Each month, we pose a question to the OneLISC family, and share the responses reflecting our diverse range of voices and backgrounds. We hope these Reflections from the Field will be a source of inspiration and insight.
This Women's History Month, share a story from your personal experience about how a woman (or women) has shaped your community development journey/commitment to social justice.
--
Top images, from left: Wilma Mankiller; LISC's Sarah Sturtevant, her mother & students at the 1989 Housing Now rally in Washington D.C; Gale Cincotta.
 |
Grovenia Parker is no social justice or community warrior. Her work would not register as earth shattering by any activist standard. Her presence, while rather towering, would go unnoticed unless you happen to walk by her classroom on C Wing at William M. Raines High School on Jacksonville’s northside.
However, it was from that perch that she spoke truth to power and created transformational moments that rivaled the work of the best frontline activist. Her capacity to see beyond the adolescent limitations of time, place, resources and situations breathed hope into the next wave of social justice and community advocates that has had the staying power of those with bigger names and bigger platforms.
Ms. Parker will never go down in the annals of social justice or community advocacy folklore, but her work in molding those who will is a constant reminder of the African proverb “it takes a village.”
- Irvin PeDro Cohen, Executive Director, LISC Jacksonville
|
“A woman’s heart. It’s the watermark. Of which I measure everything.” – Neko Case
To pick one or two or even ten women who have influenced my community development journey was quite the task. The strength and leadership women have demonstrated in the field has lifted the most vulnerable populations and communities in lasting ways.
The two women I would like to highlight, represent the compassion, empathy, tenacity and intelligence that motivate me every day to, as Elizabeth Warren encourages, “fight only righteous fights.” One is Jane Addams, a woman who used her privilege to improve neighborhood conditions, expand immigration, voting and labor rights, provide education and training all while being a pacifist who became the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and was among the founders of the NAACP.
The other is Gale Cincotta, the tough mother of the Community Reinvestment Act who did the research, stood up, spoke out, organized, advocated and would not stand down in order to expose and dismantle redlining. While not everyone loved her tactics, Cincotta was unapologetically herself and fought the good fight to increase investment in underserved communities.
- Andrea Rattray, National Underwriter, LISC Atlanta
|
When I first began investing in Native CDFIs thirty years ago, I became fascinated with the chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, who was the first woman to serve as Principal Chief. Born into poverty, Mankiller’s family moved from Oklahoma to the Bay Area as part of a federal government program to urbanize Indigenous Americans. It was there, during the Indian occupation of Alcatraz, that Mankiller forged her path as an activist and a community developer.
Mankiller returned to Oklahoma in 1977 to serve the Cherokee Nation. She created innovative community projects allowing citizens to identify their own challenges and, through their labor, participate in solving them. Her accomplishments include new health clinics, a mobile eye-care clinic, ambulance services, and early education, adult education and job training programs. She developed revenue streams for the tribe from business ventures, while establishing self-governance, allowing the tribe to manage its own finances. Her work earned her the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Certificate of National Merit. In 1998, President Clinton awarded her the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Of her name, Mankiller once said, “I’ve taken a fair amount of teasing about my name…and I finally got a little tired of it last night when I got on the elevator and a man again teased me…. He asked me about the origin of it and I said it was a nickname and that I’d earned it.” Mankiller died in 2010, leaving a lasting legacy. Gloria Steinem has said of Mankiller, “in a just society, she would have been elected president.”
- Annie Donovan, COO, LISC
|
My first exposure to CDFIs was through a talk by Clara Miller, the founder of Nonprofit Finance Fund, when I was an undergrad. I was already passionate about building the financial infrastructure for social change, and was amazed by the work that women like Clara had done to address the capitalization needs of nonprofit and social enterprises. Clara's career took her from advising on implementation of the CDFI Fund to being a vanguard for the philanthropic sector to move their endowments to be in line with their missions. Her talk was what sparked my passion for the work that CDFIs do to build communities of opportunity.
- Anna Smukowski, Director, Investor Relations and Capital Strategies
|
In this month of celebrating women, I want to recognize the phenomenal women who have contributed to my personal and professional growth and development.
To my mother, who gave me life and nurtured me from the slums of West Africa, Guinea to the land of possibility in America—I salute you!
To all the women I have met professionally who have opened keyless and closed doors; have availed themselves as mentors; and guided a once young Black male towards his prospect of purpose—I’m grateful!
The time has arrived for women of all race, creed, and faiths to give life to a society in dire need of rebirthing. The time has arrived for women to be offered their chance to lead, inspire, and develop. No better time than now for women to rise to the occasion. Givers of life. Givers of opportunity. Women—to be celebrated and elevated.
- Ibrahima Souare, Senior Community Development Officer, LISC NYC
|
I remember when I first started working at a CDC in 2015. I was totally new to community development. I sat down at a table with many people, many men, who had at least 10 if not 20 years more experience that I had. LISC's Rachel McIntosh was at that table, too. She took out a piece of paper and drew a little map and labeled all of the community development corporations I needed to consult with in my work. That map laid on my desk for two years and always was a reminder of a few things for me. Certainly more than the groups labeled on the map. I then started working at LISC, and Rachel was also making her comeback to LISC shortly after. She let me listen, brought me into conversations and really helped build my faith in myself in this work. Rachel is definitely one of my community development mentors and I appreciate all she's done at both LISC and in Indianapolis!
- Emily Scott, Program Officer, LISC Indianapolis
|
Community development is built on the foundation of trust and relationships. Building trust requires empathy, compassion, and selflessness. My mom is the embodiment of those traits. Through her work, first, as a school-social worker; now as a college professor and global educator, I have witnessed her care and compassion change lives.
When I was a child my mom immersed me in the world of social work, education, and political activism. I attended her classes. She brought me to Washington, D.C., for the 1989 “Housing Now” rally; and we participated in many local and state political organizing events. She spoke at my school and talked to my classmates about her global travel and research in impoverished communities across the world.
My mom has always been the most caring person I know, working to help the vulnerable in society. In addition to her indomitable empathy, she has shown me the importance of hard work and determination. She was a first-generation college student who worked full-time to pay for school, eventually earning her PhD, while raising our family. It is said that “outside of our love, the greatest gift we can give is our labor.” Dr. Deborah Sturtevant has been able to do both throughout her life. She is an inspiration to me and to so many other women.