Career Cheat Code
Welcome to Career Cheat Code, a podcast that explores the stories of everyday people making an impact in the world through their careers and loving every minute of it. Whether you're already on your path or searching for your purpose, this podcast is for you.
Join us every Monday as we uncover the secrets behind successful careers and inspire you to make your own mark. Formerly known as Thank God It's Monday | TGIM, don't forget to subscribe for updates and share with your friends!
Career Cheat Code
073 | Chief Philanthropy Officer with Bea De La Torre
This episode uncovers the unexpected journey of Bea De La Torre, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Trinity Church NYC, who shares her experience in philanthropy and the importance of taking risks in one’s career. Listeners gain insights on the power of relationships, the complexities of social issues, and the joy found in helping others through meaningful work.
We follow the adventurous path of a proud Boricua who navigated her way from Puerto Rico to the United States, driven by a passion for urban planning. Through her experiences at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, she found her calling beyond the corporate world. Her transformative role in public service after 9/11 paved the way for a career in philanthropy, revealing the profound impact of housing stability on community development. Throughout, Bea emphasizes the crucial role of mentorship and the importance of staying open to life's serendipitous career transitions.
•Discussion on Bea’s early career in corporate America and the search for a mission-driven path
•Narrative on how housing stability impacts communities and individual lives
•Insights about transitioning from public sector work to philanthropy
•Importance of networking and building relationships for career growth
•Challenges faced in addressing social issues and the progress made along the way
•Emphasis on the role passion plays in creating change through work
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Host - Radhy Miranda
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Producer - Gary Batista
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What I always tell people is I didn't plan it out this way. I never had a. In fact, I think if you had asked me in the same way that if you had asked me when I was in grad school are you going to be focused on housing and homelessness issues for 20 years? I would have said no way. And if you had asked me when I was working for the city of New York you're going to end up in philanthropy for more than 10 years and I would have said no, that's not. My career and I want to say this to you know, the listeners is that you really sometimes just have to take these opportunities without knowing exactly how they're going to fit into your long term plan Because, again, every single step leads to the next one and things get clear as you step. You know, take those steps along the way.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Career Cheat Code. In this podcast, you'll hear how everyday people impact the world through their careers. Learn about their journey, career hacks and obstacles along the way. Whether you're already having the impact you want or are searching for it, this is the podcast for you. Bea, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Riley. Thank you so much for having me here.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate you taking the time to connect today. I'm excited to learn about your career, so let's dive right in. Let's tell the world what it is you do for a living.
Speaker 1:So I'm currently the Chief Philanthropy Officer at Trinity Church NYC and what that means is I lead the philanthropic portfolio, so all the grant making that comes out of the church. We are a unique church in that we have a very significant endowment, given a very long history of Trinity's origins over 360 years ago and specifically our assets in the real estate side in Manhattan. So that has allowed us to have a significant endowment which we then turn into giving back to our community. So my job is to basically lead the team that does all the grant making and we gave just to give you a sense, we give about 40 million dollars a year in grants to a lot of not for profits in New York City Focus on the issues that align with our strategic areas of focus, and then we also do a little bit of grant making internationally tied to the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
Speaker 2:Wow, that sounds like a lot of work and really transformative, especially as you're anchored in a place like New York City and you can really see how the support that you provide to these organizations really transforms people's lives.
Speaker 1:It really is. I feel so lucky truly to have this job. I have been living in New York City for over 25 years and have been very committed to addressing some of the more systemic issues that I've seen. I'm happy to go into my career background, but I started really focused on affordable housing and had to have the ability to now lead together with other portfolios, but portfolios that really address the housing crisis, the homelessness crisis, housing insecurity that so many of our New Yorkers face is truly incredible for me to be able to be so mission driven.
Speaker 2:That's great. So how big is your organization?
Speaker 1:So Trinity itself is over 200 employees, maybe 250 or so, but Trinity again, because we're so unique, we have a lot of different teams that you wouldn't even think about. So Trinity, of course, is a church, so there's staff associated with the clergy. We run a lot of programming, pastoral care, but in addition to that we have an incredible music program. So one of our best offerings and I highly recommend for anyone that lives in New York City is we have a beautiful production of Handel's Messiah in December every year, I believe. Unfortunately this year it's already sold out, but keep your ears open for next year. It is absolutely beautiful. So we have a very big music department. And then, in addition to that, given our real estate holdings, as you can imagine, we have other teams associated more on the business side, so sort of like a real estate team and investments team, the philanthropies team, which is the one I lead, plus all the supporting functions like IT and communications and HR.
