Barbara Casanova

I attribute my success to my ability to pivot at times and be open and flexible to new opportunities within my career. When I've gone into an organization, even if I identified a need that I didn't initially know how to fulfill, I would always take on the challenge. Early on, when the South Florida Builders Association needed a website, I said I could do it and learned HTML, which became a skill I could apply throughout my career. The worst that can happen is you fail or need to ask for help. This willingness to learn and take on new challenges helped me grow and advance in my field without getting a master's or doctorate, because I applied myself and was always open to learning. I've also been fortunate to have very strong female mentors and employers early in my career who I could emulate and lean on for advice.

There's nothing to fear but fear itself. If you're too fearful of taking on new challenges and putting yourself out there, you'll never discover your best path. You might find that something isn't your area and need to pivot again, but if you don't take on the challenge, you're never going to discover where you should be. Failure can be scary, but there's also no reward if you don't take chances.

First, find the right mentor, someone who is genuine and in this for the right reasons in our field, someone who is open to giving you advice and really being a sounding board. There are a lot of bad players in the political world, so you need someone you can trust who will lead you in the right direction. And never be afraid of taking on something new or a challenge. There's nothing to fear but fear itself. If you're too fearful of taking on new challenges and putting yourself out there, you'll never discover your best path. You might find that's not your area and pivot again, but if you don't take on the challenge, you're never going to discover your best path. Failure can be scary, but there's also no reward if you don't take chances.

One of the biggest challenges in politics and nonprofit advocacy is building authentic community trust while navigating an increasingly divided political landscape. Barbara believes there are also tremendous opportunities in Hispanic outreach, grassroots organizing, leadership development, and empowering communities through education and civic engagement initiatives.

I really value being very transparent and genuine in my work. In politics, a lot of it is helping to build connections and relationships and being relatable to people. I value the relationships that I make and having a really transparent, genuine connection to the people that I work for and the community. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in my industry where those are not values, especially in South Florida where there's a lot of superficiality and competing for position. I prefer to keep my nose down and do the work that needs to be done. I have a sign on my desk that Reagan had on his that says there's no limit to what a man can do and what he can achieve if he doesn't care who gets the credit. I've found that I am that many times over, which is not great if you're not promoting yourself, but there's a mission that I have to fulfill, and sometimes you don't get a lot of recognition or awards, but you have to feel good that you know you're doing the good work. I also really like working with younger people in the field and making sure they receive the support and mentorship and recognition for what they're doing so that they can carry that forward. Elevating someone else sometimes is more valuable than worrying about who knows what you've done and getting recognition.