A grandmother’s legacy: Sharon Sewell-Fairman finds her voice

Posted on by suki
The Babblery
The Babblery
A grandmother's legacy: Sharon Sewell-Fairman finds her voice
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Sharon Sewell-Fairman’s path to become CEO and President of New York City-based nonprofit Women Creating Change was hardly set at birth. She started life in a rural area of Jamaica, her only advantage being her family’s emphasis on the importance of education. It was her grandmother who became, in Sharon’s words, “the trailblazer.” Seeing an opportunity to better her family’s prospects, Sharon’s grandmother left Jamaica to work as a nanny in New York City. Soon she sent for Sharon’s mom, and then eventually, 11-year-old Sharon.

Sharon pins her success on the support of women: her grandmother and mother first, and then mentors who helped and encouraged her along the way. As a girl from a traditional society that emphasizes “speak only when spoken to,” Sharon explains that she needed to find her own voice before she could move forward. Now she is employed in an organization whose mission is, essentially, to help women from underserved populations find their voices and increase their civic engagement.

In this interview, we discuss Sharon’s path and the work she now does. We talk about the ways that women can become engaged in their communities, and the ways we can support each other. Finally, we talk about the current political climate, which threatens to take away women’s voices. But that, Sharon says, will not happen if we keep supporting each other.

[Click for transcript]

For more information:

About Sharon Sewell-Fairman:

Sharon Sewell-Fairman, a powerhouse in workforce development and civic engagement with more than 25 years of experience driving change across local, state, and national levels. As President and CEO of Women Creating Change, Sharon is leading efforts to advance equity and expand civic leadership opportunities for women and gender-expansive communities in New York City. She’s a strategic thinker, systems builder, and lifelong advocate for inclusive economic opportunity.

Sharon Sewell-Fairman

 The songs “Four Years” by Monplaisir and “Angel Fire” by Holly Cook are courtesy of the FreeMusicArchive.org.

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A grandmother's legacy: Sharon Sewell-Fairman finds her voice

[00:00:25] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: I saw it as an opportunity for more women to be able to, affect policy, affect changes in their local community so that they can advocate for themselves, they can, advocate for their families, drive changes for their families and ultimately, their local community.

[00:00:46] Voiceover: This is your host, Suki Wessling. When I saw that an old friend of mine had joined the board of a New York City nonprofit called Women Creating Change, I was intrigued. The organization is an old one despite its original bland name, Women’s City Club of New York, the organization has never been a club for society ladies to drink tea. Upon its founding club members, including Labor Leader Francis Perkins, journalist Ida Tarbell, and New York’s First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, immediately tackled issues like working and living conditions for the poor and marginalized.

[00:01:21] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Women are leaders in their home, with their families, in their communities. I think for these women, it was having a space to be able to look at the societal issues at that time and how they could affect change beyond their families and their local communities. And so I think it’s very relevant still today, in terms of advancing gender issues and helping women to, find their voice and to, lean in and drive change.

[00:01:52] Voiceover: Today’s conversation is with the organization’s current president and CEO.

[00:01:56]

[00:01:56] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: My name is Sharon Sewell-Fairman. I hail from the island of Jamaica. I then, migrated because of my grandmother and my mom, who are my role models and mentors. My grandmother is no longer, with us, but I, carry her each and every day, just as a strong, trailblazer.

[00:02:18] Voiceover: Sharon herself is a trailblazer. She joined her grandmother and mother in Brooklyn as a pre-teen, attended local schools and then majored in English at the State University of New York at Albany. She got her MBA from the University of Maryland and immediately embarked on a career in workforce development.

[00:02:35] But the spark to help others through nonprofit work was lit early on in this conversation, we’ll talk about Sharon’s upbringing in the Jamaican community, her path to nonprofit work, and the importance of mentoring in women’s lives.

[00:02:48] But first, let’s start where she is now, the leader of an organization with a local focus, but a very wide impact.

[00:02:54] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Where I am today, I am with, women Creating Change, and after my career journey, that really helped me, to strengthen my voice. In many cases, I started out being, the first woman of color, being at the table. Then I had to learn how to use my voice. And then, I had to, be more confident about my voice.

[00:03:23] Then I realized by using my voice, I represent, other women of color. but also I began to understand that, by using your voice, you can be a catalytic force in driving change, for, social justice, economic justice, and other areas.

