Self-Care Archives

Discover Your Innocent: Find Inner Calm with New Hypnosis Video

As many of you know, along with founding and editing Philanthropy Women, I am also a psychotherapist. So today I am offering something new here for readers: a chance to explore your inner wellness through hypnosis.

One of my specialties as a therapist is identity development. I have spent many years studying and writing about the archetypes — the different dimensions of human identity that come into play across the lifespan. In 2018, I also trained and became certified as a hypnotherapist. This is a hypnosis session to help you get a deep night’s sleep, and to give you a chance to experience your inner Innocent.

Favianna Rodriguez on the Power of Art to Heal Polarization

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Favianna Rodriguez, President of The Center for Cultural Power, a national organization investing in artists and storytellers as agents of positive social change.

Favianna Rodriguez, courtesy of Favianna Rodriguez

What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?

I wish I’d known more about the racial and gender barriers that exist for women of color leaders in the non-profit sector, particularly the arts and culture space. I knew how to pitch my ideas and raise money, but I lacked information on how to navigate situations in which I was experiencing unequal treatment due to my gender and racial identity. I was in many spaces where the safety of women was not prioritized. Unfortunately, over the last 20 years of being an institutional leader, I’ve experienced numerous uncomfortable situations including sexual harassment, the theft of my ideas by male leaders, being bullied by men when I challenged sexist assumptions, and being trained to lead in a boy’s club type of approach. Before, I didn’t have the language or tools to navigate these situations. But that has since changed, and I’m incredibly thankful for that because it gives me the opportunity to create safe spaces for other female and gender non-confirming leaders to thrive.

Research Alert: Why Women in Biz Are Using Fake Male Assistants

A recently revealed trend of female entrepreneurs using fake male assistants demonstrates how gender norms play out in business communication.

Kelly Doody of Social School. (Image Credit: Club Innovation Conference)

It is no surprise that women in business, especially those who are themselves entrepreneurs, face unique difficulties. A number of women have spoken out about this. A few women have even come out to reveal how they navigate these issues.

One way they have found helps their work is by having a fake male assistant who handles certain tasks.

Kelly Doody and Jandra Sutton are two such entrepreneurs who utilize this tactic. Doody is the CEO of Social School, and Sutton is a podcaster. Sutton revealed her use of a fake male assistant in a tiktok that went viral, seen here.

Sonal Sachdev Patel: Read This Post, Then Get Some Rest

Editor’s Note: The following essay from Sonal Sachdev Patel, CEO of God My Silent Partner Foundation, discusses the poor quality of life that many professionals in the nonprofit sector live with, and ways to improve that quality of life.

We live in a society that too often equates money with power – and there are very few people with more money than MacKenzie Scott.

Sonal Sachdev Patel, CEO of God My Silent Partner Foundation. (Image credit: GMSP)

That’s why I was delighted to read her latest Medium post in which she makes the case for philanthropists getting more done by ceding power and getting out of the way.

That is, providing long-term, unrestricted funding to high-impact nonprofit organizations so they can get on with the important work of making positive change.

Announcing the Black Girl Freedom Fund’s First Six Grantees

The Black Girl Freedom Fund has announced the six organizations that will be receiving grants ranging from $50K to $100K.

The Black Girl Freedom Fund is the largest initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color. (Image credit: Black Girl Freedom Fund)

The Black Girl Freedom Fund, an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color, announced its first grant recipients. The grantmaking was guided by an advisory committee of seven Black girls and Black gender-expansive youth between the ages of 13-17 years old.

The Black Girl Freedom Fund is focusing its first round of grants for Black-girls serving organizations that address safety and wellbeing of Black girls. Along with the fund, the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign aims to mobilize $1 billion for Black girls and young women over the next 10 years. The campaign has mobilized $17 million since it was first launched in September.

Surviving Sexual Assault to Become a Social Worker and Publisher

As well as being a gender lens publisher and a social worker practicing for over 25 years, I too have been a survivor of sexual assault. Mine was of a particularly insidious kind, all wrapped up in academia. In the process of applying to graduate school for my Masters in Fine Arts for Creative Writing, I got sexually assaulted. Not kidding.

*The Recommendation is a short animated film that discusses sexual assault in academia and ways to address the problem. (Image credit: The Recommendation)*

Now, some 28 years later, with the perpetrator deceased, I am telling my story. But I still can’t tell it completely because my perpetrator was particularly unstable. He had been hospitalized multiple times for suicidality. He could go from complimenting you to abusing you in the blink of an eye. And he was particularly known for filing lawsuits, should anyone suggest he had problems with women. Given all of that, even with the perpetrator dead, it still isn’t safe to say his name. That’s the patriarchy for you. Even with the dominating male writer no longer among us, we still can’t talk about him safely.

How are Feminist Giving Trends Impacting Social Change?

On Tuesday, March 23rd, the We are for Good podcast featured Philanthropy Women’s own Editor-in-Chief, Kiersten Marek, as part of their Women of Impact Week specialty series. The interview explored Kiersten’s clinical social work as well as her analysis of feminist giving trends and their impact on social change, as the publisher and Editor-in-Chief here at Philanthropy Women.

Hosted by Jonathan McCoy and Becky Endicott, the We are for Good podcast focuses on innovative ideas and inspirational stories within the nonprofit industry. The podcast’s Women of Impact Week series was presented by Virtuous, a fundraising platform and customer relationship management tool for nonprofit organizations.

Susan McPherson’s “The Lost Art of Connecting” Now Available

Susan McPherson, Founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, has announced that her book “The Lost Art of Connecting” debuts this month.

"The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships" will be released on March 23rd, 2021. (Image credit: McPherson Strategies) — “The Lost Art of Connecting: The *Gather*, *Ask*, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships” will be released on March 23rd, 2021. (Image credit: McPherson Strategies)

Editor’s Note: The following announcement is from Susan McPherson.

I am excited to share with you some big news: my new book “The Lost Art of Connecting will be out this month! Imagine launching a book all about the importance of building deep, meaningful connections throughout your career during a global pandemic when we have been socially isolated for 11+ months. Well, that’s me.

My Survival Is Worth Funding: NCRP’s Brandi Collins-Calhoun

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Brandi Collins-Calhoun, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy Senior Movement Engagement Associate.

Brandi Collins-Calhoun, courtesy of *Brandi Collins-Calhoun*

1. What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?

I’m not sure that there was anything I could do to prepare to enter work that would be grounded in philanthropic feminism, especially knowing that the radicalization of mainstream feminism hasn’t happened across all movements and sectors yet. However, I wish I knew the weight of the shift from my life as an organizer fighting for my survival and safety to be centered, to my current role petitioning that my survival and safety is worth funding. I wish I knew how to find the balance and show up for myself through that process. There is often guilt and weight that comes with centering my needs in this work because this fight is so much bigger than just me, but I am reminded that Audre Lorde named that, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” That balance between holding the sector accountable and caring for myself is a radical act that is necessary for me to continue the work.

Four Ways Ellevate Squads Showed Me the Future is Female

Editor’s Note: The following personal essay is a reflection on one individual’s participation in the EllevateHER Forward Fellowship program. This is not a program endorsement or a sales post. Philanthropy Women was not compensated for this article.

Image Credit: Ellevate

This fall, I had the good fortune to be selected as an EllevateHER Forward Fellow, one of a group of women selected to participate in Ellevate‘s Fall 2020 cohort for women’s leadership and career growth programming. As part of the Fellowship, I participated in the Ellevate Squads program, which redefines traditional “networking” groups by pairing women all over the country with a consistent “Squad” for twelve weeks.

Category: Self-Care