Her Story
About Angela
I started my career in the late 90s working in advertising and marketing right out of college. I worked in New York City for about 4 or 5 years, and when 9-11 happened, I moved back home to Houston where I'm from. I wasn't able to get a job in advertising and marketing, so I made a career shift at that point, working in retail. I worked in the cosmetic industry, mostly for Neiman Marcus and then for various cosmetic vendors. Back in 2016, a shift happened in the cosmetic industry with the advent of social media, and brick and mortar was just taking a nosedive. So I decided, through various contacts that I had, to explore the world of nonprofit fundraising because it directly correlated with my skills in sales. I was able to meet some individuals at the American Heart Association who gave me a shot in fundraising and hired me as an entry-level fundraiser working on the Heartball campaign, which is their yearly gala. I sort of started over in my career in 2017 and worked my way up at the Heart Association in various roles. I left the American Heart Association and went to Make-A-Wish Foundation as a Director of Corporate Engagement. It was actually a contact I had made at Make-A-Wish that introduced me to St. Jude back in 2022, where an opening for a leadership role within the Houston office had come available. I interviewed for the role, started at St. Jude here in Houston as a managing director for our area office, but then was promoted about 6 months into my tenure into the executive director role, and I've been here ever since.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Angela
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that I think in fundraising, it's misunderstood. When people want to be in nonprofit, in the world of nonprofit, I think they look at it from a different lens. Obviously doing good in the world, being very mission-centric is important, but there is a lot of skills that you need to learn. I would say having the ability to communicate effectively, build relationships, and having that experience working with people is key. A lot of times, that is just something that's developed over time. The way that I was able to build up my skill level was really working in the retail environment. I was kind of forced into working with the public, having to build lots of relationships with different sectors, not only internally, but externally. So I would say my advice is that you kind of have to look at it from a different perspective. While it's very mission-related, it's really not all about the mission. It's about how you can communicate with people, how you build relationships with people, and then how you're able to really communicate the mission effectively so that you're able to get those messages about the mission out. So yeah, it's not what you think it is, looking from the outside.
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