Dr. Michelle Ramos is a member of the 2019 Chief Executive Program and an attorney with a PhD in Cultural Psychology who has committed her career to serving communities and individuals adversely impacted by issues of race, gender, disability, class, socioeconomics, inequitable laws and systemic oppression. As the executive director of Alternate ROOTS, Michelle applies critical race theory and lived experiences to disrupt long standing white supremacist structures and systems.

We recently caught up with Michelle to see what this inspiring leader is working towards and the challenges she faces.

 What are you most proud of in your work life right now? 

There are two things that come to mind as I consider what I am most proud of right now. The first was being named in the group of 257 organizations that received no strings attached donations from Mackenzie Scott. While the award was meaningful, perhaps more significant was to be in the company of so many long-standing, historical, legacy organizations that have been doing this work for decades and seeing them (and ROOTS) finally acknowledged for the work that has been overlooked or bypassed by too many for too long. 

But perhaps more than that donation, I think I am most proud of our involvement with the Southern Power Fund. www.fundthesouth.org. This was a grassroots effort that started at the beginning of the pandemic, by a group or community organizers, community leaders and smaller family foundations who came together knowing the national funds to support folks during Covid would never make it down to our people in the south. We worked tirelessly for months on end. The resulting accomplishment was the raising of $16M in emergency relief funds and what will be the establishment of a community-controlled fund for the future. To me, these both are models for the field and philanthropy on the why and how things must be changed for the field and for artists. We need to start the journey of reparations and these both were beautiful ways it was reflected during 2020. 

What are you most struggling with? 

Currently we are struggling with the expansion of our staff. While we are grateful for the influx of resources to our organization (due to the world caring about brown and Black folks now). It has resulted in us having a significant spike in hiring and because of the urgency of the work it has led to challenges in communications, conflict resolution and simply acculturation as several members of or staff have never even met in person before. ROOTS culture is built on trust and relationship, and we have struggled to stay grounded in that with the growth and with the onboarding of the most diverse staff in the organization’s history. 

 Is there anything this community can do to support you? 

The NAS community has always been incredibly supportive, and I am proud to be a part of it. The BIPOC meetings in particular were very meaningful during the pandemic and I hope they will continue. I think these affinity meetings are something the field needs and will continue to need as we look to diversify our workplaces and where the training of organizations existing staff internally is not keeping pace with the hiring of people of color. BIPOC folks being hired into toxic or unhealthy work environments, or work environments not prepared to support them, will struggle with retention and organizational culture. Coaching for BIPOC leaders by BIPOC leaders could be a helpful added support initiative. 

Is there anything you want to offer to this community? 

I would offer the community to continue to learn and understand the layers of everything that the pandemic has taught us. There were lessons for everyone, if you were paying attention. PAUSE, BREATHE and REFLECT before jumping back into life as you knew it because…. frankly it will never be as you knew it again and this is only just the beginning. Covid was your dress rehearsal for the climate crisis, for the upcoming civil unrest in a country struggling with its racist framework, for the next pandemic… and it will impact everyone, so be thoughtful and move with intention as things open back up because we are not going to be able to buy a new planet on Amazon and you can’t do away with racism in a workshop. Our path requires we dig deep, do the work and stay committed to the world we want but if we “go back to normal” then we have no one to blame but ourselves when the world falls apart again…what path are you choosing?