My workshops to advance equity in data are built with this intention — to build collective knowledge around data collection and visualization in a way that allows us to appropriately challenge those places where data can lead to exclusion and alienation. I learned five lessons by offering these workshops to individuals from different roles, sectors, and data comfort that I want to share with you.
For professionals of color, bringing our whole selves to work shouldn’t mean reliving trauma for the benefit of white colleagues
“I’ve navigated a lot of spaces that have implicitly or explicitly not been for me. Over time, you learn what parts of yourself to bring forward and what parts to protect.”
The Ethical Rainmaker: Is Community-Centric Fundraising Still Working Two Years Later? ft Rachel D’Souza Siebert and Henry Ramos
Michelle sits with Rachel D’Souza Siebert and Henry Ramos to discuss where CCF is at today… and why it’s making itself at home because it’s here to stay.
9 ways to transition nonprofit leadership from performative to transformative
“To turn words and values into meaningful and impactful action, nonprofit leaders must transition our personal leadership and organizational strategy from performative to transformative.”
The Drizzle: Emotions That Sabotage Getting Money
In the third episode of the Drizzle Miniseries, The Ethical Rainmaker host Michelle talks with Stacy Nguyen about the emotions that can sabotage us when it comes to money! They discuss the impact of our personal narratives and family of origin stories — and how all of that shows up in how we run nonprofits and fundraising.
Why must the white cis nonprofit workers angry react to all my posts? Ep: “That’s just the way it is”
Apologies if you’ve heard this one before: imagine me — a queer, trans, triracial person — in a Zoom meeting with an all-white, all-cis Development Committee. A proposal for a pay-to-play fundraising scheme (a fundraiser that requires donors to pay to engage in an activity, in this case: an educational event) is on the table and I mention the equity issues of who can access this and how it doesn’t advance the mission…
The Drizzle: Three Mistakes I’ve Made As a Fundraiser
In the second episode of the Drizzle Miniseries, The Ethical Rainmaker host Michelle shares the three biggest mistakes she made as an in-house fundraiser, including themes on event extortion, process predicaments, and burn out blessings.
The Drizzle: How I Got Into Fundraising
In this inaugural episode of the Drizzle miniseries, the Ethical Rainmaker host Michelle shares her origin story, (with chapters that include bullying, Classical music, the CIA, fate, therapy, and more!)
Our Humanity Can’t Be Timeblocked
“Many companies and organizations have recognized that a 4-day workweek is a great idea but haven’t actually done it yet. When researching the concept, I felt as if there was a dearth of practical, logistical information about how companies can transition. I decided to journal about how the new policies were affecting my workflow and to track what happens when the rubber meets the road.”
It’s time to stop coddling our donors: how radical transparency makes us stronger
“Our work compliments the already existing efforts of those who are being marginalized. It can be hard to come to terms with this as a nonprofit employee and as a donor.”
4 antidotes for scarcity mindset
“…if our source of support doesn’t come from the ‘master’s house,’ from racism, from capitalism, from the United States, where does it come from? I offer that we turn to Nature, or Earth.”
7 Liberatory Signs That Made Me Apply for My Job
“I’ve been seeking a justice-centered workplace where I can be my authentic, Queer, Trans, Latinx self for my whole career. Like many, I’ve been exploited as an employee and I need a workplace where I am represented, gendered appropriately, and can thrive — what Social Justice Partners Los Angeles terms a ‘liberatory workplace,’ where everyone feels belonging and freedom.”