Cultivating Support to Remove Barriers to Gender Equity
By Kara Schweiss
Photo by Ron Coleman, C4 Photography
It’s been a great year for Erica Schumann, PhD. Not only did she finish her PhD in February and welcome her first baby in October, she also joined the Women’s Fund of Omaha in May as the organization’s development manager. It’s a role she already loves, Schumann said.
“I’ve been so lucky that I’ve only worked for organizations where I was very excited and proud to say I was part of that organization,” she said.
Schumann could be said to embody the old adage, “if you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,” but in her new position, her work is definitely cut out for her.
“My role involves spearheading fundraising efforts that support our mission to promote gender equity and empower women,” she said. “My major goal right now and for the next several months is about building and improving our relationships with our donors. Our donors and supporters are amazing. They’re awesome. I have never worked in an organization where the supporters were so driven by the mission itself and where they are deeply involved in what we’re doing. So I really want to work on making sure that we’re maintaining those relationships and showing our donors the tangible results of what they’re giving. I want to make sure that they feel engaged and connected to what we’re doing and show them how impactful their support has been.”
It’s also important to lead efforts to seek new support, Schumann added.
“There are so many people who come up to me when they find out about the Women’s Fund and say they followed our organization for years,” she said. “I think a lot of people really rely on the Women’s Fund as a source of information for a lot of issues impacting Nebraskans, and so I want to be able to cultivate these people who are already supporting us, and to bring them in as more formal supporters to the organization.”
Supporting gender equity is a major objective for the Women’s Fund of Omaha, and it’s also a meaningful cause for Schumann, she said.
“Funding gender equity is important because it’s addressing those systemic barriers that prevent women from achieving their full potential. And one thing that was really important to me when I was considering joining the Women’s Fund is that I wanted to work for an organization that was really trying to get at the root of some issues in our community, rather than just funding the solutions,” she said. “By funding gender equity, we are addressing those barriers, and we are trying to create more inclusive opportunities, empower women and drive social change.”
Schumann brings an impressive depth and breadth of experience to the Women’s Fund.
“One thing I hope stood out when I interviewed with the Women’s Fund is that I have had almost every role someone could have in a development department,” she said. “I’ve worked on the grant side of things. I’ve worked on the individual giving side of things. I’ve worked on the membership side of things. Coming into the Women’s Fund, it was a brand-new position . . . so it really required me to kind of use all of these skills that I developed over the past several years and be able to channel them into one position.”
Ultimately, it really is all about community, she said.
“I’ve been very focused on community-centric fundraising—the fundraising approach that prioritizes the community that we serve, and I think that’s something that’s very aligned with the values of the Women’s Fund,” she said.
She’s highly committed to making a difference in Omaha, but it’s actually Schumann’s adopted community. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and anthropology from the University of Alabama and master’s and doctorate degrees in history from Binghamton (New York) University, with a specialization in women, gender and sexuality. An appealing career opportunity for her husband brought Schumann to the Midwest.
“He had a great job offer up here. We were really unsure at first; neither of us had ever visited Omaha and neither of us had lived in this part of the country before,” she said. “But we drove up, and within like 12 hours of being in Omaha, both of us were excited by how nice it was. We decided on that trip that we thought that it would be a great place for us.”
Four years later, she continues to be a fan. “I love Omaha, and one professional and personal goal is to be even more connected to the community and to the people who make this city so awesome,” she said.
The Schumanns have already become active members of the Omaha Astronomical Society and Schumann said she hopes to expand her involvement in other organizations and activities after she’s more established in her new roles both at the Women’s Fund and as a mother. Her love of advocacy, history, science and the arts has influenced both her community involvement and her career path, she said, and the Women’s Fund history connection is particularly engaging.
“Because it has such a focus on women’s history, I was really drawn to the Women’s Fund,” she said. “Obviously, it’s not a history organization, but I think what both do is draw attention to people’s voices who have been historically not listened to, and it allows me an opportunity to still engage with storytelling and uplifting people’s stories in a way that is meaningful to people who are listening.”
As much as she’s accomplished so far, Schumann said she is always looking ahead.
“Professionally, I definitely want to continue learning in the field of development and fundraising. I love learning; I think that’s why I stayed in school so long,” she said. “I’m really excited to learn and improve. And I’d also love to really become a reliable resource for people who want to learn more about how their dollars can be used to impact the city and the people who live in it.” W