Hi! I’m Betsy.
Career fundraiser and director-level at a nonprofit in Washington, DC.
Mom of two young kids and a senior dog.
Wife of a professional with a less flexible job than mine.
I love cooking, entertaining, and making my Jewish house a home, and I try to stay true to myself while keeping my head above water.
What is External Affairs?
My career is in non-profit fundraising and communications - in short, external affairs.
There are two aspects to external affairs. One is to promote the public image of an organization; the other is to build and sustain relationships with supporters. These might seem contradictory: isn’t PR all spin while true communities require authentic connection?
I have never worked - and would never work - anywhere there was friction between these goals. I couldn’t do it professionally and I can’t do it personally. As anyone who knows me in real life or has followed me on Instagram is aware, what you see is what you get.
And what you see is how I create a life defined by my various and, yes, occasionally competing identities. I’m the mother of two young children (a daughter, nearly four, and a son, seven) who works outside the home (well, on a hybrid schedule) and tries to have an adult relationship with my husband (that doesn’t solely revolve around coparenting) while decently maintaining our home (which is in the planning stages of a major renovation).
What I love most about my job are the opportunities to encourage colleagues in my field and being a part of creating strategies to promote my organization. In a way, this blog is an extension of that. You - working moms - are my colleagues and our institution is working motherhood. We can’t fix the systemic issues that challenge us on our own; just as individual households switching from plastic to reusable bags isn’t going to make a significant impact on climate change, us discussing workarounds for the challenges with which we’re faced isn’t going to solve sexism or any of the other political and cultural obstacles we have to overcome. But we can share ways to advocate for ourselves and other working parents in our families, in the workplace, and in local, state, and federal government.
I don’t do everything right. And when I do things right, I recognize that they’re right for me - possibly/probably not for everyone else. But they might be right for you, too, and at the very least I hope they give you something to think about and ideas for what might work for you.
Because these are our external affairs.
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