The Leadership Role of a Black Woman in Fundraising
Dear Diary,
Leadership is an inconsistent role, a seat formatted differently per person, based on lived experiences. Expertise does not guarantee that you will be the best to lead, and wealth does not make you a leader. A Black woman, in the role of a leader, uniquely constructs her opportunity knowing the societal pressures that surround her. What is a perseverant leader? Chief Development Officer at America’s Promise Alliance, Tycely Williams, paints the meaning through her experiences as a Black woman leading in Fundraising.
Q: What does leadership mean to you – as a woman, and a Black woman?
Tycely: Leadership means different things on different days when you are a Black woman pushing and pressing in America during the 21st Century. I’m a proud descendant of slaves; every day of leadership is wrapped in gratitude. Leadership carries an enormous amount of responsibility to self, others, and shared communal and social values. As a Black woman leadership means possessing the superpower to lead from the back, side, and front with an artful ability to adapt to the needs of others, while creatively and unassumingly satisfying your own.
Q: Black fundraisers tend to experience bias and discrimination from donors/prospects during meetings. In your role, how have you dealt with these situations?
Tycely: Most frontline fundraisers have likely experienced bias and discrimination from a donor. When you are Black the complexity of the traditional donor-fundraiser power dynamic is compounded because of race and our country’s longstanding inability to cut systemic ties to slavery. When Black fundraisers represent charitable organizations as the primary relationship builder the experience is vastly different when cultivating, soliciting, or stewarding donors of color versus white donors. In my experience, when Black fundraisers connect with donors of color there is often an explicitly expressed excitement sprinkled with sincere appreciation from the donor of color which is lackluster or not expressed when Black fundraisers connect with white donors.
When Black fundraisers engage with donors of color there is often intrigue and interest in how the fundraiser and others are treated—typically a firm inquiry into the organizational culture which can be summarized in questions such as “How are they treating you?” or “How are things?” After multiple exchanges and interactions, many white donors eventually mirror similar behavior and demonstrate curiosity and concern over the wellbeing of Black fundraisers. The difference is Black donors of color tend to send immediate verbal and nonverbal signals they are extremely comfortable with and genuinely flattered by the presence and competency of Black fundraisers.
On the contrary, largely due to bias and historic discrimination, typically Black fundraisers must spend more time catering to and shifting language, tone, and style to accommodate the preferences of white donors which often leads Black fundraisers to feel the need to overtly position power so white donors can sense inferiority, not feel threatened by the concept of equality, and eventually become comfortable with the misplaced notion that their financial position and benevolence to the organization has elevated them to a more valuable position than the Black fundraiser.
My younger self and older self, handle these delicate situations very differently. My younger self was an avoider. I viewed it as best for the organization and best for me to just go along to get along. I brought my best ma’am and sir to the conversation and processed through the silliness outside the presence of the donor and my work colleagues. My older self is an advocate. I view it as best for the organization and best for me to just bring it up and brighten it up. I bring my best and most authentic questions to every conversation no matter the human being or donor. I deal with these situations by respectfully asking “Are you comfortable?” or “Any preferences we need to be sensitive towards?” The intent is to call the White donor “in” versus “out”—usually it results in a swift visible demonstration of comfort and possibly an indicator or heightened awareness that the lackluster responses and detachment are noticeable signs of bias.
Q: Should the traits of a great leader include vulnerability? How does vulnerability pair up with the socially constructed role of a woman (specifically a Black woman) having to always be strong?
Tycely: Now is the perfect time to remind myself, I am not Brené Brown. I do not think you have to walk through vulnerability to get to courage. I think the traits of a great leader are relative to who the leader is, how the world views (the intersecting identities) of the leader, and most importantly how the leader views themselves relative to their leadership calling. The world has yet to create space for me as a Black woman to be vulnerable. My vulnerability is not seen as a walkway to courage. My vulnerability is seen as evidence for a Performance Improvement Plan. My vulnerability is justification to withhold an increase in salary. Vulnerability has never been an option for me and consequently, a trait I’ve never been able to safely activate as a leader. Vulnerability, like any leadership trait, is a privilege afforded to some and withheld from others. I’ve witnessed other identities exhibit vulnerability, but, over the past 24 years, vulnerability was never been in reach for me as a Black woman leading teams in white dominant cultures.
Q: How do you seek professional development/ growth? What works? What doesn’t work?
Tycely: Now is the perfect time to also identify as a lifelong learner. I seek professional development growth formally and informally every day in every way. My father was a principal and mother a teacher, so I was born into a family that valued formal education. My two parents configured every wakening hour of my childhood as a teachable moment. I’ve carried into my adult years, the expectation that I should learn something new every day, that learning is fun, and that learning demands time—my most precious resource. What works best for me is to make a yearly commitment to a formal professional growth opportunity so I can parachute into a safe place to receive structured and sequenced introductions to new frameworks and theories. This allows me to plan, set-up measures to fully disconnect from the demands of the office, and solely concentrate on fertilizing my thinking and forging new relationships.
What doesn’t work for me is interacting with people who possess a fixed mindset—its pure sadness and way too much time off the Happy Bus and away from the glorious glow of growth! I’m here for all the SHINE!
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Until next time, March 15th!
