Better Than Chocolate

Don’t get me wrong, chocolate is amazing. But what could be even better than chocolate? Let's find out.

I had the privilege of interviewing one of the coolest people I have met during my time at UCLA: my mentor, Kaya Foster! Beyond her incredible work as a Program Director and Community Organizer, Kaya has an incredible sense of taste:

"On a scale of 1-10, I like chocolate probably an 11!"

Don’t get me wrong, chocolate is amazing. But what could be even better than chocolate? It’s simple: chocolate and peanut butter. The delicious combination of these two foods, coincidentally two of my main food groups, is the perfect merging of separate but essential tastes. Because of this fact, I decided to make a peanut butter chocolate dessert when I was able to combine two of my career goals––environmental advocacy and climate change policy––in my first internship. I was thrilled to accept an offer to work at the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative (LARC), an organization that networks with different influential policy bodies and helps give cities tools to prepare their own climate resiliency plans in Southern California. Naturally, to celebrate, I combined my two favorite foods to make a delicious celebratory creation: chocolate whoopie pies with peanut butter cream cheese filling.

I am absolutely delighted to be interning at LARC, but I still struggle to picture my long-term career goals. I know peanut butter and chocolate will always be a big part of my life, but beyond that I tend to draw a blank when it comes to future plans. So, I decided to talk to an expert and my mentor, Kaya Foster. Kaya is a Program Director and Community Organizer fighting government corruption, busy philanthropist and advocate, and all around an amazing and kind person. Kaya gave me some incredible advice that I am pleased to share with you.

Mason:

How did you get to your current role as a program director and community organizer (Were you hired at a specific company or do you collaborate with different organizations?) and what does an average day look like for you?

Kaya:

I've typically worked for one major project/organization, and then had a smaller side-project, whether that be a second paid position or very deeply involved volunteer obligation (always consider your volunteer roles as professional experience - if you're doing great work, it doesn't matter if you're getting paid or not! And it's a great way to network!). In this line of work, you're usually going to be in one of two situations: 1) You'll be hired at an organization to run whatever various projects/campaigns they decide to take on for an indefinite amount of time, or 2) you're going to be brought in as the result of a specific project or coalition being provided funding to achieve a specific outcome - in which case you'd most likely only work with them until that project concludes.

An average day usually looks like a combination of meetings and answering emails. Due to the fact that I'm normally hired to empower and organize volunteers, I'm usually splitting my time between communicating with the organization's staff/my client and communicating directly with the volunteers. A lot of my work is acting as a liaison and making sure everyone is on the same page and has the information they need. I also normally have at least one or two assignments that I'm working on semi-independently, or in collaboration with one or two other people, such as creating a new resource, for example, a training guide. The last thing I will mention, because I am very passionate about the importance of it - is making sure you set aside time for tracking! This could mean tracking data and metrics (for example: how many volunteers that registered for a training actually participated in the whole program, aka "retention"), or it could mean staying on top of a project's budget and knowing where funds are being allocated (very important when grants are involved).

Mason:

Last time we spoke, you mentioned some pretty involved activism from founding the GSA at your community college, using your privilege as a “passing” queer person to have tough conversations regarding LGBTQ issues, to working with Culver City to divest in fossil fuels and much more! What motivates your activism and how do you avoid burnout with your community organizing?

Kaya:

I think the reason that I'm an activist/community organizer is because I truly believe in the power of individual people and I'm pretty obsessed with human agency (I actually completed a graduate certificate program on the social psychology of activism and social movements, and I hope to complete more graduate work on that topic at some point in the future). I love challenges and problem solving, and the types of problems that I find compelling are problems related to power structures and the cultural norms and belief systems that allow those power structures to endure. I know that being involved myself has shown me how much one person can really accomplish if they believe that they can, and I love helping other people to realize that they have that same potential inside of them. Academically, this is a concept called "perceived self efficacy" or "perceived political efficacy".

Your question about burnout is a great one, and it is a huge problem in this industry. There are a lot of unhealthy belief systems in the nonprofit industry that make you feel like if you're not involved to the level of martyrdom, you don't care enough or you're not committed enough. The truth is (and this took me years to learn - so I hope I can save you all those years!!!) burning out isn't effective, and we should be more concerned with being able to continue to provide quality work than on performative martyrdom. I could go on and on, there's beautiful buddhist philosophies that explain this concept, but basically, what is moral is what is useful. Just like a car needs gas, tire rotation, oil changes, etc...humans need rest, play, and balance. We just do. I see the culture changing slowly slowly, people are talking more about self care, and hopefully the pandemic helped to break down some of those artificial walls we were all hiding behind. Still, it can be scary and hard to be the person that wants to model healthy boundaries in a situation in which other people aren't willing to let go of old ways of thinking, and I'd say that for me at this point, that is a deal-breaker.

Mason:

Your LinkedIn profile states you are “currently focused on building a cross-partisan national movement to end government corruption and restore integrity to the democratic process.” How do you go about accomplishing this huge but essential goal?

