By Nel Taylor, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Requiring a college degree narrows a hiring pool to those who have access to a college education and can lend to a homogenous candidate pool, which will be reflected in the staff makeup. An organization pursuing equity can look beyond bureaucratic requirements and checkboxes to value a wide array of lived experiences.

How many times have you seen “Bachelor’s degree required” on a job posting and felt discouraged? 

Seeing a college degree requirement on a job posting when the position doesn’t legally require a degree (if you’re hiring a veterinarian or a lawyer, you get a pass) doesn’t just tell me that I won’t get the job, it tells me about where an organization is in its equity journey. If I see a required degree on a job posting, I move on, even if I technically meet the requirements.

Requiring a college degree narrows a hiring pool to those who have access to a college education and can lend to a homogenous candidate pool, which will be reflected in the staff makeup. An organization pursuing equity can look beyond bureaucratic requirements and checkboxes to value a wide array of lived experiences. 

And I don’t just mean adding “or equivalent experience,” which usually means years in the field and ignores any other “equivalent.”  Recognizing and being open to informal or unusual experience can open your organization to candidates who can provide a breadth of expertise that may not be represented in your staff. 

I have an associate’s degree from a community college and ten years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, but I got my most relevant and useful experience in an unorthodox way. 

I spent four years of my life unhoused. During those four years, I panhandled on street corners and sold weed in parks. People make a lot of money in the cannabis industry now and are recognized as successful entrepreneurs. Conversely, I carried three felonies with me during my transition out of homelessness and through my 20s. 

After receiving housing through a wonderful nonprofit, I began working as a dancer and sex worker and was finally in a thriving financial position. 

I am comfortable asking for money. My experience with it started as a young person standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign that read, “I bet you a dollar you can’t throw a quarter in my can.” I grew even more comfortable with rejection and eye contact avoidance. 

When I moved into cannabis sales – before it was legally sanctioned – I began to excel in sales. I knew I was offering someone an opportunity, and it was easy to confidently name my price. In the strip clubs, my regular communications with wealthy men and the occasional bachelorette party eliminated any lingering fears I might have had around talking about money.  

Imagine if we were to view other kinds of lived experience with an open mind.

I had faced my money story. I had experienced extreme poverty, asked for help from strangers who had more than me, learned to ask for what I’m worth, and I was in community with people who had wealth. I learned not to demonize someone who had financial success and to not demonize myself for seeking my own financial success. 

These skills converged when I moved into individual fundraising, and I felt like I had finally found my place in life. I was right where I was supposed to be, offering community members an opportunity to build the world they want to live in and asking directly for what we need. 

Imagine if we were to view other kinds of lived experience with an open mind. 

How can a candidate who has been to prison enrich your organization in ways that no one else on staff can? What perspective could a houseless parent offer while you develop your food justice programs? How could a bartender upgrade your donor communications? 

And I’m not talking about expecting candidates and staff to parade their trauma so organizational leaders can feel good about their DEI efforts. I am saying, see the whole person and be open to how our diverse lived experiences can offer skills and unique perspectives and drive our work with fresh insight. 

Let’s remove superfluous barriers in job postings, open ourselves up to what experiences and skills someone can bring outside of dominant culture norms, and say that in your job description. Tell your candidates that you know “equivalent experience” means so much more than having worked in the field for a certain number of years or having gone into debt for a college degree. 

If I could put sex-worker on my resume, it would say a lot more about my skills in fundraising than my associate’s degree ever will.