Giving Back and Paying It Forward

My mom was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her first language was Spanish – she didn’t learn English until she started school. She lived in a neighborhood where the girls were having knife fights on the street outside of school. She knew she wanted more for herself, and she worked her way through college – the first in her family. She married my dad and had four kids and a successful career in the public schools.

When I graduated from the Ivy League institution that my parents double-mortgaged their house to pay for, they were dismayed that instead of becoming the highly-paid engineer I was trained to be that I instead chose to become a community organizer in some rather dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago, working in multi-racial and Latino communities. My mom said to me at one point, “Ana, it’s so strange that I fought so hard to get out of the neighborhood, and you’ve gone back in.”

It’s not that my parents weren’t proud of me – it’s that they worried about my financial future. I have been so fortunate – a recipient of the American Dream! But I have always longed for meaning – which for me has meant giving back and paying it forward. In my early 20’s it meant working with communities to help them advocate for resources to give them similar opportunities to thrive. My proudest victory was leading a team of community leaders to win $2 million from the Chicago Board of Education to alleviate overcrowding at six public schools. These days, my contribution takes the form of fostering a more equitable and inclusive corporate space.

I’m no longer in “the neighborhood,” but I have retained my passion for giving back – to my community and as an ally to other marginalized communities. I care about people having the opportunity to pursue their dreams. And I care about creating a society that is fair and just – one that enables the pursuit of happiness for everyone, and that recognizes the importance of equity and not just equality.

I find it crucial to my well-being to stand with and for others, to be an ally. It takes me out of self-preservation mode and expands my sense of self. It expands my community and my world. And it grounds me spiritually. Yes, we should all be allies because it’s the right thing to do. But do it for yourself too. We are all that we have, and the more people we get to claim as our community, and the richer and more beautiful their lives become, the more fulfilling our lives become too.