Sharing the Wealth with Asha Curran of GivingTuesday
In this episode of the WomenHeard podcast, host Julie Hochheiser-Ilkovich speaks with Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday, a global movement that embodies radical generosity and encourages people to support their communities however they can, from donating, to speaking out about causes they care about, or volunteering year round. What started as a hashtag (#GivingTuesday) following Black Friday’s shopping surge in 2012 has now become a powerful network of local leaders in over 100 countries.
Nonprofit organizations often rely on sharing financial wealth to create impact. For Curran, building an impactful career is about sharing intangible wealth. Here’s a sneak peek at some of what you can expect to hear in this conversation.
WEALTH OF MENTORSHIP
Authentic mentor-mentee relationships are those that are built on a foundation of mutual service, Curran says. It’s not necessarily about who’s more experienced and who’s more junior. Instead, it’s about finding someone who can give you straightforward feedback—even if that someone is a peer. And you may have to intentionally seek that person out. “You’ve got to be proactive about getting [mentorship],” Curran says. “I think that I waited for mentorship to come to me, and I was lucky when it finally did. But you could go a whole career without ever getting a good mentor by happenstance.”
WEALTH OF AMBITION
Growing up with a single mother, Curran quickly developed a strong work ethic, even taking on babysitting jobs at age 9. Her career has since followed a non-linear path, as she’s gone from working in publishing and publicity to becoming a childbirth educator, teacher, and then Chief Innovation Officer engaging global outreach at 92NY—before moving fully to GivingTuesday. “Your career is not a yellow-brick road,” she says. “It’s not going to begin one place and end neatly someplace else.”
WEALTH OF POTENTIAL
The world moves too quickly to focus only on very specific dreams set in very specific timelines. Instead, it’s more useful to focus on building up your skills and experimenting with unexpected opportunities that come your way, Curran says. When talking about an earlier phase of her career journey, she notes, “In those days I would have said ‘Oh my god, I lack a three-year plan, I lack a five-year plan. What in the world am I going to grow up to do?’ And If I could go back and tell myself something, it would be to stop worrying about that. Worry more about what you’re doing right now. Worry about building up skills. Worry less about where you’re going to be in five years.”
What intangible wealth will you share with the world?
Thank you to Asha Curran for joining us! For the full interview, listen to NYWICI’s WomenHeard podcast.
