I provide strategic leadership to campaigns, represent the organization publicly, and lead fundraising efforts.

EDUCATION | My education is mostly from the social justice movement. I did some community college--most of it comes from the movement and not from school.

HOW TO GET STARTED | Read "Good to Great", a strategy book. Another book, "The Playmaker Standard", they are exceptional books in understanding strategy. What I suggest is to really following your passion. What are the areas of work that propel you? Are they women issues, poverty issues, ecological issues, what drives you and follow your passion? Also, volunteering or interning in the private sector can give you great experience.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Driven for success bigger than you. Giving. Creative. Team Leader and Team Player.

how I got started | My family is from Oakland, California. I am a second-generation Oakland native. Parents grew up in 60's and were part of the social movement of 60's and 70's and helped our community. The galvanizing experience for me happened after the civil unrest in LA due to the Rodney King beating verdict.

why this job?| My inspiration is that things could be different. Suffering, racism, sexism, it didn't have to be that way; we could work together and change it. And a community could come together and change it and in some way be an example. For me, among my peers, I went through a series of fortunate events, gained experience, mentorship and support of others and have been able to become a leader in my community. There are people more capable that I that never really got a shot. My goal is to make sure everyone gets a shot, regardless of where you were born and under what circumstances.

why I love this job!| People I work with. The staff is brilliant, funny, and passionate group of people. When people are most impacted by a system or a law or some injustice we come up with ways to change it and work together to solve problems. It's incredibly inspiring to see that change and I love that about my work. People will see me on the street and come up and talk about how our work meant something to them. The appreciation of what we are trying to do is something I love about this job.

my typical day| From 8:40 -9:20 I read and write emails. A big part of my day is planning and evaluations, I talk to people on phone, and also do a lot of writing. Then more emailing, at around 5:30 -6:30 pm. I also do a lot of what we call P.O.P, Purpose Outcome and Profit work. I do a lot of work at that level and then the staff carries it out at the operational level. I'm also involved in a lot of meetings, write pieces or edit pieces. And of course, trouble shooting anything that comes up.

what they are | I think in the social sector it is often money. And for us, some of the challenges are being able to spend enough time building a funding partnership to pursue the vision and balancing that with our program work. We are not built to raise money. We are built to make change, so balancing that is hard. Feeling like you are no longer in the work, because now your job is to plan and write, so being removed from the helping, for example, going from being a player to being a coach.

all about growth | A lot of it depends on the organization. There certainly is a demand, but it's a hard position to fill well. You have to be a good match in terms of skill, temperament, and knowledge of the area. People that know their field and know their area do really well.

my website| http://www.Ellabankercenter.org