Speaker 2:That makes a lot of sense, so for this type of organization. So what does that mean to lead this type of team, right? So what does your Monday look like when you walk into work? How do you plan out your week? What are you actually doing day to day?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a lot of meetings. I'm trying to get better at managing my calendar. So my role is very much it's internally focused but very externally focused. So I meet with a lot of people. Externally, we do a lot of our work in partnership with other funders, with government, with other not for profits. So I spend a lot of time meeting with people, hearing what they're working on, trying to figure out potential partnerships or ideas for us to work together. And then internally, you know I have a team of 22 people under me, so we also spend a lot of time meeting talking about a strategic direction and where we're headed.
Speaker 1:So I would say a Monday for me probably includes easily six meetings, sometimes back to back. I do try to get a little lunch break in between. It's maybe 15 minutes in front of a computer and then after that, of course, wrapping up by responding to a lot of emails. But it's a good. It's a good balance of being able to do the internal work but also getting out there.
Speaker 1:I would say you know the other thing this just doesn't happen to fall so much on a Monday, but the other thing I do a lot is go to. I participate in a lot of panels as panelists, sometimes I moderate them or I provide remarks at an event. So, like, being out there in the field is really important and then, in addition to that, visiting some of our grantees is a very I think it's absolutely key because you need to see the work directly, and that is something that in the role in the field of philanthropy sometimes you don't see as much is that there's this notion of you can be in this ivory tower making grants without really having your ear to the ground. So I feel very strongly that we need to be out there talking to people and meeting people and, more importantly, seeing how the people that we're ultimately trying to help, like how they're doing and what else they need, so that we can calibrate our own programs and grantmaking around that.
Speaker 2:So what is the? What is your favorite part of your role?
Speaker 1:I think I the favorite part for me is really when I hear a story of somebody that our grant was able to help. That just fills me with so much joy. So I'll give you an example. We just recently made a grant to a wonderful organization called Hot Bread Kitchen. They basically operate commercial kitchens and they help immigrants. They started by helping immigrant women. Now it's more expensive than that, but they help them basically get their training so that they can then become prep cooks or join a restaurant and be part of that staff with benefits and a good salary. So we recently gave them a grant to support a cohort that's specifically for some of the newest New Yorkers coming into our city.
Speaker 1:So in the last two years, as you know, there's been an influx of asylum seekers and migrants coming in, and they're coming in because they want to work. They're coming for a better opportunity for themselves and for their families. They are not coming to be on a government paycheck, right, so what they want is to work. So Hubbub Kitchen provides wonderful training for them. It's a seven-week course and we were able to visit them and they shared the stories of a few people and this woman in particular.
Speaker 1:She came from I think she came from Venezuela with her two daughters which by itself, just to say it, that journey by itself is so incredibly traumatizing right To be able to make it here, from there and everything that happens in between. And she enrolled in the program and at that point she was living in a shelter with her two daughters and she, enrolled in the program, did a great job. It was very clear to the people managing the program how talented she was and after she graduated she got a placement at Casa Cipriani. So she's now working there with great benefits, great salary, and has been able to move into her own apartment with her two daughters. And for me that is the best part of your job. When I hear a story like that, it just makes it all so worth it.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. Especially, you know, philanthropy itself can be very removed from the ultimate impact that it can have. Right, because a lot of times you're working with people like Hotbrake Kitchen and like others that are directly seeing the beneficiaries of these programs, and in philanthropy that's not always the case, right, like you, just you trust and believe that the organizations are doing the work and that they then are tied. But to then have an opportunity to actually have that direct line of communication and that direct, just intel on how these programs are really transformative, you know it's, it's really, I think, one of the things that definitely got me into philanthropy. Right, like understanding that, like the work matters and you're actually helping real people in real time.
Speaker 1:So I appreciate that, I appreciate you sharing that yeah, absolutely, and I mean, of course and you know this so well for me also is seeing how the support that we're able to provide is strengthening the non-for-profits in New York City is really enriching. I strongly believe that the non-for-profits here are doing such incredible work. For the most part, really really have been essential in making the city what it is, so to be able to support that directly and see their work in action is extremely fulfilling.
Speaker 2:That's great. So on the contrast. So what is the most challenging part of your role?
Speaker 1:I would say frankly that sometimes it feels like you take one step forward and two back in terms of addressing these deeply embedded, challenging social issues that we're trying to address through our grant making. So I'll give you a specific example with data that just came out. So I, as I mentioned, I have been working in the homelessness field at this point for almost 10 years, and when I actually even three years ago, when you would look at the data of how many students in the New York public school system have found themselves to be housing, insecure, homeless, either they were in shelter or they were in doubled up situations or couch surfing, the number was one out of 10. And that number was horrifying, so extremely high, and I would think about that a lot. Actually, at that point I would think about okay, my kids go to the New York City public school, so that means you know they have like two or three kids in their classroom right that have been going through this, and we know that in some schools that's a much higher percentage. So that number was horrifying. I dedicated so much of my work At this point I was at the Robin Hood Foundation so much of my work really focused on like, how can we lower that number?
