Pledge 1%'s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Natalie Rekstad
Founder & CEO, Black Fox Philanthropy, B Corp
Boston, MA, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
Orchestra Conductor of epic consulting talent within my company. This ensures that our global NGO clients have the fundraising support needed to fulfill their missions.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
The Depth of Connection among the team. We've seen each other through a great deal these past two years, and the feeling that we have each others' backs is part of our culture.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years - what motivates you to keep going?
The leaders and missions we serve around the globe. Their success is paramount because the stakes are so high around the globe. Fortunately our role in their success is deeply sacred work that we love.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
The Impossible Just Takes Longer.
What does generosity mean to you?
Leading with curiosity and question 'How can I help?' And mean it.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Black Fox Philanthropy is a B Corp social enterprise so our entire DNA is centered around business as a force for good.
Businesses can play a larger role in solving today's problems by Living their stated values. For example, part of a B Corp’s DNA is to have diversity as a core value. That’s important on a number of levels, including the fact that companies who DEI perform better financially and have greater employee retention and morale. A specific example of how we walk tis talk is funding Black Fox Fellows. Launched in 2019, Black Fox Philanthropy funds Black Fox Fellows to help accelerate the pace in which institutional racism is dismantled by supporting women of color in philanthropy in achieving ever-higher levels of influence. We underwrite all registration costs for Fellows to attend the Opportunity Collaboration (OC) annual convening.
So much more to say! One more aspect to do with how companies can play a larger role is to listen to the consumer and the workforce; that is where the true power lies. 1). If we are holding businesses accountable with our consumerism or vendor choices, then harmful business practices cannot be sustained. 2) Well-being and well-doing will need to be increasingly intentional among businesses as the rising workforce is no longer willing to invest their lives in anything less and refuse to participate in systems that are in direct opposition to their values, and the wellbeing of the whole.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
My mainstay word throughout my life has been “grit.” Without grit, I can’t imagine where I’d be today given the early messages I received about my worth. But we evolve, and our words evolve with us.
My word now is “connection.” On the heels of leaving my unhealthy marriage, I experienced severe PTSD. During a time of abject terror, the support of my close friends, parents, and family taught me that being vulnerable and asking for help was actually safe, sacred, and profound. After decades of considering myself (and being seen as) strong and resilient, I allowed others to experience me as lost and terrified. What I hold most dear is the depth of connection to others I now feel as a result of that time. This gratitude and awe bring me to my knees. All else pales in comparison.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and Rise Up by Andra Day.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
This is my 'Year of Yin', embracing flow. And launching Black Fox Brief 2.0. Building community in Paris!
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
If there is one thing I could change it would be to release everyone from false beliefs about their worth. So many of us ingest thousands of messages about who we are and our worth as part of our “somebody training” by well-meaning families, but also by our culture.
If we could be in touch with our divinity — our power — and remember who we truly are, we would show up differently in a world that needs us to own our worth, take our full space in the world, and bring our very necessary voices to the table. But that voice needs to be informed by inner knowing and that can only come through awakening and healing. We can’t lead while we are bleeding and broken. We can’t have a voice infused with power without trusting our own inner wisdom. While we can acknowledge today’s reality, we can also hold a vision for what can be, and strive, together, to usher in a new era of possibility.