[00:03:43] And so here I am at, women Creating Change as the president and CEO of this great organization.

[00:03:51] Suki Wessling:

[00:03:51] So talk a little bit about what Women Creating Change does now,

[00:03:55] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: our primary mission is to advance gender equity and to increase, civic engagement participation among women, particularly underserved women, of color that has been historically shut out of the civic process. And so we, we carry out our mission in three ways.

[00:04:15] One, we do research. We conduct research to identify gaps, in areas, that often is a, is a barrier, or it’s a challenge for women which hinders their civic participation. And so the five issue areas are, are, are very common across, you know, all, all women where regardless of where you’re located, not just in New York City and those five, pillar areas are health and reproductive rights, economic justice, education, safety, and climate. Right? and our premise around those five is five pillar areas is that I. Women, whether it’s voluntary, it’s proactive, or it’s driven by a particular, you know, just trying to drive change in a particular area, often it’s tied to an issue that a woman is experiencing, or their family members are experiencing, right? So for example, you know, if you have children, right? It may be you need a streetlight, right, to ensure that if your children are playing out, you know, later in the evening that the, the streetlight is well lit. Now this is, it’s very, simple, but the bottom line is, a mother could, you know, get other, other women in the community to petition, lead a campaign. and that campaign could result in, getting streetlights. but it, it, it really is about, ensuring that we’re identifying challenges, or obstacles, that ties back to, to getting more data about what is inhibiting women from, fully participating, in the civic process to catalyze and drive change.,

[00:06:09] So research is one. We have done, Two research re reports in the last two years about, the state of gender pay in New York City when it comes to women. And, the first report, found that even though New York City is more progressive in terms of gender pay, that gender pay had been stalled over a 25 year period.

[00:06:34] The second report focused more on the structural labor market and found that, women, tend to be or take on, low wage care work, and that care work is often undervalued. And the bottom line is the, the pay disparity is not only in low wage jobs, but as women climb the corporate ladder, into C-Suite, that disparity, in terms of, gender pay is, is more stark. So that’s the research. And so we identify challenges, we also make recommendations from a, policy recommendations.

[00:07:16] The second aspect of our work is leadership development. And what we do is we, we provide workshops. and, education and training programs to really help, women understand, the civic, process. What does government look like? Just, basic, information, but also advanced information. And so it goes from, you know, what is the civic engagement process? How does government work? Who’s your local elected official? How can you, engage if you are interested in, you know, leading, a campaign or wanna be connected to a campaign. So essentially, what we found, research found that 33% of Americans don’t even understand the three branches of government.

[00:08:10] and so there’s a lack of education and in a city like New York City where, the population is comprised of at least, more than 50% immigrants. It’s important to be able to, help women just understand, the process. We don’t know what we don’t know and so it’s important to be able to educate women.

[00:08:31] We also provide an online resource, Civic Matters Hub, that you can find any information you need about, engaging in, civic or, you know, the political process. For example, in New York City, we have community boards. We just had an intern who started with us and found out that, hey, I could actually apply to sit on, on my community board. And started that process and she just, let us know that, hey, I, you know, I, I got on the sit the community board. So it’s really educating folks. So that’s leadership development.

[00:09:08] The third aspect is advocacy policy. So while we work to educate, equip, um the individual. we are looking to, drive systemic change and just how to increase or make it more efficient for full participation. And civic engagement is very, it’s more involved than just voting and running for office. and so, we, we work to really, drive or inform and work with partners, for example to, to affect change at the policy advocacy level.

[00:09:50] Suki Wessling: So a lot,

[00:09:52] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Yeah, so it, it, let me just break it down. It’s just very simple. We do it through research, leadership development, as well as advocacy policy. Those three buckets.

[00:10:05] Voiceover: Sharon Sewell-Fairman is now the CEO of the nonprofit Women Creating Change in New York City, but she started life in rural Jamaica, a girl whose prospects were bolstered by the determination of her grandmother and mother.

[00:10:17] Suki Wessling: I wanted to go back a little bit and talk about your background. I think it’s particularly interesting in these times, I don’t know if interesting is quite the right word for it, to talk about the issues of immigration and what perspective you might have that comes through your background. So tell us a little bit about your childhood and upbringing. What, what was your childhood like in Jamaica?

