Part of the Core Team

Adriana Calzada, CCVI served on the Giving Voice Core Team from 2017-2021 and wore many hats during that time. Here she shares her reflections on what this experience meant to her.

My sisters asked me to share in a paragraph my experience of being part of the Core Team. To describe five years of this incredible stage of my life would not be possible, but after reflecting for several days and remembering so many moments and stories, I decided to write about creating spaces. Creating spaces for my sisters. As a community, we are presented with many opportunities, events to attend, relationships to build and forums to share. A Giving Voice sister will never seek the fame, will not seek to be the sister invited to speak at every forum, will not fight for spots to represent the organization at different times. A Giving Voice sister knows that each and every one of us has different gifts, experiences and ways. We radically embrace our diversity as the greatest gift, and from there, we encourage each one’s leadership according to her individuality and possibilities. We do not force processes but encourage growth. We discern together and, in this way, we send each other.

It is not necessary to be part of the Core Team to create spaces for my sisters, but this has been a privileged space to do so. I leave with a stronger commitment than ever to continue opening spaces for more voices to be heard and more experiences to be shared.