Episode 76: Elizabeth Barajas-Roman
Join Lori and her guest, Elizabeth Barajas-Roman, as they talk about philanthropy as a collective community. She is the CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, the largest philanthropic alliance for gender justice funders!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
Elizabeth’s experience working with the Women’s Funding Network.
Converting a desire for justice into philanthropic work.
How her care for her family’s well-being led to her understanding legal documents at a young age.
Doing philanthropy as a collective community effort.
And much more!
Connect with Elizabeth!
Women’s Funding Network: https://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/staff/elizabeth-barajas-roman/
Registration for Feminist Funding ‘23: RISING
https://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/2023/04/18/register-for-feminist-funded-23-rising/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/futurepresente
Connect with Lori Kranczer!
Website: https://www.linkphilanthropic.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorikranczer/
Episode Transcript
You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as incorporate philanthropy into their life is a personal journey and through the stories we will share here. We hope that it sparks something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact on the world. I'm your host, Lori Kranczer attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy given strategist. Today we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode posted on Wednesdays. Now today. I'm very excited for our guest name is Elizabeth Barajas-Roman and she is the CEO of the women's funding Network. Welcome Elizabeth.
Thank you so much Lori. It's great to chat with you today. Thank you and I'm so excited like I mentioned to have you as a guest today because I want to hear everything about what you're doing at the Women's Funding Network. So go ahead and tell us more about what you do.
Women's Funding Network is the largest philanthropic alliance for gender justice funders and funders and donors who are interested in at the intersection of gender and race. We're the largest Alliance we were also around 40 years old, or were the earliest kind of alliances in this in this space. We have about 130 different members from all over the globe, and including 39 states and Puerto Rico.
When did you get started working there because you certainly haven't been there for 40 years.
No. I like to say I'm a pandemic CEO because I started in February. of 2020. So it was right the right before this new world started for all of us.
And then how did you get connected to work there like tell us a little bit about your background.
Sure. So my background is initially in public policy I worked in DC for a good period of time I opened up a policy shop in in Washington DC or the National attendant Institute for Reproductive Health. And from there I started my journey into philanthropy. I worked at the Pew Charitable Trusts working on national campaigns. That impacted children's health and from there really became very intrigued in working in the national sphere. Working on national campaigns that impacted people locally. I started to encounter women's and women's Foundation's really as these are local community foundations that focus on gender and do their grantmaking through a gender lens, and very, very intrigued by the work that they were doing and the partnerships that they had really found them to be very effective partners when we were trying to move projects in the field. And that really led me to other jobs to become a CEO of the Women's Fund in Massachusetts. So that started kind of my my journey and interest with the kind of local philanthropy of women's funds and gender and gender justice funders. From there, I became a CEO of a private family foundation was solidago Foundation. And that actually led me to the board of the women's funding network and I was on the board for well since 2014 2014. I believe, and then eventually became the CEO, as I mentioned, February 2020.
So it's incredible. So you have this range of experience within the philanthropic space but also outside of philanthropy, but also related to it with public policy. So, um, did you always believe that you were going to go in this direction when you were younger and maybe going to college and thinking that this is going to be your professional career?
No, absolutely not that anyone really thinks I'm, I'm going to be a philanthropist when I grow up t or I'm going to work in philanthropy. There couldn't have been more more far away Kind of feel to be working I’m actually the daughter of of Mexican immigrants and so I I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, you know, working actually started working when I was nine years old with my mother cleaning houses. And so I mean, really kind of very, very early on, I want to say how to have a personal experience around what disparities look like. But not just inter intra personal disparities, but really thinking about how systems work, and how they didn't work and how public policy impacted my everyday life and less of my family. So really, I think that's where my passion for public policy is a tool. And I think what drove me along my career is, is really about justice as the outcome, how to create a more just and more equal world for all of us. And really seeing in the initial stages of my career, thinking about public policy, of course, thinking about immigration, you know, those are that's one of the number one policies that impacted the outcome and trajectory of my family and my life. And, you know, as a woman thinking about reproductive health is again another huge policy that impacts our bodies and our lives. But then again, after working in the policy field for a while, and again, working with the Obama administration, just really how can I feel like at the very top echelons of how you work in policy, in this country, still feeling it insufficient, you know, it's really insufficient, really, because of the funding right. You know, there's we got so close to so many issues during during those years. And, and I have to say, there was times where, like, if we just had, you know, a million more dollars to mobilize, which in reality, really, not that much and considering kind of the scale of what we were trying to do.It could be there, right if we had just so you know, there was moments when you're trying to fundraise for advocates to get on a bus to come to DC to do an advocacy day, and you thinking really $600 That's all we need is the difference between bringing advocates from, you know, their home states to to DC to advocate for this, this topic or this issue? Or to be able to send in letters at the time, you know, we're you know, this is a it just really didn't seem it seemed like so close to so far away, and realizing that there wasn't a lot of people who looked like me or had my, my background in philanthropy, and and feeling that that could be a gap I could step into, to help really think about connecting resources to the organizations that were doing work on the ground. So that's kind of how I ended up in philanthropy, really thinking about it as kind of the next tool to be able to use to impact a more just world.
