Pathwaves’ partnership with OneAmerica is rooted in a shared commitment to capacity building for leaders of color. Roxana, Executive Director at OneAmerica reflects, “It excited us to be able to invest in a member of our staff who can have a deep level of long-term commitment to our organization and community.” Enter Kawthar, OneAmerica Early Learning Campaign Manager, who joined the second Pathwaves Fellowship Cohort. Kawthar shares, “I have been organizing for 10 years and am really good at it. It comes naturally to me and is something I’m really passionate about. However, I am new to Washington state and really needed a deeper understanding of the legislative process in this political context.” Roxana explains, “We wanted to give Kawthar the opportunity to invest in this next step in her professional development, and knew we needed to lean on an external partner to facilitate that learning and help her establish a network of colleagues in her Cohort.”
Investing in developing leaders within their community is an important value at OneAmerica. Roxana explains, “We need to invest in folks like Kawthar and like me who have lived experience to have the knowledge and skills to activate their power. This is a big part of our Theory of Change: investing in leaders to have more power in the public arena. Pathwaves’ vision to create collective power amongst BIPOC leaders is meeting the moment we are in right now. We can’t be effective in isolation.” Kawthar sees herself as the embodiment of the shared vision at Pathwaves and OneAmerica: “I am the person this program was designed to support. No matter where I end up in my career, Pathwaves will be an important part of my success story, and OneAmerica my political home base.”
The Pathwaves curriculum has contributed to a lot of growth for Kawthar as a policy professional in this first year of the Fellowship. “Learning about the legislative and political processes in Washington state has been eye opening for me. What I most appreciate about the experience is that we don’t just learn a concept, we also practice the skill and offer each other feedback to improve. So far we have practiced testifying, learned about the process of moving a bill forward, discussed power mapping and how to strategically leverage relationships within policy making spaces.” Roxana has noticed significant growth in Kawthar already. “I am really seeing her confidence grow as an advocate. As an immigrant rights organization, we have a lot of expertise and lived experience that we can tap into. But we don’t necessarily have the early childhood policy specific knowledge. Kawthar is gaining that knowledge and also has a network she can rely on as she moves through the program and beyond.”
Kawthar is committed to ensuring that her training at Pathwaves has a ripple effect within the OneAmerica community. Roxana shares, “Kawthar has a real responsibility for building a base of people. She is being developed in organizing and policy strategy. And she is leveraging these new skills to develop advocates in her network at OneAmerica.” Kawathar continues, “What I learn in the Fellowship, I share with my base so that they can learn alongside me. For example, I am planning to share the presentation describing the legislative process in Washington state at an upcoming retreat we are hosting.”
Looking ahead, Kawthar is excited to utilize her growing advocacy skills as she develops and introduces a new English as a Second Language bill. “Right now I am doing the background research for the bill. I have been able to implement a lot of the tools I’ve learned through the Fellowship in the process. I’m creating timelines, working, backwards, powermapping, etc. These are important skills for leaders to have.” And just as Kawthar is committed to OneAmerica longterm, she intends to be connected to Pathwaves beyond her 20-month Fellowship program. “I see myself being a part of the Pathwaves community following my completion of the Fellowship. I feel lucky to be a part of this organization. I knew I would be a part of a network of like-minded leaders. But what I got was so much more. I have a sisterhood, and that’s forever.”
