Bringing Greater Reach To Humanitarian Brands

As we grow out of childhood, we face more deeply the negativity in the world around us... where tragic strikes, where injustice lives, and how heavy the weight of the world can feel on our shoulders. As children, we often ask "why" to understand the world and to do our best to make sense of it all. I guess that wonder has always stayed with me, too. Growing up, I always felt connected to the people around me, whether I knew them or not, curious about their own stories, which are unlike my own. We all share incredibly different lives, even though we may face similar needs.

As I spent a lot of my childhood and young adult years leaning into photography, I often lit up when I learned about cultures vastly different from mine, as it's something we're not always shown as children (which very much needs to change). Inspired by National Geographic storytellers, I dreamed of the day when I would travel the world to meet new people and learn about their way of life and stories... especially where injustice ripped away the very humanity that calls all of us together as one family.

I can attribute my passion for serving humanity and good causes to my faith, nurturing community, and education, to which I very much recognize are aspects of my life that so many do not have access to, or in very different ways. Equally, as a young, white woman, I recognize and make it my mission to authentically understand the stories of others to the best of my own ability in a respectable and honorable way to their culture and background.

Serving nonprofits has always felt natural to me, as well as supporting the incredible causes and POSITIVE stories the world has to offer. The fact that I exist online today sharing my passion for using technology to support these organizations... that's an opportunity tied to the community in which I grew up that I will never take for granted.

Overall, it's really hard... Anyone who tells you that working in a nonprofit field is easy, likely hasn't worked in one. Most everything is political and everything needs to be handled with grace and understanding. Beyond storytelling, it's about providing sustainable solutions for organizations to operate with their own independence and authority rather than reliance on anyone to provide for them.

As a natural caregiver, I struggle with always wanting to "take care" of the people around me and those whom I may never meet. I recognize that this will be an ongoing part of my deeper learning and greater understanding of how I change serving the world to supports others in empowering ways to allow them to provide for themselves.

I can't even begin to put into words how grateful I am for the work I do and whom I have the blessing of working with to guide them in ways that likewise gives them the tools they need to confidently carry out their mission and provide the same respectful and educational support to those they serve.

The Building Movement Project's Social Change Ecosystem Map has helped me recognize my place in society as a woman passionate about helping a variety of causes. While I may never truly understand what's it's like to be a member of the Black community, LGBTQ+ community, live in a third-world country, or have my freedom stripped away as a refugee, I aspire to use my role as a caregiver, storyteller, and guide to mindfully play my part as an ally in the story of all of individuals experiencing the injustice in these stories that should be made forever humane.

In a country where we celebrate freedom, I remember where the world is not free. Where the majority of the world does not have the blessings I've been given, I make it my mission to alter this narrative. To recognize the deeply rooted stories of others for the pursuit of equity we should all experience in our lifetimes as a family of one.

Thank you always for being my biggest supporters and guiding me in my journey of learning and leading in love. Let's work to design a better world together.