That’s absolutely fascinating. I love your journey and listening to you know how inspired you along the way and it definitely I can see these bits of inspiration that you got as especially as a I don't know if you were a teenager when you started to think about public policy that is a very self aware experience that you have. My kids are not like that at all as much as I try to instill that in them but that is really just incredible to be able to take your identity and your experience and your family's experiences and and think about that, how you can utilize that and in your professional career. I think that's a very self aware thing as a as a young adult to do that. So, so interesting. Along the way, I mean, I just have to ask, Do you have any other individuals that are inspirational too, or a particular resources that you use that helped you?
It's it's funny that you say that around the public policy piece. I think it's probably I don't think I'm unique in that as a child of immigrants. Very early on. I was asked to open bank account, I was asked to read legal document. I remember going to the bank with my parents and reading full legal documents about how to set up different things. And what to sign in where to sign in for for house and being in translating that in so it's in this is probably before it was in in high school. So I felt like this really seriousness of what other laws seriousness around with the barriers were and what it took to understand some of the things I was asked to do. It was a night when I was like, I don't know, I don't know how to help you. I don't know what I'm really looking at. My mother was like, Okay, we're going to the library. Do we would go to the public library, and I would add talk to a librarian about the questions I had to or direct me to a legal, you know, book, and I would look things up and I would leave and I'd stay there all night under trying to understand what something that had an impact on my on my family's well being. So I think I don't think that's unusual. I feel like that's probably a very common experience with immigrant children who are speaking English and competing, you know, they were just we're just thrust into roles where, given the seriousness of different policies and forms and legal legal actions, take on an immediate presence, I think in our in our lives very early on. And I think that's probably where I was like, Well, I'm going to be a lawyer, obviously, this is what I'm going to do with my life. And to be honest, I think my mother still thinks I'm a lawyer. I think I was you explained that to her friends. She's like, Oh, she's a lawyer. Like, she doesn't quite understand philanthropy. So I think I think she's still kind of that's what's happening.
My parents are the same way. I mean, I left practice of law 22 years ago, and they still referred to me as an attorney. Even though I am but it's, you know-
But you actually are I've never been to law school.
You just it's just, it's just like, Oh, you're either a doctor doctor or a lawyer and I don't understand what's in the middle. So that's close. But yeah, it's so I think, again, there was there was obviously my mother played a big role in education and, and understanding and really the importance of getting as much knowledge as you could, if you didn't understand something, you could seek out the knowledge and find out so that was a big role in my my upbringing and what I what I knew was important, I think, again, along the way thinking about that is the only tool realizing just how limiting it was because of you know, you can only really add a for existing laws, right? They're the ones that already exist once they're there and understanding the importance of getting to lawmakers before before things are written down or to change the things that are laid down. I really I think that was the political journey along the way. I I'll start stop there but definitely had also some some really strong mentors along the way as well.
And I love the mentor stories because they're really they're so important for people and I always ask about it because especially in philanthropy, most people that I speak with they they are able to navigate this whole area by seeking support from those that have gone before them. And it's really amazing to hear the stories and how things start to evolve. But I want to get into talking more about what you're doing now and the impact that you're having. So can you share more about some of the projects that you work on or some of the partnerships that you are in?