[00:10:46] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Sure. so I always say I, I didn’t grow up in a, in a society that was heavily focused on racism, it was focused on, pretty much, in a sense, your economic status. So it, I always make a joke and said, growing up, as a young girl, you were taught to either, marry rich or marry at least one status above where we currently were or, focus on education, right? And so, that was instilled in me at a very young age. So education became a very important, asset, if I may say that in my life. And it also became a value, right, that really shaped my career journey. And so in Jamaica, again, education was premium. And so I really focused, I was the head of my class for, for at least, while I was in Jamaica for the first three years, of my, schooling there, my teachers, became my mentors, counselors, and supporters.

[00:12:00] My role model was my grandmother, who was a trailblazer to to come to the United States. Then she sent for my mother. And so, and then I joined later. So my early years were, really growing up with a, with a great aunt, with a supportive group of, of women who were my teachers and, and counselors. And then I also had mentors and trailblazers like, my mother. and in that society as well, we got exposed to lawyers, doctors, so many different, individuals. and so there was a, a strong confidence in who I was as a young girl, pride in my own nationality, and often thinking about, sort of the, you know, following the footsteps of my grandmother and my mom.

[00:13:04] Suki Wessling: What did your grandmother do when she came here? Why did she come here? What were the conditions that led your family to want to emigrate?

[00:13:12] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: My grandmother was just a fearless, woman once I got to really know her as an adult. So she came to United States essentially for economic reasons to make a better life for her family. Right. So, at a very, probably middle age, she got an opportunity to come to the United States and my, my grandmother came, as a nanny, right. To take care of a, you know, a, couple of young children. She ventured out and came to the United States, settled in Manhattan, where she lived for, 50 plus years. And, my grandmother was very committed to her family, so she never left, anyone behind.

[00:13:57] And so she was willing to, to take the risk, come to a new country and the minute that she was able to work and, gather enough resources she sent, for her children, and then ultimately, encourage my mother to, to send for me as well.

[00:14:14] Mm-hmm. I was 11 years old, so I was just at a turning point in my life. When I arrived in the United States, I settled in Brooklyn with my mother. I did attend, junior high school and high school in Brooklyn, and I had to adapt to a new society, of course. I had to adapt, my language in a sense.

[00:14:39] But because my education was very strong, I, I felt I had a very strong foundation in Jamaica, I was able to do well, in high school and, junior high.

[00:14:53] Suki Wessling: So what was it like as, as an 11-year-old? 11 is such an interesting age because you’re old enough to be pretty aware of the world outside of you. You’re not a little kid anymore, but you’re also not the awkward teenager yet. You’re not self-conscious yet, usually, and it, can you access that person that you were and, and tell us what it was like for you to come here, what it seemed like to you.

[00:15:17] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Sure. I think one, one of the things that I remember very distinctly is that culturally in Jamaica, you are taught to be quiet and then only answer when you’re spoken to. You had to address, elders in a very respectful way. And so transitioning to the United States, I was very shy. I was shy and reserved in that I really found that I, you know, my other students, my age was just very outspoken, very free. and because of the, the environment and the culture. So I had to, again, tying it back to finding my voice and using my voice, I had to, to learn to speak up, to understand and navigate a new culture, a new system that was different than the one that I grew up in.

[00:16:18] And I had to, in a sense step out of my comfort zone, to be able to fully. Integrate and understand, the new culture and the new spirit. So as a, as a 11-year-old, I was very shy. I had to learn, a new culture, exposed to a new country. I remember because I come from a very rural background, rural town in the island of Jamaica, I remember landing in New York City and I was just overwhelmed by the tall buildings, the population density, accessibility to, you know, just so many things, as a, as a child would. I remember being on the train, again with my mother and my sister, and it was underground and I I just kept thinking, oh my goodness, the, the, the train is gonna crash.

[00:17:21] How do they see? Until I understood and learned that there’s a navigation process, there’s an infrastructure, there’s so many things in place, and fast forward to today, I love taking the train. I love, the underground, subway system in New York.

[00:17:39] Suki Wessling: Mm-hmm. You can’t possibly find any place that’s more of a contrast to a rural upbringing as coming to New York City.

