Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Olu Ibrahim, Founder & CEO of Kids in Tech.
1. What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?
As fundraising becomes more professionalized, as a collective, our industry [the non-profit industry] is neglecting the human element of the work we do. Rarely do we have the opportunity to attend professional development workshops that invite us to step back, explore and embrace our humanity. We must center, explore and embrace our humanity in fundraising. Fundraising for social change is about a lot of heart work. It is the heart work that will change our world for all. I too love data and the information it provides but let us keep that in mind.
It’s so easy for women to get in that space where you’re just everything to everyone all the time. We should be telling women and girls to take care of yourself, because that way, you’ll have more to give to those around you.
2. What is your current greatest professional challenge?
My greatest professional challenge has always been to make sure my staff and board have meaningful opportunities for them to grow and learn. Speaking of growth, growing our organization so we can serve more kids especially during COVID-19 and beyond is also a huge challenge.
3. What inspires you most about your work?
I aspire to break down the barriers found in STEM. Equality in STEM begins in the classroom and we’ve been able to see more and more kids pursue STEM in their classrooms, schools, and beyond. I envision a world where more people of color and women enter the field and stay in the field because we have created environments for them to thrive. Everyone who chooses to pursue STEM is granted the opportunity to fulfill our God-given potential. I envision a world that breaks down the expectations of what technologists, mathematicians, scientists and engineers should look like.
4. How does your gender identity inform your work?
As a woman of color, I understand the benefits of creating a more diverse and inclusive table for all. I have had to overcome obstacles and misconceptions as a leader of a nonprofit. Gender discrimination is a major reason why women are underrepresented in these positions. And women are far more likely than men to see structural barriers and uneven expectations holding women back from these positions. Research suggests that company leaders are best able to recognize talent and understand others’ development needs when those talents and needs present themselves as theirs did; they often overlook or do not know how to develop talent that looks different. This is why we need more women from various leadership backgrounds in leadership roles to demystify women in leadership roles.
5. Do you think your gender identity has affected your career?
Intersectionality is part of my gender identity; there are many barriers intertwined between my race and gender as a nonprofit executive and as a fundraiser. I have been told “about dimming my light to make others comfortable” a burden many women of color carry. And the usual, having to constantly prove myself over and over again.
6. How can philanthropy support gender equality?
Only
45% of nonprofit CEO roles are held by women. When it comes to pay, women
nonprofit CEOs make just 66% of male salaries. We must create better systems to
ensure gender equity. We must understand that women leaders and their
organizations/movements are complementary but separate entities, and both must
be supported. What we have instead is funders generally viewing organizations
and leaders as single entities and only supporting them as such. We must
invest in leadership of women. People have been burning out and leaving the
sector in droves as a result.
In addition, we must especially support BIPOC women leaders while they
are leading: If you want BIPOC leaders to succeed, then surround them with
resources and support while they are leading. We must also understand that
gender representation does not mean equal gender equity. These are some ways
philanthropy can support gender equity.
7. In the next 10 years, where do you see gender equality movements taking us?
I see gender equality movements going in a positive direction. I see more women working in all aspects of the philanthropic sector. I see us embracing the concept of intersectionality into the movement to advance social change. The nonprofit sector has grown by 20% over the last 10 years as, in contrast, the for-profit sector has grown by about 2-3%. Many organizations are expanding and planning for future growth over the next decade. Hiring in the nonprofit sector continues to grow and the number of staff has increased in more than 50% of the nonprofits.