Kaya:

Well Mason, luckily there are people way smarter than me who have figured out the "what" in terms of, what types of policies need to be implemented to restore integrity to the democratic process. For example, legislation that ends partisan gerrymandering...changing our "winner takes all" elections into "instant runoff" elections....closing the revolving door that allows senators to become lobbyists, etc. There's lots of very very practical, albeit somewhat technical ways that we can actually change the democratic process, and the best part about these changes is that they are non-partisan and in the best interest of most Americans. As a community organizer, my job is to figure out how we build a movement to make these ideas the lay of the land. Usually that's what it takes to change our society - not just scientists, or lawyers, or academics telling us "this is the problem" or "this is the solution". It takes enormous pressure from the people that elect politicians - everyday citizens. That involves education and awareness building, uniting people together, providing them with tasks and training them on how to perform those tasks, and providing lots and lots of encouragement. That's a lot of what community organizers do - pump people up! Haha. A huge part of my work is also project management - which involves understanding the big goal, and being able to break that down into much smaller goals - seeing each stepping stone and what it's going to take to get there. I'm always the person in a meeting saying "that's a great idea...WHO is going to do that? WHEN are you going to have it done by? WHAT do you need to accomplish it?" Ideas don't make change happen on their own - they have to [be] manifested into actions!

Mason:

One of my fears is feeling stuck in a career path where I am trapped and stagnate. You have made several job changes over the course of your professional life. What gives you the courage to try something new and how do you know it would be a good fit? Can you give me any advice about finding a career that can incorporate some of my many interests or advice on how to feel confident in making a big commitment like pursuing a graduate degree?

Kaya:

First and foremost, I would say, do not pressure yourself to be someone that you are not. There are a lot of "jack of all trades" type people who have varied skill sets and interests, and they think that they will be more lucrative to employers if they specialize. Especially in the non-profit world, there usually isn't a lot of money to hire a different person for everything that needs to get done. Someone who can kind of do it all is going to be very appealing - so never force yourself to only do one thing, unless you really want to focus on one thing. Being a community organizer or project manager or program coordinator never gets boring because you are usually wearing about ten hats at the same time! You're doing the copywriting, your creating the flyers, you're doing the data analysis, you're calling the venues and the caterers, you're acting as a mediator between people who aren't getting along, you're learning about the law and the science and the history - definitely not monotonous :) I will also say that we really need people who have interdisciplinary approaches to viewing the world and our challenges. A lot of the issues we are facing are because we've gotten stuck in silos and we aren't seeing the whole picture, and the truth is that in an increasingly interconnected world, that's just not going to cut it anymore.

That being said, yes, it is true, it is very important to know when it is time to move on. My experience is that we usually know deep in our heart, it's just about finding the courage to actually do it. Something really practical that you can do to make sure you're not overstaying in a current position is to schedule check-ins/evaluations with yourself. Just stick them on the calendar (for example, every June 1 and December 1, or, the last day of every month), and set some objective criteria for how you want to feel in your position, for example: I feel appreciate and compensated for my work, I feel interested and challenged by the tasks I am performing, etc, and then honestly answer those for yourself. It's also totally okay to be thinking about your next step while you're working somewhere, as long as you aren't checked out from your current responsibilities. I encourage that! I guess I'm just saying, don't be afraid to reflect on what you're learning, what's feeling great about what you're doing, and what's not feeling so great.

The most important thing is to do what you do FOR YOU. Not because you think you SHOULD. SHOULD is not going to comfort you when you're working overtime or you're exhausted, or you're doing whatever part of your job you like the least. SHOULD is not going to feel good, even if you're making a ton of money and have lots of respect from your peers. Do what makes you feel alive. As the saying goes, that is what the world needs. You'll have less burnout and you'll show up as your best and brightest self when you're doing something that interests you. I feel like I'm getting very philosophical on you, but don't worry if you have to turn around or change your mind or decide you don't want to do something anymore - this is NOT failure. When we think we've failed or we've lost time, we stay stuck somewhere instead of moving on. You have never "wasted your time". You have learned. You have experienced. You are just taking the next step. All roads lead home. I truly believe that we are who we are, and we bring who we are wherever we go. There aren't wrong turns. There is only information and growth. It's very hard to know what you want from just sitting there thinking really hard :) It's much easier, and more realistic, to try things and discover what you do and don't want. You're not Mason the FILL IN THE BLANK. You're just Mason. Just be Mason. Be Mason over here, then be Mason over there. Get paid to explore all the parts of yourself. Seriously, if you think about the people who have had an enormous impact on our culture, whether it's Paulo Friere or Audre Lorde or Oprah Winfrey...their bio is long and complex. They're writers, educators, artists, producers, they're just being them and letting the world try to stop them :)

Mason:

My blog for this class is baking themed, so obviously I have to ask the most important question: On a scale from 1-10 how much do you like chocolate?

Kaya:

On a scale of 1-10, I like chocolate probably an 11!

Kaya has given me some incredible advice and support through my freshman and internship-hunting experiences. I have a lot to contemplate about my future, but my experience blogging and talking to Kaya has helped me realize that it's alright to not know everything and enjoy exploring my interests. I hope this interview has given you some insight into the amazing possibilities in your future, and I hope you will try baking or go eat some chocolate and while you explore your own roadmap.

Yours Truly,

Mason

P.S. I thought I'd throw in an image of my cat Bob doing his best impersonation of a whoopie pie.