[00:17:50] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: It, it, it, it, it, it, it is, it is a stark contrast. And I will say this, the, the bottom line is the first opportunity after my arrival and spending time in junior high and, high school here In the city, I, my, my spirit and my soul yearned for that more rural aspect. And so I ended up settling on a, on a university that is upstate New York, that was more rural. So I got the best of both worlds. I would, you know, go away to school and then come back home to the city.

[00:18:28] Suki Wessling: Mm-hmm. That must have been nice. How do you think this background informs the work that you’ve done in your life.

[00:18:40] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: I wanted to become an accountant. went to SUNY Albany, decided that math was just too much for me, or let’s just say I disagreed strongly with the professors at the time, not about the answers, but the approach. And so ended up taking an internship, doing an internship to really expose me to the world of accounting and, and, and really doing a company’s books. It turned out that that internship changed my entire career trajectory.

[00:19:16] Voiceover: You are listening to the Babblery’s interview with Sharon Sewell-Fairman. When we return:

[00:19:21] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: So, what made her a great mentor, and I still connect with her today, is that she modeled sort of the leader I wanted to become, but she also showed me her vulnerabilities and she was supportive in supporting my goals, listening to me understanding, but also pushing me, out of my comfort zone.

[00:19:47]

[00:20:17] Voiceover: I’m your host Suki Wessling. In the first segment of our conversation with Sharon Sewell-Fairman, president and CEO of the nonprofit Women Creating Change, we talked about the organization and about her path from a childhood in rural Jamaica to living in New York City.

[00:20:32] When she took her current job in the nonprofit sector, she made what might look like an unexpected leap. But despite the fact that she spent a career in the corporate focused world of workforce development, a seed was planted early for her to seek a mission to lift up others as she had been lifted up by her resourceful grandmother and mother. We take up her story at the beginning of her career.

[00:20:55] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: I ended up, being placed, at, NYATEP, which is, the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals. it’s a membership organization focused on advocating and educating organizations that provide job training services.

[00:21:12] So upon seeing what they did as a nonprofit, it was my, it was an introduction to nonprofit mission-based work. And so I ended up doing that internship and once I saw that it was mission-based work, it really opened up my eyes and I ended up, essentially that internship turned to over 25 plus years in workforce development at the state, city and national levels.

[00:21:40] Suki Wessling: You mentioned something that I, I thought was really interesting. You mentioned that when you were studying accounting, it wasn’t just the math, you said the math, but then you said something else.

[00:21:52] You said that, that you that you thought they were asking the wrong questions.

[00:21:57] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: so let me clarify. Everyone I think have been through the algebra and the statistics, right? and so in college, I wrestled with statistics and in some cases algebra. So I ended up, I felt I got to the right answer, but the lesson that I learned it, it wasn’t about the answer, it was about the methodology and the process to get to that answer.

[00:22:28] And at that time, I was very young and so I was just impatient and thought, Hey, if I arrive at the right answer, then what does the methodology matters, right? But it, it was a, a very, um welcome lesson around what does the process look like and what types of methodology is used to get to the right answer.

[00:22:58] And, and it was a process of critical thinking, critical and analytical thinking about processes and systems and, and methodologies, that at that time, I did not have much of appreciation for. However, again, the, the reason why I am in this business because I had mentors and counselors along the way in high school, in college, and so being able to speak with those counselors and mentors, and then they encouraged me to get the work experience, to see what that would look like. And so I did an internship, as I said, with this, with the association, in Albany and while I paid attention to and, and thought I did a decent job with their books, it really exposed me to seeing that, a different aspect or focus to work that was more mission based.

[00:24:02] I think when you come from the islands, typically parents encourage you to be a lawyer, doctor, accountant. That was the professional degree that was acknowledged and, and I think they themselves were not exposed to other industries like nonprofit. And so that really opened my eyes to say, to really reflect am I a person who like to work with other people or to work more with, you know, individually, right. And so, as I reflect back now, I. I’m, I’m excited that, you know, I did sort of perhaps argue with that professor, about the way that I got the answer. but that led me to an internship, that then introduced me to a mission-based organization and I ended up, having 25 plus years in that particular industry.

[00:25:02] But tying it back to where I am right now is I had an opportunity to work with so many women who were administrators, leaders, consumers and operators of the workforce development system. And many of them, did the work out of the need to be responsive to, helping to connect people to employment and making a better life for themselves.

