting a diverse community of employees.

Creating Cultures of Belonging offers solutions for leadership teams, board members, and managers that reshape organizational culture in ways that invite and celebrate gender equity. With practical steps to enhance mentorship opportunities, human resources practices, and management tactics, Beth and Eeva point a way forward by identifying the changes that need to be made to create a belonging culture.

Beth Birmingham is an NGO leadership and organizational consultant, development researcher, trainer, and former tenured professor (Eastern University). She is cofounder of BE Development Partners, a consulting firm that trains organizations to develop belonging cultures. Beth holds a PhD in leadership and change and an MBA in economic development, and she currently serves as a member of Wheaton’s Consortium on Gender, Development, and Christianity.

Eeva Sallinen Simard is the project director (chief of party) at SCOPE Project at World Relief and has more than ten years of experience working with missional NGOs from research to ministry. She is cofounder of BE Development Partners, a consulting firm that trains organizations to develop belonging cultures. Eeva holds an MSc in international politics from the University of Helsinki and an MBA from John Hopkins University, and she is a coconvener of the Wheaton Consortium for Development, Gender, and Christianity.