Valerie Nash is a member of Women Give San Diego and Owner of Nash & Associates, a small consulting company that works with foundations, government agencies, schools districts, hospitals and non-profit community organizations. Her work mostly focuses on addressing social and community needs through activities that range from assessments through to writing grant proposals. Valerie explains that the process can be complex and she and her staff have to wear many different types of “hats”.
“During the assessment phase we’re like detectives trying to figure it all out. Then we go into architectural and engineering mode, making sure we have a well-designed and structurally sound program. Once we’re all satisfied with the product it’s into grant writing which is a lot like marketing.”
Typically the end result is a product of some kind, or rather lots of smaller products that all work together: research papers, literature reviews, staffing and evaluation plans, budgets, logic models, even memoranda of understandings between partners and staff job descriptions.
“It’s a lot like doing a huge jigsaw puzzle!”
Valerie is motivated by a strong sense of social justice, combined with first-hand knowledge that community programs can make a difference. Valerie grew up on a government housing estate in Liverpool, England. She’s the oldest of six children, with parents who started their family as teenagers. She was also the recipient of the types of programs and services she now writes about. The local library was a second home where she read books about countries such as India and America. She credits reading as the key to her ambition to build a different type of life.
“I can distinctly remember reading about women, like Edith Cavell (British nurse and humanitarian during World War II) and Emily Pankhurst (leader of Britain’s suffragette movement”) and being completely inspired.”
It took some convincing for Valerie’s parents, who hadn’t graduated from high school themselves, to allow her to go to university.
“They didn’t understand the value of it. They wanted me to get a job as soon as I could. At that time they didn’t get the connection between education and economic success.”
But they get it now. With the help of government grants and programs that waived some of the entrance exam requirements for working class students, Valerie completed a bachelor’s degree in History at Warwick University, and post graduate studies in Education at Queen’s College Oxford. After a two year stint as a teacher at an inner city high school, she left the UK for Boston, Massachusetts where she received a Master’s degree in Psychology/School Psychology from Boston College. During a trip back to England Valerie picked up a short term consulting contract at her old high school. Her father’s reaction spoke volumes:
“Why are they giving that work to you? There’s men with families who are unemployed.” After hearing the explanation that the work required specific qualifications and experience the penny finally dropped. “They pay you that much because of all that schoolin’? That’s great”.
Turns out that some of her siblings thought so too. Her two youngest brothers recently graduated from John Moore’s University in Liverpool, both with degrees in Engineering and her sisters have both completed post-secondary education in hotel management and child development. Now retired, Valerie’s Mum went back to high school as an adult and completed her own education getting an A level in English literature
“She was always smart; she just needed to prove it to herself”
Valerie feels strongly that her life experience as much as her education contribute to her success, and also helps her understand the value of establishing systems that remove economic and other barriers.
“Programs and grants got me into college, once I was there it was up to me. I identify a whole lot with models that promote resiliency and offer access to positive role models. And I know from my own experience that there are girls and women out there who if given even just a small amount of assistance and encouragement will be the first in their families to get a degree, start a business and own a house.”
Valerie worked as a program manager and in-home counselor with a local child abuse prevention agency for a few years and became acquainted with many of San Diego’s non-profit leaders. But never having quite gotten the travel bug out of her system in 1997 she left California for a one year round the world trip during which she would volunteer at Hope Village a shelter for street children in Cairo, Egypt and a non-government organization The Concerned for Working Children in Bangalore India. She also wrote about her experiences and about other social justice issues such as female circumcision, sending her “papers” as emails to a few friends.
“It was the most unconscious and best marketing move I could have made. My writings ended up being circulated while I traveled and when I came back [to San Diego] people offered me work.”
Her first project was a community challenge grant for the YMCA for a teen pregnancy prevention program called Teen Link Community (TLC). The grant was successful and other projects and new clients trickled in. Within six months after returning from her travels she had saved enough money for a down payment on a four-bedroom craftsman home in Golden Hill. Her plan was to fill the rooms first with roommates and then one day with foster children.
Fate had a different plan. Valerie met her now husband Peter, through a dating website in Spring of 2000. A Canadian who after his own travels and career changes (ex-army/organic famer/software developer/entrepreneur) was ready to settle down, Peter convinced her that children would be their next great adventure. Their first daughter Maggie was born in 2002 and Molly was born in 2005.
Valerie now divides her time between San Diego and Canada. Her office in Golden Hill is still home base but with her girls at school in a small coastal town on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast Valerie is spending more time working remotely.
“It’s working better than I ever would have thought. I’ve become way more efficient and have learned that it’s quite possible to facilitate meetings and lead projects without ever leaving my computer. And I’m not spending any time stuck in traffic!”
Valerie got involved with Women Give San Diego when Jan Tuttleman and Linda Katz approached her to conduct a study about the economic status of women in San Diego. She completed most of the research in summer 2009 and with considerable assistance from Jan the report was finalized in November 2009. The work of Women Give San Diego impressed and motivated her on many levels.
“I thought it was wonderful that Women Give wanted to make sure there was a need for the organization in the first place. They intuitively felt that there was but they wanted to be sure and they were willing to do their due diligence. They also wanted to have as full of an understanding of the needs and opportunities as possible before moving forward with grant making. Their approach made such good sense to me.”
Valerie feels that there is a lot of potential for Women Give now that they have an established voice and a presence in the San Diego Community. She is curious to see how they are going to use advocacy to compliment grant making so it becomes a bigger effort, one that supports social change as way to improve the lives of women and girls.
“I love that Women Give allows me to be part of something that is bigger than myself, and that it makes philanthropy accessible to women who have young families or who are starting their careers.
Philanthropy is important to Valerie and she wants to make sure her daughters also see the value in supporting causes they believe in. It seems to be working. Just this weekend Maggie, Molly and their friends made over $70 profit with a Candy and Lemonade Stand on vacation at BC’s Savory Island (picture above). The post venture argument wasn’t over whether to give the money to charity – it was which issue was most deserving –abandoned pets or children in Africa. The end result being compromise and some great training for five future entrepreneurs, educators, mothers, maybe even Women Give members.
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