[00:25:37] But in that process, I also see where women, there was a need for, you know, really using their voice, affecting change and being part of a, a collective process, to support their family and, and, and to, to strengthen their communities.

[00:26:00] Suki Wessling: You mentioned finding your own voice and, strengthening your voice. Why are mentors important? especially for people who might have other reasons, you know, you are being female, a person of color and immigrant. Why is having mentors, an important thing for you and for others?

[00:26:21] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: For several reasons, but I will try to identify three in particular. Mentors are often individuals that you admire, that you, you respect in some ways that you emulate, right? They often occupy positions that you aspire to and, they have the experience and expertise, that could provide not only, lessons learned, right? But opportunities, right? So, one, because it’s someone you admire, the expertise, the lessons learned and the ability to access them.

[00:27:02] So the second, aspect, what I appreciate about a mentor is that, over time, you build a relationship with a mentor and that, you build trust and, a mentor helps you to assess your strength as well as your weakness. But also the mentor is in my life, has actually helped me to overcome, sort of broaden my worldview in a sense based on their experience and their expertise as, as often connected me to, to their network, and, encourage me to, to, to, to pursue my own goals. So being able to have a trusted advisor, someone that you can connect with, someone also, who can, relate to your lived experience, but also someone who potentially could not relate to your lived experience, but is able to to be open to understanding your lived experience and then connect the dots. Right? Mentors have been champions. They’ve been, ambassadors, right? Just starting with in Jamaica in school to throughout my educational process as well as my career mentors have-

[00:28:34] The third thing is the mentors have, have really served, as a board of directors, so to speak. I always look at that in terms of someone that will help me to step outside my comfort zone, someone that will support but challenge me to be my best self and someone who is invested in my success.

[00:29:00] But at the same time being authentic and being honest and being direct, so that, I can grow and that, I could be my best self.

[00:29:13] Suki Wessling: Can you give an example of a mentor in your life? Someone who has been instrumental in you think supporting you in the way that you needed and maybe challenging you in a way you needed?

[00:29:27] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Oh, sure. I have several, right? But let me, go back to one when I was in college, and tying it back to when I was going through the process of deciding, do I really want accounting or not, and I got the internship. I was introduced to a professor, at my college and she was a former dean , held a position in the school social work there and another counselor connected me to her. And immediately, you know, I became a me. she became a mentor to me and what I valued about the relationship is that she talked to me at length about, why she held a, a great position in school and, and was a, a leadership position.

[00:30:20] She was very, honest, straightforward, and vulnerable about the challenges that she went through, as well as the opportunities, and she helped me to see that- I think at times in our lives, especially when, you know, when you’re younger that you aim for perfection or you, you hold up maybe unexpected, realities of, of, of, of people. Right. And so she was able to show me exactly, you know, what she went through, you know, when she had to, you know, whether it was fighting for tenure or I saw that she was, you know, she was human because, you know, we spent time together and just talk about her dreams, her goals, but at the same time, she would help me to be a better writer. For example, she would review my papers for me and give me good, good feedback. She would, take the time to understand what I was doing during my internship, what was the environment like? What was the culture like? How did I feel being present in that, that atmosphere And, and the circumstances was I was the, in the internship, I was the only, uh young woman of color in the organization. And so, she really helped me to understand, how to engage, and how to, to use my voice, and how to, to listen and to learn and to connect, and to look at the ultimate goal or the bigger picture. So, what made her a great mentor, and I still connect with her today, is that she modeled sort of the leader I wanted to become, but she also showed me her vulnerabilities and she was supportive in supporting my goals, listening to me understanding, but also pushing me, out of my comfort zone.

[00:32:28] Suki Wessling: Mm-hmm.

[00:32:29] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: let’s fast forward to, another mentor I had and that was my first boss, essentially, employer. And essentially, I remember sitting in a room. in a conference room and he was across from me and he spoke to me pretty much, I will say this on a level playing field and really challenged me, to look ahead, to this point in my life and on, and help me to understand that leading a, a nonprofit organization in New York City was not out of reach.

[00:33:05] And so when I, when I say level, the playing field, and so he opened up and shared his background, and encouraged me to pursue, you know, higher education. He also challenged me to take risk. and not to, hesitate to be put in a, uncomfortable position. Because in that uncomfortable position, you learn and you grow.

