Yesenia Garcia-Fortuna: “Our work is most effective when we believe in the power of young people.”

Yesenia Garcia-Fortuna is Executive Director at Summer Search, New York. She has devoted her career to helping underrepresented students discover and realize their potential. In this installment of my interview series on purpose-driven leadership, Yesenia shares how her personal journey shaped her approach to helping young people discover their power and agency, how more can be done to help nonprofit workers thrive, and why transparency is critical during the hiring process.

🗨 Hi Yesenia! Tell us who you are and what you do.

My name is Yesenia Garcia-Fortuna, and I am the Executive Director at Summer Search, New York. I lead our regional operations and have oversight of our team. Summer Search provides mentoring, experiential learning, and support during the transition from high school to post-secondary education and early career.

🗨 What energizes and inspires you at work and outside of work?

I've always wanted to do work around equity, and particularly around helping young people find their voice. I really think young people know what they want, and adults need to provide the knowledge, resources, and safe spaces for them to do that. That has driven me this far, and it's what continues to inspire me every time I meet a student and hear a story at Summer Search. Our students come back from their summer experiences, and you can see a light bulb went off: “I did this really hard thing, which I would have never done, if you guys hadn't exposed me and asked me to do it.” That keeps me grounded and keeps me going.

Outside of work, as a mother of young kids, I get to see this in a really personal way: the trial and error of trying to guide them, trying to create a safe space. Some days I succeed, some days I don't. It's really brought a different kind of energy to my life. Beyond that, I have been intentional about the people I surround myself with. I want to have people around me that are helping me maintain my own safe space, helping guide me, and helping me get through different life milestones.

🗨 What pivotal experiences in your life have shaped your leadership style?

I've had a lot of opportunity to reflect on my own educational journey. When I was a teen, I didn't feel like my voice was a part of the definition of success that was put in front of me. It took me a while, as I navigated my teen years and early adulthood, to get to a place where I could be like, “I know what I want, and I have a vision of how I want to put this together.” I carry my own experience in the way I do my work now. It's been very student-centered from the start. Our work is most effective when we believe in the power of young people. I am not giving them power, I'm not giving them agency, I am just supporting and creating the conditions for them to step into their own power and agency.

These days I'm further away from the work and haven't done direct service in a long time, but it's how I think about my teams, and how I coach, particularly younger professionals. I really see myself as a coach, helping people understand themselves, understand their strengths, and identify the resources they need to be effective in their work. I strive to create power and autonomy, because it supports their wellbeing and ultimately gets to the student. When staff feel they can move in that way, they're able to create the right spaces for our students.

🗨 How do nonprofit talent and culture strategies need to evolve?

The nonprofit sector has just gone through this huge change. Some organizations who were more future-focused saw how the world of work was changing prior to the pandemic, but for the rest of us, Covid was a distinct moment, where everyone had to pause and say, “What are we going to do?” Folks adopted ways of being and ways of working that they felt were going to get them through it. But it's only now that we're seeing the intentional decisions. We're seeing people who are leaning more into what we learned about working, collaboration, and supporting. Then we're seeing other organizations, who are rolling backwards.

In the nonprofit sector, we're doing social service work. Often folks that are drawn to that work are people who see themselves in the communities we serve. And for a long time, staff haven’t felt that organizations have done right by them in a way that allows them to create change in communities. We're going to see changes in the nonprofit sector that will move us closer to alignment, because you can't ask people to do hard, emotionally involved work, if they don't feel they are supported and able to thrive. And not just survive, but thrive emotionally, as well as financially. We're seeing the cost of living go up, potentially a recession, and folks can't do this work from a place of power, and lead change, if they themselves are in a place of survival. We're going to see nonprofits make hard decisions around this.

At Summer Search, we are actively having those conversations, and shifting things, and doubling down on ways of working that are moving us in that direction. When we think about impact and change, the organization has to be sustainable, and the organization has to continue to exist. It’s going to be hard to do that if we're not supporting our people as we need to.

🗨 In your experience, what are the ingredients of a successful hiring process?

Transparency is really important. I think anyone who is looking to change roles or change organizations, just wants to know what they're getting into. They want to know what is the work that we're really doing and what is the health of the organization. Also, talk to me about your culture and people's experience.

A well-rounded conversation is really important; bringing in different voices, so that it's not just the hiring manager, or those making decisions. It’s important to be able to articulate what the culture of your organization is, and have conversations not just around culture fit, but culture add, because there is so much change that is happening. You should articulate where we are, where we are looking to go, and how the person might fit into that.

🗨 What advice would you give to those aspiring to work in the nonprofit sector?

For better or for worse, a lot of people join the nonprofit sector because they assume there will be a better work-life balance, and policies generally do support that. People join and they know they're not going to be rich, but there are sometimes assumptions that the level of excellence is going to be lower than in the private sector. Particularly in younger staff, a lot of coaching happens to level set what a professional experience is, and that it's not that different from the private sector. We take our work very seriously and I dare say it's even more important, since we’re affecting human lives day-to-day. I know for me, excellence is so important, because the impact is not just losing dollars—we're potentially losing the impact that we could have with someone.

I would encourage people to do their homework on the different types of organizations. Not only is every organization’s mission different, but in recent years organizations have had to decide where they are on the DEIB continuum, and what equity means for them. Folks should really explore this and ask those types of questions, so that they are identifying organizations where there is mission alignment, and with a culture that resonates and where there's a fit, because it is all going to look different.

🗨 What do you do to find joy?

I spend a lot of time doing low impact outdoor activities. And I clarify that because every time I tell someone they're hikes, I'm like, “No, no, no. Nature walks. Nice leisurely nature walks with a nice cup of iced coffee, and some ice cream.” I'm fortunate enough to live out on Long Island and the summer and spring months are just so beautiful. Anytime I can just get outside, whether it's my neighborhood, a park, a beach, and just be outdoors in the quiet, and have a slower pace, that definitely brings me joy. And food. I love a good meal, and it doesn't have to be expensive. I just love really good food!

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