Speaker 1:That is just not okay. And we're able to launch some really wonderful programs and things that were successful and we're certainly helping many individual children and their families and whatnot. And then the data just came out last week or the week before with the new numbers, and the number is one out of eight. So it got worse, it got a lot worse, and that is just sometimes that's really challenging, right? When you say to yourself, oh my God, what have I been doing? And I was talking to my husband about that because truly I was so depressed, I just could not believe it Like, wow, this got it. Not only got bad, it got like so much worse really. And and you know what I have to, what we have to come to, and I think you know people that are working on it for profits.
Speaker 1:Doing all this work and all that heavy lifting is, yes, that did get worse. That did get worse and it's really heartbreaking. But if we hadn't been doing what we were doing, so on my end, like funding some of these programs, maybe that number would have been like one out of six. You know so there are people's lives that you are touching and you really are helping, but the, the funnel just keeps getting bigger and bigger on the top. You know so it just it makes it very, very challenging sometimes and you know you have to kind of pull yourself together and say what I'm doing matters and I'm just going to keep on going.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And you know, I think, especially if you're good at what you're doing and if you like you, you're really as passionate as you, as you are, about this work, right? You know, I think it's important to understand that we can't do it all along Right. So, like, all of these issues are not going to be solved by one person, one organization or anything like that, and there's a matter of also just context of the world and pandemics coming and things happening and just other issues that are beyond our control that, you know, don't always solve the root of the issue.
Speaker 2:But I can certainly see how, if you are spending dedicating your career to solving some of these issues and you don't see the needle really moving, that can be really frustrating and a really heavy questioning thing. So I appreciate you sharing that. That's a very, you know, insightful point because, especially in philanthropy, I think, a lot of times it can be sometimes very instantly rewarding and you can see the impact really quickly. And then if you step back, like you did right, and look at, well, what have we been doing over the last few years, sometimes that can tell a different story. So you know, as a professional it is hard to navigate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:You know, it would actually be helpful to hear a little bit about your upbringing. So tell me, tell me a little bit about where were you born, raised. What did that look like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure, so I am a very proud Boricua. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, right outside of San Juan, and I come from. I always say like I hit the lottery when it came to my family. I just come from a super tight knit family. The youngest of three girls and my mom is my mom just was always so supportive of being like you're going to be strong women. You know we're going to, you're going to get to do everything you want, and my dad, more importantly, was even more that like he would like triple down on that.
Speaker 1:I I always joke. He would say, like you can become president of the United States if you want. And I would say I don't technically think I can that because I was born in Puerto Rico. So I think technically that cannot happen, but anyway, so I grew up in that beautiful island that is just full of joy and beauty and community, and also it's really complicated, right Cause it's under the shadow of the United States. There's so many challenges with the political situation there and also the infrastructure, as I'm sure you know, and became very, very apparent after the horrible hurricane of 2017, maria. So when I was growing up, I was, you know, always had a feeling of I want to do something else outside of Puerto Rico. As much as I love it and I still do go back a lot I just always felt like I maybe needed a little bit of a bigger place. So then I came to the United States for college. I studied at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and I was like I kind of like it here, you know.
Speaker 1:So after that, I moved to New York, basically started working frankly, and I worked for American Express. I was working on helping Gold Card members spend more money, and I did that for a couple of years and I was like, wow, this is so not who I am. I am extremely not interested in this. It didn't feel meaningful enough to me and you know, of course, some people work on that and that's great for them but I always felt like I needed to do something more connected to community and I decided to go back to grad school for my master's. So I did basically and this is something that I tell younger people that you don't have to figure out grad school immediately. In fact, I took about six years in between graduating from undergrad and going to grad school, undergrad and going to grad school and I wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me, because I knew that I was going to have to take out big loans that I was going to be paying for a long time and I didn't want that to be towards something that I wasn't excited about, and I also didn't want to end up in a situation where, you know I went to grad school and I had so much debt that then later I felt like I had to go back and work in corporate America or because that was the only way I was going to pay my loans Right. So it was kind of like why is that sweet spot for me?
Speaker 1:And what I did and I went through a process that was really helpful for me is that I basically think I met a list of easily 80 people and I just talked to everyone and it was basically similar to actually kind of your podcast. I was like tell me about your job, what do you like about it? What are some of the challenges? Tell me about your day to day. And in a way, it was just for me to be able to explore my own journey, like what of those things sound good to me that I would enjoy? But what of those things sound good to me that I would enjoy?
