Ep. 79 Bonus-Jatrice Martel Gaiter: "Caring" is Critical in nonprofit work

Jatrice Martel Gaiter shares the influences and the value of a pay-it-forward career started in her early 20s and serving her well into her 60s. With a childhood defined by parents who stressed the importance of education as the gateway to a life full of opportunity, risks and rewards; and finding purpose in the pain of others, Jatrice provides a heart-moving backdrop to her stellar career path. From the benefit born of the tenacity of parents raised in the poverty of the segregated Deep South of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, who themselves fought to achieve a college education followed by a commitment to a better life for their children, she speaks of the outcomes shared by she and her two siblings; all of whom benefitted from Ivy League institutions to Still find that both racial and gender bias would follow them throughout the close of the 20th century and into the new century. Her interview provides sage advice for women on the importance of "investing in YOU" with self-help books, learning new technologies, taking quality downtime AND, most importantly, the gentle reminder that the higher You Go, it's All About How YOU Make Others Feel. As a 60+ year-old, 5'11" African-American blonde, she shares the humor and Up-side of what she calls "aging-out" of sexism, such as realizing you are no longer the object of "cat-calls" when passing a construction site, and not having to think twice about asking a male colleague if they have time to discuss a work related matter over lunch; although her preferred strategy continues to be her long-term tactic of inviting a male for a breakfast meeting which is almost always perceived as both safe and neutral.