Meet our Board Chair, Erika Washington

In honor of Women’s History Month, each week this month we will profile a different leader from our network. We’re kicking off our series with Erika Washington. In addition to being the executive director of Make It Work Nevada and the Make It Work Nevada Education Fund, she is the new chair of the FV@W board. Get to know Erika!

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’ve had the honor of being the executive director of Make It Work Nevada and the Make It Work Nevada Education Fund since 2018, an opportunity I could have only imagined a decade ago. This year I turned 40 and it’s given me a great perspective on what really matters. As a mother of three daughters, I understand the privilege of being able to advocate with and for marginalized women around issues that directly affect our lives. I’m able to show my daughters, who are in college, high school and junior high, what it means to make your voice heard and more importantly the importance of standing with other women.

When I moved from Detroit to Las Vegas in 2008, I didn’t know anyone—not a soul—but through my work as a journalist with the only Black newspaper in Nevada, The Las Vegas Sentinel-Voice, I got to know Las Vegas, how things work, and who the “powers that be” were. It was a great foundation to do the work that I’m doing now because I interviewed so many people who were stakeholders and grasstops, as well as everyday residents. It also gave me the opportunity to learn the Black history of Nevada, which most people don’t know. For instance, Ms. Ruby Duncan, an activist who fought for welfare rights for poor Black mothers in the 1960s through 80s, led a march on the Las Vegas strip in March 1971 with Jane Fonda and a host of other women that shut down Caesar’s Palace for hours. After interviewing her for a story, we became fast friends. She has so many wonderful stories to share and wisdom. It’s a blessing and a privilege that I can call her anytime for advice and guidance—that’s rare.

Because Las Vegas is such a small town, you can literally touch history here. Many of Nevada’s firsts are more recent than you’ll find in other places, but that gives us all an opportunity to grasp these historic moments and learn directly from the people who lived through them. I can’t think of a better way for us to chart a path towards a more equitable future.

It’s important to me to be able to tell the stories of people you may have never heard of. The world needs to understand the context and nuance of what it is to be left behind and historically marginalized because of your race, gender, and income status. People have survived through unimaginable oppression for generations and still found a way to make it work. Those stories need to be shared so we can right the wrongs of structural inequities, while celebrating the resilience of those who came before us.

How did you get into social justice work?

I got into social justice work by happenstance. 

I worked for the Las Vegas Urban League after the paper closed in 2014. The organization assisted Nevada residents in emergency situations, helping with utility shut-off notices and rental assistance. We also provided childcare subsidies and operated two WIC offices. The organization was and still is doing good work, but I didn’t feel as though we were actually helping folks for the long term. We weren’t fixing the problem or even getting to the root of it; we were just a bandaid. And honestly, I missed talking to people. I needed to do more. 

In 2015, my car was t-boned after a driver ran through a red light. It was one of the scariest things I had ever experienced. While recuperating, I watched hours of TED Talks and documentaries and, feeling inspired, wrote a plan for what I wanted to do to help with long-term solutions for people in my community. Shortly after the accident, I met someone from the Make It Work Campaign. They were looking to hire in Nevada and once I read the organization’s mission and the job description, I knew that was the job for me … and the rest is history.

The Make It Work Campaign was founded as a national campaign concentrating on pocketbook issues that directly affect women of color:- affordable childcare, equal pay, and paid sick days. The campaign rallied support in various states, including Iowa, Georgia, and Nevada. The Campaign always planned to have no more than a three-year life span but when the work started to end in other states, the founders saw how much progress we’d made in Nevada, building relationships and organizing. So they asked me if I was interested in maintaining the momentum to continue doing the work we were doing. Since 2018, Make It Work Nevada, a now state-based organization, is thriving and continuing to organize Black women around economic, racial and reproductive justice issues.

So, how did I get into this? I dreamed it and I hoped for an opportunity to create change. It showed up very differently from what I imagined, but it’s exactly what I needed.

What is the importance of FV@W’s work specifically?

FV@W is a really important organization because, as much as the United States is the united states, each state runs so differently. So FV@W gives us an opportunity as a larger network to discuss and share how we can fight as a team, and in a way that we couldn’t do separately. It differs from other organizations because they are not just a funder, or a pass-through, or a “do what we say to do” organization. It gives all of the states in its network the tools to be successful so we can make change in every state. It’s the connective tissue that keeps us together in-state—helping us guide our own tables and coalitions— while also helping us see the bigger picture and keeping everyone on the same page.

What are some of your goals as chair of the FV@W Board?

My goal is to spotlight the importance of organic community organizing and its benefits in the long term. Collectively, we need to ensure we don’t lose sight of the daily struggles on the ground. One of the things I’ve noticed with other progressive organizations—specifically around elections—is that a lot of organizations are endorsing candidates using a grasstops lens, but the rationale behind those endorsements don’t reflect the political choices of people on the ground. Why is that and how can that change? FV@W doesn’t endorse candidates, but the power dynamic is still important. As chair, I will strive for us to stay connected to the people on the ground; not just organizers, but the people who are directly affected by the issues so that they feel like they have an anchor and people with close proximity to power advocating specifically for them and with them. It’s also imperative that the organizations in the FV@W network be the models for what great policy advocacy looks like. My greatest accomplishment as chair would be for people to know who FV@W is, to trust our vision, and know that it is for the good of all people. 

How will the new board advance the movement for paid leave?

With tenacity and long-term vision! I’m so excited to be a part of the new FV@W board. I am surrounded by brilliant people who have a deep love for their work and years of experience in movement building. You should expect to see great things from this group as we begin to lay out both our short- and long-term vision to move our policy priorities forward with dignity and respect. Black and Brown mothers have been fighting for these things—paid leave, paid sick days—for decades, even before the issues had specific names, and we need and intend to honor their work and accomplishments. We’re moving forward, but we will not forget where we came from or those who laid the foundation for us to stand tall on. Our ultimate goal is to finally see true equity across the board, no matter where you live or what income bracket you fit in. Everyone deserves to live their version of the American dream.

What are some spaces you’d like to see FV@W grow into during your tenure?

I would like FV@W to have a more forward-facing presence, for people to know who we are and what we’re working on as a collective. It’s such a great organization and really can be a model for other progressive spaces. Obviously, FV@W wants to help win strong paid family leave programs in the states and at the federal level, and that means letting our elected leaders know our movement will not give up.  Keeping the big picture in mind, I also want us to think about what other economic issues we can engage in that will help working families thrive and not just survive.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I love my job and the opportunities I’ve had through Make It Work Nevada and FV@W. I’m consistently impressed with FV@W’s leadership and their commitment to diversity and diverse ideas—this is really, really important to me. It’s of the utmost importance to not just talk about being diverse or hiring a few people to check boxes. True diversity embraces the whole person, including their culture and lived experiences. That’s what brings value and authenticity to the work. FV@W understands this and I appreciate that they walk the walk.