Her Story
About Becky
I'm a theater major and actress who moved to Chicago after college to pursue acting. While performing, I needed something more stable to support myself, and a friend working at a nonprofit social service agency called the Ounce of Prevention Fund (now Start Early) told me they needed a development assistant. Coming from theater, I thought development meant developing a play or TV show through workshops, but I applied and got the job, discovering it was actually fundraising and philanthropy. I've been in fundraising ever since 1998. Throughout my career, I've had many different jobs - I've temped, waited tables, was a nanny for 4 years, sold encyclopedias door-to-door, worked in restaurants during high school, and was a part-time manager at a bakery in a mall in my hometown where I would open and close the store. All of these opportunities to lead throughout my working life have really informed every job I take. I strongly believe in collaboration in everything I do, and I've been given opportunities to mentor colleagues and people who have reported to me, serving as references for them as they've moved on and up in their careers. When I was at Pasadena Playhouse, I joined when they were coming out of bankruptcy, and the producing artistic director had a goal that by 2025 we would win the Regional Theater Tony Award. We were struggling to get donors back and enhance production value, but we achieved it and won the award in 2023, two years ahead of time. I'm really proud of reaching the director level in my career and being in charge of a portion of a fundraising department - it's a testament to all my hard work, persistence, and collaboration.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Becky
01What do you attribute your success to?
I really strongly believe in collaboration - that's one of the things in everything I do. I think everything I've achieved has really been a collaborative effort because I like to collaborate with other people. All of the different odd jobs I've had throughout my career have really helped inform every job I take, especially now. I've been given a lot of opportunities to lead throughout the whole time I've worked, and I think all of those opportunities have helped with my leadership skills and given me a lot of confidence. Whether it was working with children as a nanny, supervising people, customer service, or even selling encyclopedias door-to-door and learning how to ask people for something - taking a risk and asking someone you don't know very well to buy something - all of that has really gotten me to where I am and informs how I go about my day-to-day tasks and activities. I can be given something and I know how to take it and run with it and bring others along. I'm proud that I've reached the director level in my career, and I think that's a testament to all of my hard work and persistence, and all of that collaboration has gotten me to this point as well.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say it's very rewarding, so I think it's a great field to be a part of and to pursue a career in. Just make sure that you're not getting into it for the money, but because you really want to make a difference in the community that you live in, whether you're working for a performing arts institution like I am, or a social service agency, or whatever. The nonprofit sector can be very rewarding. You can support yourself and have a very fruitful and fulfilling life and career in it - just don't look at the money. My biggest incentive or motivation is that I want to inspire other women. I think it's really important that we do that for each other, because I feel like we're constantly being compared to each other, or society is finding a way to tear us apart, tear us down, and I truly do believe that we need to lift each other up.
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