In July 2020 our guest Marisa DeSalles published an article that unleashed all the years of built-up trauma that she experienced as the only BIPOC fundraiser in her white dominated organization.

In this candid conversation Marissa recounts her experience of micro aggressions and her shock at realizing that she had been complicit in maintaining the status quo of racism in her organization.

Marissa now helps nonprofits strategize their growth by focusing on the health of the systems they use, including data management systems, marketing and communication systems, and organizational structures.

Her work is informed by Community-Centric Fundraising, a movement seeking to prioritize equity in fundraising. This movement favours a more collaborative approach that honours the inherent strengths within community members.

Marissa’s specialty is working with emerging organizations in search of growth, and in particular organizations led by and focused on issues affecting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Marissa and I candidly shares her experience of code switching, altering her voice to sound white on the telephone changing her behaviour and her appearance to “fit in”.

We also discuss the discomfort of acknowledging our collective privilege and concrete first steps can we take to stop causing harm to each other.

One of those concrete first steps is a confession. I must confess to you that this conversation was sometimes awkward and difficult. I was tempted to edit out moments where my white privilege and ignorance is on full display.

In consultation with Marissa we chose to keep it in to serve as an example of what BIPOC people have to deal with on a daily basis. To Marissa I apologize for my ignorance and am deeply grateful for her grace and compassion.

Once again, thank you Marissa for your grace and for helping us all, including me, do better.

You can find a link to Marisa’s powerful essay Fly in the Milk here.

https://communitycentricfundraising.org/2020/07/11/12-years-a-fly-in-the-milk/

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