[00:33:33] And I’ll give you a specific example.

[00:33:35] Suki Wessling: Okay.

[00:33:35] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: He was scheduled to be at a national conference. At the time I just started with the organization. And so he was going to the, the conference to really understand what are the innovative strategies, in education, in, in workforce development. And at the last minute, he had family obligations and couldn’t attend, and he asked me if I would go. I didn’t hesitate ’cause I’d learned that. And he didn’t give me much of a preparation or background. He literally just said, when you get there, you’ll be confused a little bit for a day or so, but I have every confidence that you will you’ll have a productive time there, and you will bring back information and resources that was will benefit, the members. It was a membership organization at the time. and I think that confidence in me allowed me to go out. The first day was a bit confusing, but then I pushed through that and I was able to connect with, other people in the industry at the conference, and I was able to secure, resources that I was able to bring back to, the organization.

[00:34:50] And so that from a mentor perspective, in a mentorship role, that experience really helped me to take risk. And I’ve, I’ve taken a lot of risk during my leadership, but also to understand, and to put myself out there, to grow and to, and, and to develop and to also, connect with others.

[00:35:13] Voiceover: Sharon Sewell-Fairman made a huge leap when she moved to her current position as CEO of a nonprofit that serves women and has an explicitly civic mission. I asked her how that happened.

[00:35:24] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: I walked out of the pandemic, rethinking how we do things and I recalled sitting at my, dining room table like I am now, and I was looking at the television three weeks into the pandemic. And what I saw on the television was lines and lines andlines wrapped around city blocks of women, primarily

[00:35:57] women on food lines, trying to to feed their family three weeks into a pandemic. And I said to myself, I looked up and I said, I’ve been in workforce development for 20, 25 plus years and it’s really disheartening to see that women do not have the resources or, you know, or the economic means to be able to pro provide for themselves just three weeks into a pandemic. Granted, it was of epic proportions. And so at that moment, I’d been going through a process anyway and I wanted to do something more, to make a difference for women.

[00:36:44] And so fast forward to, WCC and really understanding the mission of WCC and, the history and understanding that it offers and provides the opportunity to educate women and to help women use their voice and to, to drive change. I saw it as an opportunity for more women to be able to, affect policy, affect changes in their local community so that they can advocate for themselves, they can advocate for their families, drive changes for their families and ultimately, their local community.

[00:37:28] I hope that we will never see another pandemic in the way that we’ve seen in the past, five years ago, but women have the agency to ensure that, they can drive change for themselves, their families, and their communities. And I keep repeating that. but it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s very important. So this is my way, and building on my legacy from my grandmother to my mother, who I saw as trailblazers to really pay forward and to be able to help women, women be change makers, and for a better, more equitable society in the future for them, for themselves and their families.

[00:38:12] Voiceover: You are listening to the Babblery’s interview with Sharon Sewell-Fairman. When we return:

[00:38:17] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: I think what we saw in election and what we’re seeing, in talking to our, you know, our target audience is that, there is, there is apathy when it comes to voting, because I think, especially in underserved communities, often I, I think they see voting as, that their voice is not being heard, that going to the ballot box does not work, especially if folks are, are trying to, just provide for their basic needs.

[00:39:16] Voiceover: This is your host, Suki Wessling. Sharon Sewell-Fairman is the CEO and president of a nonprofit called Women Creating Change. The organization has a hyper-local focus on helping women in New York City’s underserved communities become more engaged. As she explained earlier, that focus requires work in research, leadership development, and advocacy policy.

[00:39:38] None of these activities is inherently political. And in fact, Sharon made sure to emphasize that the organization is nonpartisan. But in these turbulent political times, almost any act to help people, especially women and especially marginalized communities, such as people of color and immigrants, has become political.

[00:39:57] In this last segment, We’ll talk about what WCC actually does for women in New York, how federal cuts and pressure over DEI have affected or will affect their work, and finally, how the act of helping people itself has become politicized.

[00:40:11] I started by asking Sharon to describe how the organization works with actual women in their community.

