
Building your cultural competence with Danielle Marshall
11/28/23 • 42 min
In episode 86 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton joins with Danielle Marshall for another learning out loud episode where we do a deep dive into a topic. Today we focused on cultural competence or cultural humility and talked about ways for people to work on and enhance their cultural competence.
Danielle defines cultural competence as the ability to navigate interactions effectively across diverse cultures, emphasizing the importance of valuing differences and recognizing that no social identity is a monolith. While it is easy to think that finding the time to improve your cultural competence is too hard, Danielle offers a practical five-step approach:
- Assess your starting point,
- Set your learning goals,
- Creating a learning schedule,
- Identify learning resources
- Continuously monitoring and adjusting the learning plan.
Both discuss the significance of accountability partners and participating in both affinity and multicultural groups. They stress the need for ongoing self-monitoring and adaptability in the pursuit of cultural competency.
Highlights:
[00:07:16] Definition of Cultural Competence; Cultural Competence/Cultural Humility
[00:17:16 Five Actionable Steps for Nonprofit Leaders in Building Cultural Competence
[00:23:16] Cultural competence learning plan
[00:33:16] Accountability partners and affinity groups
[00:39:16] Continuous learning journey
Guest Bio: Danielle is an inclusive leader focused on strengthening collaboration among teams, leaders, and stakeholders to foster problem-solving, create solutions, and improve culture. She finds her inspiration in leading systemic change work that promotes equity and inclusion.
Danielle founded Culture Principles in response to a persistent need to operationalize Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion metrics, centering REDI goals and creating accountability systems. She supports clients through her Mapping Equity Framework focused on Unearthing Knowledge, Elevating Strategy, and Transforming Sustainability. She centers her work around organizational assessment, racial equity learning intensives, and the development of racial equity action plans. Understanding that each organization arrives at this work from different perspectives, she utilizes assessment in building a customized strategy for each unique partner. Previously Danielle served as a non-profit leader for 20+ years and today works on strategy development that enables nonprofits to achieve equitable mission-driven results. Danielle holds a Master's degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University and draws on her background as an I/O psychologist in applying a racial equity lens to organizational policies, practices, and programs. She is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP)/ Executive Coach (ACC).
During her playtime, you can find Danielle traveling, knitting, and kayaking in all 50 states.
Important Links and Resources:
- Register for the Nonprofit Leadership Roundtable - Thursday, December 14th from 1-2 PM Eastern: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nonprofit-leadership-roundtable-tickets-760734085127?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Intercultural Development Inventory: https://www.idiinventory.com/
- Learning Plan template: https://www.gracesocialsector.com/store/p12/Professional_Learning_Plan.html
- The Farewell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farewell_(2019_film)
- Sitting Pretty: https://bookshop.org/p/books/sitting-pretty-the-view-from-my-ordinary-resilient-disabled-body-rebekah-taussig/15391717?ean=9780062936790&gclid=CjwKCAiA9ourBhAVEiwA3L5RFoeTeGjbEOkDEOnqdXtTtl-IKnlhB3booxq0JCsSWUxy2DPPN_zNRxoCJnEQAvD_BwE
- Code Switch: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
- https://www.culture-principles.com/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/danimarshall/
✉️ Subscribe to Carol’s newsletter at Grace Social Sector Consulting
💻 Give us feedback on the show
🌟 Like what you heard?...
In episode 86 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton joins with Danielle Marshall for another learning out loud episode where we do a deep dive into a topic. Today we focused on cultural competence or cultural humility and talked about ways for people to work on and enhance their cultural competence.
Danielle defines cultural competence as the ability to navigate interactions effectively across diverse cultures, emphasizing the importance of valuing differences and recognizing that no social identity is a monolith. While it is easy to think that finding the time to improve your cultural competence is too hard, Danielle offers a practical five-step approach:
- Assess your starting point,
- Set your learning goals,
- Creating a learning schedule,
- Identify learning resources
- Continuously monitoring and adjusting the learning plan.
