Her Story
About Celia
I've been working in the nonprofit field for about 5 years, and I currently serve as Development Manager at St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, a position I've held for 2 years. In this fundraising role, I'm responsible for managing our individual giving program, which includes corporate sponsorships and donations from individuals at every level. I cultivate and steward those relationships while also managing our database and box office. One of my most notable achievements has been growing the individual giving program since I started. They hired me to revamp and replenish the program a little bit, and we've seen a pretty consistent increase at about 15% year-over-year for the two full years that I've been leading the program. What really inspired me to join the nonprofit space was my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Missouri State University in 2018 with minors in Child and Family Development and Diversity Studies, and I received that degree with honors as well.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Celia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'd say probably the leadership and mentorship of other successful women in my career. I've had a couple different managers and coworkers who have given me lots of really good advice about just kind of navigating the workforce as a woman, and how to be confident and assertive in, I guess just believing in your own abilities to do things.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Just to advocate for yourself, know what your worth is, and find a way to communicate that clearly to other people.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think just to be open to learning as much as you can. Nonprofit work is challenging a lot of times, and you wear a lot of hats, but all of those extra things that you do and take initiative to volunteer for are teaching you really valuable information, especially if you're trying to get into leadership. So just being as open to new opportunities as possible.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges are probably just dealing with the ebbs and flows of the state of the economy. We rely very heavily in my organization on charitable donations and charitable giving, and that changes a lot with the landscape of just kind of our socioeconomic environment. And I think the biggest opportunity is just the ways that we're able to engage people in our work, and get people involved at whatever level that they're able to contribute, whether that is financial or volunteering or serving on the board, just really getting people in our community involved in the mission and uplifting the work.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say relationship building, community engagement and social justice.
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