By Esther Saehyun Lee & Maria Rio
Young fundraisers of color join organizations because they know the harms the sector causes and want to make a difference. When they first arrive, they are optimistic and pour their energy into the mission they believe in. However, often, they find out that the greatest challenges to ethical practices are not external but internal.
For the first time in my professional life, I can see that my response to the fear of scarcity doesn’t just harm me; it harms others. When I operate out of scarcity, I model the exact same oppressive leadership that I was taught and operated under. This model of individualism and perfectionism is seeped into all our bones but it was not until I entered a leadership role that I could see the nuance of its devastating effects.