Speaker 1:And I talked to one of my sister's really good friends who had gone to Berkeley to get her master's in urban planning and was working on affordable housing issues in Puerto Rico actually, and as I was talking to her it just suddenly went off in my head. I was like, oh my God, urban planning, that sounds amazing. I love community. I think a oh my God urban planning that sounds amazing. I love community. I think a lot about my physical environment around me. I live in New York and I'm one of those people that's always like looking at, like where's the open space? Oh, look at this sidewalk, oh, this traffic intersection doesn't seem to be working so naturally kind of gravitated to that urban infrastructure environment and then just that sense of community of being thinking like how can you help a neighborhood, how can you help a group of people that just really, you know, turned off the light bulb, like this is at this incredible program at MIT I'm just so thankful for and basically have been working on issues related to urban planning since then.
Speaker 2:Wow, so okay, so you're working at American Express. You're thinking about examining whether this is really what you want to continue to do and you learn about urban planning generally. Two questions when you were an undergrad, what did you think you wanted to do right after college? What was your vision at that point? And then help me understand how you then made the connection to go to MIT and move to Massachusetts and do this for a while.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So when I was an undergrad I studied communications with minor in Latin American studies, and psychology in undergrad at Penn communications with minor in Latin American studies and psychology in undergrad at Penn. I didn't take a single course in urban studies which it's so unfortunate because Penn, where I was for undergrad, has one of the best urban studies departments and not a single course. It had not even crossed my mind and, to be honest, I think I just had no idea what I wanted to do afterwards. Basically is what I came down to and this is very particular to Penn, but it is to other schools too. Penn can be a fairly pre-professional school because the School of Business Wharton, which is, you know, within Penn, is such an important and such an incredibly good school. We will get a lot of recruiters coming to recruit students after we graduate, and the recruiters were investment banks, consulting firms, corporate America, and I graduated in 1997. It was a good economic environment to graduate in, let me put it that way.
Speaker 1:I know that now people are graduating are facing a very different environment from the one that I was fortunate to have, but I remember going to the career office and saying you know, I'm thinking like I should do maybe something in nonprofit. And they were like, oh yeah, sorry, like the nonprofits don't come here to recruit, these are the companies. Do you want to go to an interview with McKinsey? And I was like, well, I guess, because I don't, I don't have any other options, maybe. So that's basically kind of how I ended up at American Express, I mean, and again, it was a great experience.
Speaker 1:I learned a lot actually about technology and and marketing, and so I don't, I don't regret having done that. I just wish I had, from an earlier stage in my life, maybe known or had an inkling of I want to do something a lot more mission driven, let me explore careers in that territory as well. But at the same time, I'm a firm believer that the journeys, one step truly leads to the next, and if I hadn't maybe worked at a place like American Express and Corporate America, maybe I would have ended up doing something totally different. I don't know. I just know that that step led me to the step that I'm in right now and I'm very thankful for that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Okay. So you come from Puerto Rico, you go to Pennsylvania, you go to undergrad, you come out to New York, you get to work. Now you get into grad school and at this point it sounds like you're using grad school as a moment to pivot and going to learn about new things to then jump into a whole different sector Sounds like potentially social or public sector. Tell me about your grad school kind of the experience, like did you get what you wanted out of it? And then what happens after?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you are. You are exactly right. So for me, grad school was the pivot in my career. And that's what I was struggling with before going to grad school is I knew I wanted to do something different. I wasn't sure what that was first. So then I went on this journey of talking to a lot of different people and then even even at that point, say, before going to grad school, if I had said, oh, it's urban planning, it would have been really hard for me, right? So it truly was very intentional that way, and in terms of what I got out of grad school, again, I went to a fantastic program. I am so lucky. Mit is just phenomenal, not just the curriculum, but like the people that you're around and the commitment that they truly have to be super innovative. You see it, it's not just with technology that they do it, they do it also with their programs like planning and whatnot.
Speaker 1:I got a lot out of MIT, too, because I was more mature. I was when I went into grad school, I was 28 years old. I was more mature. I had already, you know, been living on my own for a long time, but, more importantly, I had a deeper appreciation for the situation.
Speaker 1:I was in the incredible privilege that I had, which I you know when I was an undergrad. You know you're so young and like you don't really so at MIT, for example, like Noam Chomsky would speak, you know he was in faculty at MIT and I would be like I'm going to go and hear him speak. Then we were right next to Harvard where the Kennedy School would bring all these incredible people coming to talk about policy and politics. I would go and hear them speak. So I really took advantage of not just the academics but also the context I was in and all the incredible offerings around me. So that is something that I definitely tell people that are either going into school or grad school to really, really tap into that. And I know, I know that school gets so busy, there's so much to do, but that is part of your education as well outside of the classroom is what I would say so so, yeah, so I had a great time.
