The Role of HR in Nonprofit Organizations

This lesson defines what HR does inside a nonprofit and why the function matters even when an organization is small, volunteer-powered, or operating with limited funding. Learners will distinguish administrative HR tasks from strategic people leadership and connect HR decisions to mission delivery, compliance, equity, risk management, and staff sustainability.

Professor Victoria Okafor frames nonprofit HR as a practical stewardship function: protecting the organization, supporting employees and volunteers, strengthening managers, and building fair systems that help people do mission-critical work well.