You should undo toxic non-profit culture

To start, I have my dream job.

I am incredibly fortunate to be able to get paid a living wage to do the work of reproductive care in the space of reproductive health care justice.

The privilege of my position is well appreciated by anyone that has worked in social / non-profit environments, and by any and all activists that have done the hustle off the side of their job-jobs.

After 20 years of community organizing work, I appreciate the hell out of my position. 

To me, in this position of leadership, centering lived experiences is how we choose to build joy and queer joy into our every day.

‘My Body, My Choice’ and bodily autonomy and reproductive justice and queer culture all show up only with practice and intention. With ourselves and each other.

How we understand our present work, and the communities we work with, is how we have experienced it ourselves.

The lived experience of reproductive and sexual health care is core and foundational to how our team does our work and the values we center. 

Every Monday, we have a team meeting. We all work remotely so sometimes it is the only time we have to come together as a group that week.

We always start with a check-in, sharing where we are at starting off that week; what is life for all of us in our respective homes and place.

Our conversations are comfortable - sharing experiences with IUDs and hormones and menstruation and children and feelings. We blame our moon signs and retrograde for the summer’s relentless obstacles.

We all show up as full people with all our baggage of the day/week/lifetime. We unpack trauma responses and share hard truths.

We listen to each other and affirm when life sucks. We discuss the upcoming week, projects, deadlines and how we can support each other in getting the things done. 

It is the most important part of the week. 

This openness is the way we have grown a culture of values and care.

The way we all show up to the work and with each other - it is how we each connect with the thousands of people we engage with.

Our team is queer, neurodivergent, students, starting new careers, old hack organizers, parents, gender queer, and we all really, really care. 

As a queer, cis woman - queer joy to me is being truly authentic and believing that community will save us.

Believing in the people we make community with, and amplifying their voices and capacity.

It sounds simple, and in a way it is; but it is an active creative intention in how I work with the PCYQL team. 

How we act cooperatively, and value one another’s skills and time. It is an active choice to center agency, trust and honesty in every decision. 

The amazing people I work with undo the toxic cycles of non-profit industrialization every day.

We share joy and sorrow as a habit and an act of care. It makes our work lighter, because each of us is able to take on the burden of care and creativity as much as we can and as much as is possible.