Speaker 1:I also another thing that I loved about the MIT program I'm mentioning this for potentially people that are thinking about looking at graduate school programs is that MIT has a very robust what they call practicum curriculum, so meaning we were on the field, doing projects as well, so it wasn't just all in the classroom. We had a lot of practicum courses. Some of them were, you know, in nearby Springfield, massachusetts. I did a whole class there and it was really interesting to me because there's a really big Puerto Rican community there, so it was interesting for me to see how they're living and some of the challenges that they were facing and continue to face, frankly. And then I also did a practicum in Lima, peru, over the. I also did a practicum in Lima, peru, over the break at MIT.
Speaker 1:You have all of January off to be able to do things like this. And there I worked in a squatter community in Lima that you know has a lot of challenges and a lot of infrastructure challenges, but it's also absolutely beautiful to see how this community has come together and how they help each other out. See how this community has come together and how they help each other out. So I really took so much away from those experiences and really think they helped me really chart my career as well. Again, going back to that notion of I don't want to be doing my work in front of a computer all the time. I really want to be out in the field talking to people, hearing what's happening and just really getting a pulse on what I can do to help them. So, um, so yeah, so mit, so that was fantastic and all and then in terms of it sounds like you did grad school right.
Speaker 2:by the way I tried, yeah, like you took advantage of all the opportunities, the events, the travels, just all the things that help you open your eyes and your mind to other future possibilities and other things and other challenges that the world is struggling with and how you can play your role within it. So it just sounds like and that's something that I certainly encourage with folks. You know, especially with grad school I would say even an undergrad but especially with grad school it's not just about going in the classroom and doing the work and then going home. Like the network matters, the experiences matter. Go see who are the professionals that are coming through the doors and what are they talking about and what can you absorb from all that. Because it's just, it's a very finite time that you're there, so, like, while you're there, just get everything you want out of it.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah. So I really at least tried my best. So and I really do think it helped me be a little a more mature young adult. You know, I think for me personally at least, having that time in between working in different sectors and then getting to grad school really made it, made it try to at least like I try to make it make the best out of it. So while I was in grad school, so that summer in between, I actually came back to New York to work and I worked for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is a not-for-profit that was started after 9-11 to basically rebuild Lower Manhattan, and at grad school I had been very focused on economic development and small businesses. That was basically what I was gravitating towards. Basically what I was gravitating towards. That was the thing that I was doing on some of my course work and I wrote my thesis on this specific kind of like business improvement district in the Boston area. So I was gravitating towards that, went to the LMDC, had a really fantastic internship and ended up working for somebody, for this woman who is a dear friend of mine now and we just did a lot of really great projects together, right. So had a great internship went back to MIT.
Speaker 1:So this woman her name is Holly Light. She's absolutely terrific and she has been an incredible. She has so many great jobs, but so many of them in the public sector, really, really, truly helping people. So Holly calls me up and she says I'm, you know, I'm in my second year of grad school. And she calls me up and she says hey, bea, I, um, I'm going to take this. I just got offered this job. I want to take this job as the assistant commissioner for the housing agency at New York city, hpd. Do you want to come and work for me when you graduate? And I was like I'm, I'm not a housing person, that's not me. No, you know, um, that's just not my, my thing. But then I thought about it and I was like you know, she's amazing, I can learn so much from her. I love her energy. She's so creative, really out of the box thinker. So, yeah, let me, let me give it a try. I'll just go and work for Holly for a couple years and then I'll, you know, do something else, get to HPD.
Speaker 1:This is, uh, september of 2005 and um, and I, I, literally I remember somebody said you should really join the pension because you know it's really great when you join the pension as a you know, civil servant, and I was like I'm not joining the pension, I'm gonna be here for like a year or two and do something else. This is not my thing, but I'm just going to learn a little bit and move on. Almost 10 years later, I look back and I thought to myself I really should have joined the pension. When that person told me and I just basically have been working in housing issues since then, so it's going to be almost 20 years and let me tell you first of all, of course, just working for Holly was just amazing, as I suspected.
