By Sally Morton
Cristina is a first generation immigrant from Ecuador. She grew up in Los Angeles for the majority of her childhood, going through the L.A. Unified School District, which was very unfriendly with English learners. She worked very hard to support herself as a young, single mother so that she could break the cycle of poverty and get off public assistance. Cristina supported herself through school and attended UC Davis, where she earned a Bachelors in Science, Community and Regional Development, with an emphasis in Organizational Management and Policy and Planning.
Cristina then started her career in non-profits. From 2006 to 2012 she worked with the California Coalition for Rural Housing. One of her jobs for them was Director of Asset Building Programs. There she started a statewide asset building network for affordable housing agencies, community building organizations, and a non-profit legal service program. She then had abrupt switch in professional career from non-profits to the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. She currently works with a non-profit as the Director of Partner Programs for Community Financial Resources.
One of Cristina’s partners at work recommended the Women’s Global Leadership Initiative. Her boss had told her things she needed to improve and WGLI’s Leadership Training seemed to be the perfect fit. Her boss really encouraged her to attend and build her confidence.
Cristina loved the WGLI workshop because it was both personal and professional development. One of the biggest lessons she took away was: “Know your worth.” This was used especially in negotiating. She learned that the best way to go into a negotiation, whether it is on salary or policy, is to understand your non-negotiables and to know that you’re worth what you deserve!
The community that was created through the WGLI workshop gave her the opportunity to express her concern of social issues. She said it is hard to navigate the system when it is constructed for capitalism. Cristina felt it was a very safe community to share and express herself honestly.
The week before the training Cristina was assaulted at a café in Oakland. She was trying not deal with it, trying not to see herself victim. The group of women helped her accept and validate what had happened to her. They helped her begin to heal. Cristina didn’t realize what a massive affect this assault had had on her body and she wanted to go forth without processing it. She learned that as women, we often experience trauma but we just keep going without ever processing. The group helped her process and again to “know her worth.” Cristina learned there that we all have stories to help empower individuals and communities.
She said the group was a profoundly helpful community structure. It gave her the opportunity to improve her listening skills and tools to ground. She was encouraged to see herself for what she truly is, and then questioned, “How do I then give back?” Cristina remembers Diana saying, “What is your stake in the ground, what are you willing to die for?”
The training was a process for her of getting to know herself, her weaknesses, what she need to grow on, how to utilize her team building skills, how to utilize her greatest potential to help the whole community. She said it did not feel like corporate training; the goal was not coming out on top. It was emphasized that leadership comes in all different shapes, sizes, colors. She feels a sense of solidarity and community with the other women and hopes to stay in touch.
Cristina recommends another intensive program, a second round for women who have already gone through that workshop. The next one could be more integration from what they’ve learned from the first go around, and discussion on how to really affectively apply it in one’s life. It could be a way to hold the women accountable to practice what they’ve learned and could utilize techniques that help women turn this behavior in action.
Cristina saw the training impact her work life when she had to present in front of 45 college students and help facilitate a training with her boss. She hadn’t done this before she went through WGLI’s workshop and her boss hadn’t seen her progress as of yet. Cristina went in with enthusiasm, knowing her worth, and used a facilitation technique from the training. Her boss was very impressed and had nothing for her to improve upon!
She said, “If I go in feeling deserving in a humble way, I’m better able to connect with people.” Before the workshop Cristina said she felt unworthy, even though she loved what she was doing. Now she knows she knows she’s where she is because she’s worked really hard to get there. That’s the difference she sees in herself before and after the training.
Cristina plans to make a contribution to WGLI, and would love to be a facilitator. She really appreciated the personal connection, richness and diversity of the group. She realized it doesn’t matter what social or economic background you come from—she felt united in the womanhood. She said to have the support of Mona and Diana through the training was really special. They made themselves available to everyone. It was really amazing to see them going above and beyond their call of duty. It showed her that they are really living what they teach. Cristina said she “will forever be recommending women to attend WGLI’s workshops!”
