How I met Maria or “A Tale of Simba and Grants”
Hello friends!
How are you doing?
My name is Esther and I’m thrilled to announce that I will be joining Maria here at Further Together. If you’d like to know about me personally, feel free to check out my LinkedIn and or more importantly my essay here. But for now, thought it’d make sense to share the story of how I met Maria and joined Further Together; or as I like to call it, “A Tale of Simba and Grants.”
I met Maria when I was sitting in a grant selection committee for a local foundation. In a grant selection committee formed by donors, fundholders, anchor agency staff members (such as Maria and I). In our brief hour of convening, it became quite clear to me in a very short time that we were aligned in values. Every organization I was arguing should receive funding, Maria would be in agreement. And vice versa.
I suppose it makes sense considering we are both women of colour fundraisers, who have committed to ethical storytelling and community-centric principles, that we have a lot of overlap in our shared values. I had already planned to reach out to her after the call to connect, but what made me prompt to direct messsage her on the zoom meeting was her cat Simba. Simba popped up on screen and I couldn’t help but directly message Maria in the meeting to say, “I like your cat.”
It was from this fateful moment when her cat walked across screen that a beautiful friendship was born.
Here is a snapshot of a very important Further Together meeting. Esther, Maria, Panther, and Spike are all present. Simba, the star of this story, had to attend to other business matters.
Maria and I are both fundraisers who joined this sector to ensure that we center the communities we serve in our fundraising practices. We joined with a commitment to honour the power, autonomy, and dignity of people who receive services.
Over many delicious meals, phone calls, shared jokes and cat memes, we developed a friendship and became each other’s peer support. Being Maria’s friend means having a smart, no-nonsense fundraiser that’ll provide advice, empathy, and a kind ear to listen and affirm that you’re not alone.
Being committed to equity in a sector that is rooted in problematic and systemic practices can sometimes be lonely. It can feel as though you are shouldering the labour alone- especially if you are one of the few, if not only, proponent of advocacy and justice in your organization. Having Maria as a friend and peer that I could turn to for support has been invaluable to me.
The work of equity and justice must be done in community. And Maria has become an integral part of mine.
When she started Further Together to help charities fulfill their mission- I jumped at the chance to join her. Both of us have a vision and hope for the nonprofit sector to serve our communities with fundraising practices centered in anti-racism and anti-oppression.
As individuals, we are powerful fundraisers and social justice advocates. As a team, we are a duo that is keeps each other accountable, pushes each other to grow, and inspires each other to innovate.
You’ll be hearing from me more regularly but what I want to make sure to say here is, hello friends!
It’s so nice to meet you. I’m so happy to be in community with you.
Warmly,
Esther Saehyun Lee