Speaker 1:But I so quickly realized and I almost cannot believe how naive I was before but I so quickly realized that pretty much so many things come down to housing stability, like if you want to build, you know. Like if you want to build, you know, like if you want to have a solid neighborhood with economic opportunity, where people are thriving, where children have the ability to feel safe and all the things I care about, like the piece of affordable housing, is an enormous part of that puzzle. So that's what it became for me and yes, as I said, you know, I worked basically for city government almost for 10 years doing primarily planning around where the affordable housing developments were going to be located, and then basically I have been in philanthropy for over 10 years at this point working on similar issues.
Speaker 2:Wow. So you know, and I really appreciate you sharing the hesitant moment, right when someone calls you and said, hey, would you like to join me on this journey? And you know, I think a lot of times we either limit ourselves or can't even imagine ourselves in spaces where people can actually see us in. Right. So, like she clearly clearly saw something that was like you can bring a lot to this space if you're willing and open to it. And now that has to help shape your career Right. Like many years later now you're still working on some of these issues and addressing them through a different lens. Right, but still working on the same issues. Can you? Can you tell me a little bit about your transition from the public sector into philanthropy? I know a lot of folks that are in the public sector that you know are either thinking about what philanthropy could look like or thinking about just different ways to continue to have impact. So just be helpful to hear how that transition was for you and what you saw in philanthropy that you can bring.
Speaker 1:So I got very lucky is what I would say, because I do talk to a lot of people that want to move into philanthropy and breaking into philanthropy is not the easiest and I just got very lucky that somebody reached out to me to say, hey, robinhood is looking for someone to build this affordable housing idea that they have. In terms of how the foundation can play a bigger role in the actual supply of affordable housing, is it something that you might consider? And so it happened to coincide with the turn of administration. This is when the de Blasio administration was coming in at City Hall and it was just like a natural. It seemed to be a natural transition for me to be able to get into philanthropy.
Speaker 1:But what I always tell people is I didn't plan it out this way. I never had a. In fact, I think if you had asked me in the same way that if you had asked me when I was in grad school are you going to be focused on housing and homelessness issues for 20 years I would have said no way. And if you had asked me when I was working for the city of New York you're going to end up in philanthropy for more than 10 years? And I would have said no, that's not my career. And I want to say this to you know the listeners is that you really sometimes just have to take these opportunities without knowing exactly how they're going to fit into your long-term plan Because, again, every single step leads to the next one and things get clear as you step. You know, take those steps along the way.
Speaker 1:So I got lucky, joined philanthropy, joined Robin Hood, which is incredible.
Speaker 1:I had such a great experience there. I worked there for five years and I have so many things I can point to of work that I was able to do at Robin Hood, together with the incredible people that work there that I'm so deeply proud of. And one of the things that I also wanted to mention Raleigh is that when I joined philanthropy, robin Hood in particular, I came very much with the idea of what affordable housing was from a real estate standpoint real estate and planning, of course, but I had not really been exposed to homelessness in terms of, like, all the different things that need to happen in the services and the programs that need to happen in order to support those populations. So it was a really big learning experience for me. Because back then and it's kind of crazy that I worked in a housing agency for so long and we were not deeply thinking about homelessness all the time too, because the solution to homelessness is housing. So how are those things so siloed? That became very clear to me and that never has made no sense to me.
Speaker 1:Frankly, I think now there's a lot more dialogue between the agencies, thankfully, and even more needs to happen, but that was a big learning opportunity for me. And then same with grantmaking. I had never done grantmaking, so I came in and learned the way, and you know, robinhood in particular has a very concrete way of thinking about grantmaking. That was extremely helpful to me and I learned so much, but it truly was a field that I stumbled upon a little bit and now I am, you know, 10 years later. I am deeply committed to it.
Speaker 2:That's great and you know, I think one of the things that I've realized in my career is, despite the sector that you're in, you will work across sectors anyways. So when I was in city government, we were still working with private sector. We're still working with philanthropy, because we're all working towards the same issues, just in different approaches and or playing different roles in in the puzzle, right? So, like I am more, so I like to think about it as I'm married more to the work than I am to philanthropy, right, because I think ultimately, even if folks that are in city government now are like, oh, I want to go to philanthropy, it's great to like think about how, what you can bring to that space and what you can learn from the space, but also just understand that like, at least for me, it's be more committed to the work than the sector that you do it in. So you know, I appreciate you sharing that because you've been able to navigate different sectors and just add a lot of value there.
Speaker 1:And if I can add to that, because I agree and I think you and I have talked about this in other occasions I actually think having multi-sector experience is really important for me. Having been in the public sector, like you were, for almost 10 years and then going into philanthropy really, really informed a lot of my grant making, and I remember sometimes being in meetings with some of my colleagues who maybe haven't had that experience and me explaining like no, you don't understand, the city of New York cannot do this because of X, y and Z. They're not being difficult, they do have these limitations. This is very challenging for them and this is how we can help them, just like many of my colleagues that have previous experience with nonprofits were able to teach me like no this is how it works.