Both discuss the significance of accountability partners and participating in both affinity and multicultural groups. They stress the need for ongoing self-monitoring and adaptability in the pursuit of cultural competency.
Highlights:
[00:07:16] Definition of Cultural Competence; Cultural Competence/Cultural Humility
[00:17:16 Five Actionable Steps for Nonprofit Leaders in Building Cultural Competence
[00:23:16] Cultural competence learning plan
[00:33:16] Accountability partners and affinity groups
[00:39:16] Continuous learning journey
Guest Bio: Danielle is an inclusive leader focused on strengthening collaboration among teams, leaders, and stakeholders to foster problem-solving, create solutions, and improve culture. She finds her inspiration in leading systemic change work that promotes equity and inclusion.
Danielle founded Culture Principles in response to a persistent need to operationalize Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion metrics, centering REDI goals and creating accountability systems. She supports clients through her Mapping Equity Framework focused on Unearthing Knowledge, Elevating Strategy, and Transforming Sustainability. She centers her work around organizational assessment, racial equity learning intensives, and the development of racial equity action plans. Understanding that each organization arrives at this work from different perspectives, she utilizes assessment in building a customized strategy for each unique partner. Previously Danielle served as a non-profit leader for 20+ years and today works on strategy development that enables nonprofits to achieve equitable mission-driven results. Danielle holds a Master's degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University and draws on her background as an I/O psychologist in applying a racial equity lens to organizational policies, practices, and programs. She is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP)/ Executive Coach (ACC).
During her playtime, you can find Danielle traveling, knitting, and kayaking in all 50 states.
Important Links and Resources:
- Register for the Nonprofit Leadership Roundtable - Thursday, December 14th from 1-2 PM Eastern: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nonprofit-leadership-roundtable-tickets-760734085127?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Intercultural Development Inventory: https://www.idiinventory.com/
- Learning Plan template: https://www.gracesocialsector.com/store/p12/Professional_Learning_Plan.html
- The Farewell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farewell_(2019_film)
- Sitting Pretty: https://bookshop.org/p/books/sitting-pretty-the-view-from-my-ordinary-resilient-disabled-body-rebekah-taussig/15391717?ean=9780062936790&gclid=CjwKCAiA9ourBhAVEiwA3L5RFoeTeGjbEOkDEOnqdXtTtl-IKnlhB3booxq0JCsSWUxy2DPPN_zNRxoCJnEQAvD_BwE
- Code Switch: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
- https://www.culture-principles.com/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/danimarshall/
✉️ Subscribe to Carol’s newsletter at Grace Social Sector Consulting
💻 Give us feedback on the show
🌟 Like what you heard?...
Previous Episode

Building equitable compensation frameworks with Mala Nagarajan
In episode 85 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Mala Nagarajan discuss organizational development, compensation structures, and critical discussions within nonprofit organizations. They explore the limitations of market-based compensation, the concept of a thriving wage, and the importance of aligning organizational values with employee compensation. Mala emphasizes the need for transparent and comprehensive approaches to compensation, touching on various factors such as areas of responsibility, risk assessment, and the significance of understanding one's relationship with money. In addition they explore how to integrate compensating for the emotional labor required in a role. They discuss the complexities of legal considerations and highlight the need for organizations to reevaluate traditional practices to foster a more equitable and holistic work environment.
