"I arrive at Groundswell with so much hope."
- Yamani Yansá Hernandez Interim Executive Director
First 90-days reflection
As I near the end of my first ninety days as Interim Executive Director, I’m excited to say hello!
As I near the end of my first ninety days as Interim Executive Director at Groundswell Fund, I’m excited to say hello! I come to Groundswell as over a decade-long leader and grantee at state and national levels within the Reproductive Justice Movement. I have always admired Groundswell and appreciated not only the organization’s funding and capacity-building programs but trusted values aligned thought-partnership.
Over the last year, I have been a proud Partner at The Management Center, one of the key consulting organizations supporting the nonprofit sector with training and coaching on becoming the most equitable, sustainable, and results-driven versions of themselves. I coached nearly ten organizations in navigating growth, change and how to make their insides match their outsides.
I’ve gotten many perspectives on the shared struggles in our sector. We are all navigating the rise of fascism during a global pandemic, the boom-bust cycle of giving following 2020, and the relentless policy assaults on communities we represent and hold most dear as Black, Indigenous, queer, transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive folks of color.
While we face these shared struggles, I arrive at Groundswell with so much hope. We are all clear on the political urgency for our programmatic work as a sector. Yet, we must also meet the urgency of labor and process needed to build matching operations, policies, and systems.
Both are required to fuel the full-throated and fierce-hearted work done by real people living real life in real time right along the communities we serve.
My first few months of onboarding included a listening tour with our nearly thirty staff spanning grantmaking, capacity building, funder organizing, communications, finance, and human resources. Over the next few months, I look forward to continuing my listening tour with Groundswell stakeholders, which includes a mix of funders, grantees, and donors.
It’s thrilling to be at Groundswell for many reasons. I look forward to sharing updates with you over the coming months as we work toward our first union contract, strengthen our internal operations systems, and continue to work towards our 2020-2025 Blueprint goal of moving $100 million to the field.
I’m honored to be in community with you, to share learning and practice space as we build the world we imagine.