Speaker 1:This is how this not-for-profits are running when they're relying on these government contracts that have the least in payments and whatnot. So I truly believe that multi-sector experience is absolutely key and I really encourage people to not just be like I have only done philanthropy my whole life or I have only done nonprofits my whole life. I think getting a suite of how the different sectors work and how they work together is a key to success.
Speaker 2:Absolutely agree. So as someone that is now in senior leadership in philanthropy, you know one of the misconceptions that I knew growing up was if you're doing good work, you're probably going to be broke all your life. And I happen to know that that is not the case and I happen to understand that we can have really impactful careers and also do good and do well at the same time. So how much money can folks even make in this type of sector?
Speaker 1:So the philanthropy field in general I would say, provides decent to very good salaries, you know. So I would say a range for you know, starting from like program officers all the way to more senior leadership, you know can definitely start in the definitely like the 100,000 and then can get up to, you know, like 300,000 or more, so I think there are definitely opportunities to do good and do well as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, I mean listen, there's always the I could be making a lot more in the private sector. Of course you could, but it really has to come down to what drives you and, for example, for me, that's something that I 100% have already made. That decision is I really need to be working on something that's mission aligned. Otherwise I just don't enjoy it as much. I really don't. There's no other way to put it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and of course, you know this will vary. We're also talking from the perspective of folks that are in philanthropy in New York City, right. If you're doing this in Nebraska or in other parts of the country, that may look different. Or if you're doing it at a larger institution, like where both of us work, versus a smaller family foundation, right. But you know, I do think philanthropy has definitely been a sector where you can land in that really sweet spot of knowing you're doing good work and still being compensated well enough to like feel good about the work that you're doing. Are there any other career cheat codes that you haven't mentioned today? You've mentioned so many, but any that you feel like you know. If you knew this earlier in your career, it would have been helpful.
Speaker 1:I think for me is knowing I'm a little bit of a like I need to figure things out quickly and need to move quickly on things, and and for me, just knowing that I don't need to have everything figured out, that really like, and that I can fail and it's going to be fine, um, would have been good. I definitely felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, especially when I was younger, of how am I going to sustain myself Like I live in New York city so expensive, how is this going to work? And I wish I had had had a little bit more patience with myself is what I would say, and it's something that actually I see myself doing now. I'm going to turn 50 next year. So I think, like you know, these things come with age. But you suddenly realize like it's okay, like I don't need to absolutely know everything immediately, and there are things that I'm not going to do as well as others, and then there's others that I'm going to be truly excellent and it's fine.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I think being kind to yourself and patient is something that I wish. If I could go back to my younger self, I would. I would tell myself, but I also feel like I was really lucky and I referenced this already Like I, one of the reasons I feel like I've been super successful is I have invested in relationships really deeply. I am a very relationship driven person, like I, really truly, you know, I try to be a really good colleague, I try to be a really good manager. I really try to just be a good human being whenever I can.
Speaker 1:I'm absolutely not perfect, trust me, but I really invest to just be a good human being whenever I can. I'm absolutely not perfect, trust me, but I really invest deeply in relationships and that has really helped me in my career, because a lot of people pick up the phone and call me years later and they're like what are you doing? Can we do this together? Hey, would you want to come here? So that's something that I tell also, a lot of people that are kind of like moving in the field or are younger Also, a lot of people that are kind of like moving in the field are younger. And I think now you know one kind of like side note on that that I think is important is that relationships are also more fostered when you're in person with somebody in community.
Speaker 1:And I tell that a lot to my staff, especially as we were coming back from the pandemic and people were like I don't want to be in the office, I don't want to be. And I would say I understand, of course, and you know we benefit from having a hybrid work schedule, which I'm very thankful for, but sometimes you got to go out to lunch with people like you got that chat, chit, chat before of like hey, how was your weekend, how are you doing? What's happening with this? It's so key to building relationships and when you're having a virtual meeting you typically don't have that level of chit chat. It's more like let's just get to business, let's just get it done, we'll move on to the next. So I really do think people need to think about nurturing relationships and that's been one of the things that I'm very proud and I think has really helped me with my career.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And I would say I've absolutely seen that in action because you and I connected maybe six years ago or so through a mutual contact that said, hey, you should go talk to Bayi, and you were extremely gracious and said, sure, I'll connect with you. I don't know you from a hole in the wall but you have been super helpful. I was at the time I was working for the city of New York and just thinking about my next steps and like I knew I wanted to get into philanthropy for sure, but I knew philanthropy from a very like singular lens of like family foundation that supported youth work.