Highlights:
02:27: Creating equitable compensation models for organizations
04:50: Principles underpinning the work
08:16: The importance of interdependence
13:08- Transparency in compensation
16:21 Emotional labor and compensation
26:00 - Recognizing individual strengths and aligning them with organizational roles beyond just financial incentives
32:00 - Biases and values embedded in market-based compensation structures
37:00 - Implementing a thriving wage, distinct from a living wage
45:00 - The "conditions for readiness" necessary for successful implementation
53:00 - Assessing risk tolerance
Guest Bio: Mala Nagarajan is a senior HR consultant who works with nonprofit organizations rooted in racial and social justice values. She is driven by a vision of strong organizations working collaboratively toward a common purpose and approaches her HR work with a values-aligned, people-centered, and movement-oriented lens. Mala is a consultant with RoadMap, a national network of consultants who work with social justice organizations. She helped organize RoadMap’s HR/RJ (racial justice) working group. Mala has developed an innovative Compensation Equity Process and CalculatorTM that reverse-engineers supremacy out and re-engineers equity in. It’s an evolving approach accompanied with a custom tool that organizations can use to shift from a market-based to an anti-racist compensation model that centers those living at the intersections of multiple marginalized communities.
Important Links and Resources:
Mala Nagarajan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/malanagarajan/
Vega Mala Consulting | www.vegamala.com
Marilyn Waring TED talk on what the GDP misses -- https://www.tedxchristchurch.com/marilyn-waring
Polarities: https://www.polaritypartnerships.com/
The MIT Living Wage Calculator: https://livingwage.mit.edu/
Hidden Brain episodes on budgets: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/money-2-0-why-we-bust-our-budgets/
Learn more about Mala’s compensation work here: Fund the People: Compensation Philosophy, NPQ-Compensation Equity: A Values-Based Framework & Implementation Guide, Top Tips to Stop Widening the Wealth Gap, Why Radical Human Resources is Critical for Movement Organizations, Equitable Compensation is a Risk Worth Taking, Brave Questions: Recalculating Pay Equity, Don't Put Metal in the Microwave and other Compensation Myths, Transforming the Workplace: HR Innovations, Pay Scale Equity Process and Calculator.
HR resources: RoadMap Consulting: Human Resources and Justice: Addressing Racism and Sexism in the Workplace. Washington Nonprofits: Workers in Nonprofits. The Management Center:
Next Episode

Reimagining the workplace for remote/hybrid with June Jimenez
In episode 87 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and June Jimenez discuss:
- Making remote-work work for your organization
- Juggling the complex decisions facing nonprofit leaders regarding a potential return to physical offices
- Changing employee expectations
We explore the experiences of organizations that are fully remote, emphasizing the heightened need for intentional connection, care, and frequent virtual interactions to maintain a sense of team and culture. Nonprofits are grappling with diverse approaches, from fully embracing remote work to dealing with financial considerations and strategic implications associated with maintaining physical office spaces. We unpack the myth of culture and innovation being dependent on co-location. We also explore the particular challenges of newer employees in understanding organizational culture when working remotely, and strategies for leaders to help integrate new staff in a virtual environment.
00:20:30: Decision-making driven by prior investments in physical office spaces
00:21:00 The myth of physical presence as a prerequisite for innovation and organizational culture
00:23:00:** Culture exists in both remote and co-located setups
00:24:30:** Younger employees challenges with integrating with organizational cultures
00:26:00:** Particular challenges for newer generations in navigating office culture remotely
00:28:30:** What leaders need to think about in terms of informal nature of information exchange in physical offices vs. remote settings.
00:29:30:** Strategies for helping new staff integrate,
00:33:30:** Training and development for managers successful adaptation to remote work
Guest Bio: June Jimenez is an organizational development consultant to mission-focused organizations. June's work focuses on the people, systems, processes and technology needed to help organizations deliver their missions while experiencing tremendous change. June brings over 20 years of professional experience to each engagement gained through her work across the nonprofit, government and private sectors. June is a mother to a 10 year old rabble rouser, partner to a retired police and military professional and passionate about social justice. June received her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and received her Executive MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Important Links and Resources:
June Jimenez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimenezjune/
Register for the Nonprofit Leadership Roundtable (12/14/23 at 1:00pm eastern): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/760734085127?aff=oddtdtcreator
Be in Touch:
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