[00:40:19] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: I’ll talk from the perspective of two women that the organization has served. The first woman is Tanya and the second woman is Canjela. Both women are, African American women, and they were pretty active in their community, They, they were part of their community board. They advocated for- for example, Tanya had been instrumental in, advocating for transportation in her community and was able to achieve success, in that area. And then Canjela, while she, she has been on the community board and has, you know, advocated for improving, for example, her local park and other resources in the community, she herself, experienced, gender disp pay disparity and, and advocated for herself with other of her colleagues to, to win a, a lawsuit for lost wages compared to- essentially the bottom line is that, she found out that, her male counterpart in the same job, in the, with the same hours got paid more than she did.

[00:41:43] And, over time there was lost wages, you know, over a hundred thousand dollars or so. And so both women, was part of, WCC, the Workshop design group. And, pretty much they brought their lived experience to inform curricular development. And they then was able to develop skills to, for example, public speaking. so they were able to develop public speaking skills that they then took those skills and really enhance their, articulation and participation, in and community board meetings. their presentations were very clear. Also as a result of, of, uh participating in the education workshops, Tanya was able to, realize that since she has been on the community board for an extensive period of time, she then stepped down i from the community board because she wanted to do more education and bringing together women and individuals in her community to drive change in a different way. And so, as a matter of fact, I spoke to her last week and she, had had went up to, Albany, New York to advocate on behalf of her community.

[00:43:16] so these women, while they were, active before they enhanced their knowledge. They enhanced their skills, they enhance their expertise, through the educational programs that WCC provide and, connections. And they were able to, elevate and advance, their civic participation and advocacy and take it to a new level.

[00:43:45] One of these women, in terms of, of leadership and civic participation was just voted, voted onto our, our board and will help to inform and bring, the voice and the lived experience of members in her community, to help shape, our programs and our policy advocacy strategies, and even the governance of our organization.

[00:44:13] So, in terms of what WCC does, it really helps, to, uh. educate women, to equip women, to empower them to, to not only use their voice, but to continue to elevate their leadership skills to drive change in their community and to drive system change overall. Often our target audience, when I say historically, women who have, been historically excluded from the civic process, and many of these women, what we found from the research is that they have double duty, They have their children and in some cases they’re, taking care of their parents.

[00:44:59] Because of, the gender pay gap, often women have to work multiple jobs. and so it leaves little room for, civic participation. For example, one woman was in our, in our educational training and said, there were, there were two women different ends of the, the spectrum. One was a more mature woman that said, oh, wow. I thought, voting or running for office was the only thing. I didn’t realize that just picking up the phone and calling my congressional representative does make a difference, And so for somebody who perhaps, is not comfortable with getting in front of a mic for a rally or, meeting with congressional representatives could pick up the phone or write a letter. Whereas, this was more of an emerging leader, you know, once she heard the different options for civic participation, said, oh, great, you know, she was a teacher. She’s like, listen, I could pull all the teachers together. We could, you know, align around a particular, challenge that we’re encountering and, you know, we can go to City Hall, right?

[00:46:12] So, I think what we do is really, helping women to understand, all aspects of civic participation. Help them to understand that regardless of of your lived experience or what you think your voice is, that you can still be catalytic in driving change. It’s just, understanding, where they are, how to leverage their lived experience, the storytelling, and to be able to affect change, across the spectr and meet them where they are.

[00:46:49] Voiceover: This is the Babblery, and we’re speaking with Women Creating Change President Sharon Sewell-Fairman. WCC serves women in underserved communities and it seems like as a local organization, a change in administration at the federal level shouldn’t affect them.

[00:47:04] However, that is not the case.

[00:47:06] Suki Wessling: So, things have been a little crazy recently, You know, you have your local situation with, with the mayor of New York City currently being under investigation and, on top of that, we have the national situation and the attacks on immigrants, the attacks on people- I mean, I hate even to, to make it political, that helping people shouldn’t be political, that your organization, in our current environment would be seen as liberal because it is helping people who are disadvantaged through the structure of, of society, which really shouldn’t be political, but it’s become political. So how is this affecting the people that you serve? Have you noticed any change in how they are feeling as far as their willingness to participate in to be engaged in their civic engagement, their fears, their hopes, the things that they’re trying to do.

[00:48:20] Have you noticed changes? I.

