Asa Tate

Asa TateVolunteering is a family tradition for Asa Tate. Both her mother and grandmother instilled in her the importance of giving back to the community, even if it is something as simple as her grandmother baking a pie to lift the spirits of an ailing neighbor or friend.

Asa began implementing the value of giving back in her professional life as soon as she graduated from Western Washington University, and began working at the Girl Scouts Totem Council. While working there she says, “I realized the power of fundraising to effect change.” She moved into the development department where she worked to dispel the myth that selling cookies could provide all the resources necessary to implement programs for girls.

While working at the Food Lifeline, she saw that all people are vulnerable to hunger, especially children. Her commitment to social change that addresses the underlying causes of social inequity deepened. Her current position as the Associate Director of Development at the Women’s Funding Alliance is her first job where she provides funding for change rather than providing a direct service, and she sees it as a way to have an impact on a larger scale.

For Asa, Social Justice Fund complements her work with its broader mission. “Social Justice Fund accesses areas I’m not working on, but that I’m passionate about,” she says. Former staff member Therese Norton introduced Asa to Social Justice Fund, but it was Grants and Program Director Scot Nakagawa that convinced her to join when she heard him speaking about Social Justice Fund’s conscious decision to support organizations led by people of color.

Even though she only became a member a few months ago, Asa has already joined the 3-year grants committee. Having worked in fundraising for so long, she’s excited about the new challenge of granting. She sees multi-year funding as especially important because it takes time to witness the kinds of long-term social change that SJF grantees are working on.

She appreciates that Social Justice Fund focuses on long-term changes that will affect issues that she has worked on in the past, such as poverty and opportunity. She says, “SJF is doing this work better than anyone else in town, involving the whole community from the grass roots to wealthy donors. SJF uses an intelligent lens when viewing social justice problems and solutions.”

Outside of work, Asa enjoys spending time with family and friends, hiking, and watching independent films. She’s been traveling to Jamaica frequently to visit her new husband and to help arrange his immigration to the United States. She wanted to do more travel to expand her knowledge and remind herself that the American way of doing things isn’t the only way. She believes in life-long learning and for her, Social Justice Fund will play a part in that learning.