Speaker 2:I didn't really have experience with other folks in philanthropy and just hearing about your work and how you've been able to navigate the field and all of the like just gems that you have poured into me over the last few years, like it definitely shows that you, that you actually take that seriously right, like you take relationships seriously and you know we've just stayed connected since you know I appreciate that it's not just your work and your colleagues, it's all the folks kind of around in the ecosystem that you're also developing as as your community and your network. So just also appreciate you for doing that because you didn't have to do that, you didn't have to like say, sure, come, let's go have some coffee, and then actually still talk to me years later.
Speaker 2:So I appreciate it and I think you know you're absolutely an inspiration to someone in the field that I look to and say that's someone that's doing it right.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you so much for saying that. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for saying that. Of course, are there any forms of media that could be books, podcasts, things that have just helped you personally or professionally that you just think people should check out?
Speaker 1:So I would say, on the podcast side, I love listening to how I Built this by Guy Ross. So I feel like I have a little bit of entrepreneurship inside of me, even though I probably will never launch my own company although I should never say never, right, but I, I, I do have a I, I have a problem solving mind and I am a creative thinker and all that.
Speaker 1:And so for me, hearing the stories of these entrepreneurs and how they, how their idea came about, how they built their company, how they have many of them failed at various points where it seemed like this was not going to take off, and then how it turned around, I just absolutely love that podcast. So I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to engage with that side of like risk taking and the tolerance for what you know what to do next and how to think about it. I specifically actually go into relationships. One of the episodes is for with Bobby Brown, the makeup creator, and one of the things and I will never forget this and I think about this often is that she was in the elevator with the grandmother of the producer of the Today Show and she took the risk of saying, hey, I have this makeup that I developed, Do you think you can help me?
Speaker 1:And this woman was like, of course, I'll talk to my grandson, Maybe he'll put you on the Today Show. And she got on the Today Show and now I think we all probably know that name, Bobby Brown and that was a risk she took, and so I love that podcast for that, because I think about that a lot. Often I'm like I need to take a risk of going and talk to this politician or to this policymaker, because you never know where it could lead. So that's definitely one that I really listen to. And then, of course, just all the news keeping up with the news. So I listen to all those podcasts.
Speaker 1:But, I was going to also mention Riley that I get a lot of inspiration from music. Actually, this has been throughout my entire life. Music, actually, this has been throughout my entire life. So I used to listen to. I didn't used to be like the typical teenager listening to.
Speaker 1:You know, whatever other teenagers were listening to, I mean, I guess I did that too, but I would listen to like pretty deep music that was highly political. There's so many great examples of like Cubans and Puerto Rican singer composers that I can mention Argentinian as well, and one musician that I absolutely love, and all of his songs deeply resonate with me, is Ruben Blades. He's Panamanian. He also, you know, ran for president of this country, and his songs, every single one of them, has so much meaning to me, and there's one in particular called Caminando, which means walking, and it's very much what I have been referencing throughout our last time together today. It's very much about how every step you just have to. The only way to figure out your life journey is just to take every step, and the one step will lead to the next and you don't really know what's at the end, but you just got to keep on walking, and I just really, really love that. I.
Speaker 2:I listen to it pretty much like once a day for inspiration, wow I love that and I and I really appreciate the metaphor and the meaning behind that um, and this is something that you know folks can go definitely go check out and and and see if it resonates with them the same way. So I appreciate that, right, and also guy ross, by the way, and how I built this is definitely something that I'd listen to a lot and a lot of times thought of this show as the how I built this for careers, basically, um, so, so I definitely appreciate him and his style as well. So shout out anything that we have not discussed today that the world should know about um I, I think we covered a good amount.
Speaker 1:I think one of the things that I feel like I bring to my work is a lot of passion too, and I am mentioning that because maybe some of the listeners feel like, oh, sometimes I need to not show my passion as much at work and of course there are better places to show it than others but I think, like, finding that like the thing that like really you feel very connected to, either because your own personal experience makes you connect with it, or because you feel that you understand and truly feel deeply the challenges that people are facing and you connect with that.
Speaker 1:I think that's a, that's a beauty and I really think about that, um, as one of my superpowers. I really do, you know, and I, I this whole notion of like, oh, sometimes, like women get typecasted to be like emotional, and and I, I actually think for women, um, that is one of our superpowers and we need to unleash it. So, yeah, so like, if you feel a passion for something like, don't be afraid to like express it and show it. Um, it has served me really well in my career, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us today. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did and believe on the mission we're on, please like, rate and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at Career Cheat Code and tell us people or careers you would like to see highlighted. See you next week with some more cheat codes. Peace.