[00:48:21] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: So the first thing I will say is WCC is a nonpartisan organization, right? So with that said in terms of what’s happening at the federal government and, and that trickles down to the state and to the locals. A couple of things. One is that, federal cuts to programs that support underserved individuals will impact the community we serve. Cuts will affect nonprofit organizations. And as, as we talked about earlier, New York City is made up of 50% immigrants. As a result there are hundreds, dare I say, thousands of nonprofit organizations that serve immigrants, that serve different cultures. And so, there is concern about lack of funding to be able to support individuals’, just, basic needs, right? You know, food, housing, healthcare. And so there is concerns, about the impact of the federal government’s, cuts to communities, especially, you know, underserved communities, immigrant communities.

[00:49:46] So yes, there’s some concerns I think even prior to, the election. And I think what we saw in election and what we’re seeing, in talking to our, you know, our target audience is that, there is, there is apathy when it comes to, voting, because I think, especially in underserved communities, often I, I think they see voting as, that their voice is not being heard. That going to the ballot box does not work, especially if folks are, are trying to, just provide for their basic needs, right? So I, I do think, we’re seeing when it comes to civic engagement, there’s, there’s apathy, there’s concern.

[00:50:36] However, what we’re also seeing is a need for educating, individuals, educating women around in a in-depth way, what does, government look like? How decisions are made, and, help individuals to see that their vote makes a difference. And by not voting, what that impact looks like, or what the opportunities look like as well. So, so it, it, because there, there’s a lot happening. the one thing I have to say about New York City is that right now we have a majority, women, city council. And, we have seen by electing a majority women’s city council, there have been positive changes to, maternal health laws, you know, childcare, pushing for childcare, parental leave and, and other things that really support working women.

[00:51:41] So educating and encouraging women to participate in the process collectively helps to advance, opportunities for women, and, even though sometimes it feels like we are, we’re going back a hundred years, in certain areas.

[00:51:57] Suki Wessling: Yeah, I, and I wanted to clarify, I actually don’t think that any nonprofit that is not doing explicitly politically focused work should be seen in a political lens. And it’s really too bad that I especially now, there’s this sense of if a nonprofit is helping any specific group of people, that this is a political act when in fact, although what you’re doing is helping people getting engaged in their local communities and, and that is political in a sense, that’s also the foundation of democracy and is completely apolitical.

[00:52:42] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: Yeah. It’s, it’s unfortunate, but, I think there’s, there’s just a increased sensitivity now because of DEI in particular, and others. But, it’s, it’s really important that, in doing our work, that we’re able to educate especially women, and underserved women around how government works and how important it is to be able to use your voice, to drive change. ‘Cause it matters. And also what we encourage, women to do is, while we know that what happens at the federal, state and local levels, affect, the community, but just driving change where you are in your community, can have a multiplier effect, and can, produce transformative changes, by just taking the first step.

[00:53:37] So that’s really, really important that there’s a sense of what can we do? Again, does our voice count? But essentially it is simply just taking a small step, whether it is voting, whether it is writing to your local Congress person or visiting them or have them come to visit your community, it makes a difference. Because if, one person does something and another person does something, then the collective efforts of everyone who takes action, catalyzes change. And as we look back at the, 110 years, the women we spoke about at the very beginning of this conversation, they took steps to come together to inform, policy discussions to lead campaigns, to challenge the status quo, to try to advance gender equity. And the bottom line is as we we come full circle 110 years, later, we still want to make it a more equitable society for all, including women.

[00:54:52] Sharon started in rural Jamaica with no advantages built into her situation except for one, her grandmother, then her mother believed in hard work and focusing on achievement.

[00:55:03] Voiceover: I asked Sharon what she thinks her grandmother would think of her work today.

[00:55:06] Sharon Sewell-Fairman: My grandmother in a sense passed the baton to my mom and then to myself. And so I want to be able to also, empower other women, to make that difference for their families, for their communities. So yeah, I think she would be, very proud of me today and I hope that I, I continue to make her proud, as her legacy.

[00:55:33] Voiceover: Thanks to Sharon Sewell-Fairman for sharing her life, experiences, and knowledge with us. You can learn more about Women Creating Change at WCCNY.Org. The songs Four Years by Monplaisir and Angel Fire by Hollie Cook our courtesy of the free music archive.org. Thanks for listening.

[00:55:56] Sharon Sewell-Fairman:

[00:56:31]

 

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