Most nonprofit agencies follow the same management structure. The structure normally consists of a vertical hierarchical structure with the CEO at the helm and division leaders completing the strategic leadership team. After 9/11, then government shutdowns, multiple wars, natural disasters, and government shutdown, the challenge for most nonprofits is to compete for every available charitable dollar. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of nonprofit organizations must not only be adept at maximizing results with fewer dollars, but also politically savvy in competing for federal, state, local, foundation and private funding. Because of this conundrum, political, academic, and social connections become increasingly important for nonprofits to stay in business. African American women may be the least attractive group for nonprofits to recruit and cultivate for fear that they don't have the right connections to further develop the agency into the growth the business needs to sustain itself. This may also be a reason why African American women tend to shy away from leadership roles in major Philadelphia nonprofits. The counterweight to these challenges may well be structured leadership that counterbalances the challenges facing nonprofits in general, and those in Philadelphia, in particular. Additionally, this qualitative study will help identify specific attitudes toward recruiting and cultivating African American women into leadership roles in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Proposed Problems The facts that dictate this empirical study are the phenomena and causes of low-level poor representation of African American women in management or organization… middle of the paper… G., Mac Queen, KM, & Namey, EE ( 2012). Applied thematic analysis. Los Angeles: Sage PublicationsIsaac, C. A., Kaatz, A., & Carnes, M. (2012). Deconstructing the glass ceiling. Sociology Mind, 2(1), 80-86. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/928098695?accountid=458Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical research planning and design (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Padgett, D. (2004). The experience of qualitative research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2009). Assessing the student online: resources and strategies for teachers. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass. Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. Trochim, W., & Donnelly, J. (2008). The Research Methods Knowledge Base Mason, OH: Cengage. ISBN: 9781592602919