Absolutely. So the what excites me about the work of the network, the women's funding network is it is it truly is an alliance. It started the birth of WFM really started along the same timeline as the birth of a women's funds have this kind of democratizing philanthropy idea, this idea that there's every everyone's a philanthropist that has the ability to move resources, to the community to the issues they care about. And to me that really resonated and again, I'm going to go back to kind of my upbringing around you know, being Latina as well. I mean, just having a sense that if you had a community you didn't really want you know, there was always someone who's like, oh, you know, what, bring over food. Oh, I have some clothes that can hand down to me. There was always a kind of understanding that you share what you have. And there wasn't this. There was a very big community responsibility to that. And so I think this idea that there's only one type of philanthropist never really quite set settled for me and even with cash, right, oh, we, you know, this person needs some, you know, more gas in the tank so they can go to work. You know, here's, I've saw my mother give money to someone who was who was on the side, at a gas station who had children, they didn't have enough money for gas and she just helped them out, you know, just those sorts of things. It's like I everyday people and their generosity is really what fuels our community and fuels our, our world. And so that idea of that type of collective power around our communities really attracted me to to WFM and this ethos, there's all individual 130 different organizations, they all have their own individual kind of approach to the the giving and approach to, perhaps to think about strategies, but we all are really aligned. With around the idea of that we're in this together, and that there is an intersection between race and gender, that there's a intersectionality to the work that we do both, whether it's climate, whether it's domestic violence or intimate partner violence, or workforce development. You know, there's an interconnectedness to the work and being a part of this alliance is about sharing, sharing what's working, sharing the hard stuff, and in sharing tools, also, we see the WFM is our role to help build the capacity of these groups as well. So our role is also mentally providing spaces for learning and opportunities to learn, but also providing funds where it's needed. That was a big role that we played over the past three years during the pandemic, when most of our in these are community foundations that raise dollars from the field. They were in a very tough place when all of the events were canceled and organizations that took 40 years to grow and to build the trust and deep relationships were at the brink. And they stepped in to help support their work just to get going again, and again. There's a crucial role with play is being able to maintain and grow the strength of the network and, and in the individual groups that are a part of our wealth. So that's again, we'll get excited about the work. We also have a huge conference coming up this year. It's a we do a global conference every other year. It's been four years since the last one because the pandemic and this year we're doing it in DC along with the first ever feminist philanthropy on the Hill Day, which which you know, from my background now is is a reason why it's the first one that's happening in salon that I'm so excited to bring kind of my worlds together, both essay working in public policy, federal public policy, and also philanthropy and feminist identity. So it's really excited to kick that off. His inaugural run will be a signature event for people in philanthropy who are looking to support gender justice issues, and policy and where those two come together. The other thing we're doing right alongside of it is the first ever feminist foreign policy convening here in the US. So we're very, very excited to bring our partners from Germany, Spain, and Netherlands and all over the world or Australia to come and join us for that conversations.
Incredible Okay, so I'm making notes about this. We're gonna put all the information in the show notes so everyone can get access to information about the conferences if they're interested in checking it out. And, you know, I do love that you brought it together to talk about policy on the Hill feminism and I think it leads us to a wonderful place to talk about what you think your legacy will be.
Like you give me a heads up about this question. I just think it's so interesting. I've never been anything I've ever thought about that. I think I mean, quite honestly, I feel like if my legacy is that people don't necessarily remember my name, but they can just feel the impact of work and that just kind of feels natural, like oh, like, you just have rights. We just we have we have the dollars and the resources that are in appropriate to the work that's happening. And it's not something that people necessarily think about or they feel like they have to commemorate in some way. I feel like that's where we're all moving towards and I think that being a small piece of that would be is all that I think I'm trying to do is just begin to move into a place where we were this isn't initially I didn't want to be talking about gender justice issues in our hope no one's talking about 50 years is a big part of our learning paths. So I think I'll stop there, but I really hope that this isn't something that we're aware that we've I've helped make a make a space for that type of world.
Yes, it's it's certainly it's important and and I think it's a wonderful legacy to have so so we're at the end and we'd love to know more about where can people find out more about you or the women's funding network?
Absolutely. So our website is a good place to to find all of information. It's womensfundingnetwork.org. We're also on social media. I'm on Twitter at YouTube presenting and that's another Facebook posts, items, but our website is really a good, good place to start.
Great. So we're gonna put all the information in the show notes. Everyone has access to that, Elizabeth thank you so much for joining us. This has been just so inspirational to hear your story and and I love to hear how different areas of professional life have come together and they still continue to do that. So I think it's a wonderful, wonderful melding of everything. So thank you for joining us and sharing your story.
Thank you so much, Lori, thank you for doing this and thank you for for helping spread spread all this great information.
It would be our pleasure. We love talking about everyday philanthropists and I was just a complete, you know, match with you. So, for everyone listening we hope we provided some insights inspiration that you could use for your own own philanthropic journey. See you next time.Thank you for joining us. I hope we provided some insights and inspiration that you can use for your own philanthropic journey. You can tune in every week on Wednesdays when new episodes are dropped. We'd love to hear your feedback. So leave comment and a rating about what you like and what you'd like to hear more about. And if you like the episode today, make sure to share it to raise awareness about the story to inspire other women to take action. I'm Lori Kranczer. And until next time, you can make a positive impact through philanthropy every day. Thanks for listening.