An Ode to Moms—My Own and Everywhere

As Mother’s Day closes in this weekend, I want to take a moment to recognize all moms, both in the nonprofit world and anywhere else. 

In a recent podcast of “Around with Randall,” I talked about working moms and some of the outcomes for their children that are now being discovered with the research on the subject. The one that grabbed my attention the most was a study that found kids who have working moms grow up to be just as happy as those children who have moms at home during their upbringing. The reason I found this important is that there are also studies that indicate working moms sometimes feel great guilt (self-perceived) as they’re not “helping” their own children in the right way toward adulthood.

With 14 current clients, and growing, nearly all have chief development officers who are women and moms. And of the scores of gift officers I work with, almost all are women who, for the most part, are moms as well. Nonprofit work represents the third-highest amount/percentage of women of the overall workforce within an industry. So, my experience is somewhat consistent with what the numbers bear out.

What I know, in particular, because of the pandemic and many people working from home, is it these extraordinary nonprofit professionals are amazing in their ability to be successful professionally as well as being effective at home. I have met many of their children—and they are happy young people who smile and seem engaged with life.   It’s an honor and a privilege to work with these incredible women and watching them succeed.

In the same vein, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own mom. No one grew up with a happier childhood or more opportunity to grow to be successful. No one had or has more love. For that, I am forever humbled and grateful for my mom. The amazing thing in my life was finding a woman, 20+ years ago, who would deliver the same opportunities and same love to my children. Fortunately, I was able to trick her into marrying me 21 years ago. Somehow, I went to “two for two” in the Mom Department.