Today we’d like to introduce you to Nina Sanchez.
Nina, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Anyone who knows me, knows that so much of me is because of this city. I went away for college and have traveled extensively but I just can’t quit Chicago.
I was born and raised in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood within a three block radius of my extended family. I am the second oldest in a family of five children. Growing up, I was a voracious reader (I still am) and carried a book with me everywhere I went. I often got in trouble for neglecting chores, failing to be helpful, and frequently falling asleep with my lamp on because I was up late reading. A lot of my reading was connected to my interest in accessing a wider breadth of knowledge about my own history, the city I lived in, and our countries history (historical fiction is always a favorite). As I moved into middle school, my reading evolved to include poetry and playwriting and in high school, I added the debate league and theatre to my co-curricular activities. I now understand that all of these activities supported my interest in understanding my own context, formulating my own worldviews, and articulating my desires for justice.
Growing up in Chicago, I was not blind to the inequities around me and I was fortunate to have a few teachers who believed we were capable of understanding the complicated and at times, ugly history of our country. They taught us the whole story, not just the stock stories we often hear that elevate some histories while erasing others. I also grew up in a loving, tight-knit community that was doing life together in the most beautiful ways. Our family nickname was the Von Sánchez because we sang together in the church choir, the girls wore matching outfits, and we went on bike rides through the city together. Our home was a community center with friends and family members popping in and out. For a while, my mom hosted what we called the Friday After-School Club for us and our friends. My childhood in Pilsen is the place of so many fond memories for me and the starting place of my dearest lifelong friendships.
Education was the priority and my parents gave over all of their resources to ensure that all five of us would receive a high-quality, Catholic education. They also gave us space to explore our interests and modeled a profound sense of integrity and community-mindedness. Their orientation is a formative source of my own questioning spirit and commitment to being an active member of my community.
From early on, I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life’s work to addressing conditions in this city so that my peers, neighbors, and fellow Chicagoans could be on equal footing with access to the abundance of resources this city has to offer. Much of my motivation came from a place of frustration that my parents and others like them had to work so hard to access resources that were a given for others. I understood that this was not because they were deficient in any way, but that it was because there is fundamental inequity in our systems. My work was also fueled by a sense of dissatisfaction with the way some of my schooling erased the histories of people of color and my desire to access knowledge that was relevant and meaningful to me personally.
Although I explored careers in other sectors, I ultimately landed in the education space where I spent 15 years advancing student leadership and designing comprehensive support programs for students from seventh grade through college. Eventually, my work evolved so that it focused on developing adult talent in education and bringing a racial equity agenda to the forefront of our work.
As the first director of Enrich Chicago, I am honored to lend my skills and experiences to building a racially equitable organization and fueling the movement for equity in the arts. Although Enrich Chicago has been in existence since 2014, we only recently incorporated as an independent nonprofit 501c3. I have been busy establishing operating structures, assessing our current initiatives, and advancing a plan for our long-term growth and sustainability. I don’t think I will ever tire of the feeling you get when you are working in a start-up environment. There is so much opportunity and constraints only serve to bring more creativity to bear.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It is always a challenge to navigate multiple interests and live a life that fully reflects your values. Along the way, and with the help of an amazing fellowship experience with the Surge Institute, I have come to better understand my own strengths, the power of my story, and build a capacity to approach my work with a deep sense of love and compassion for each person I encounter. I now feel deeply rooted in my ultimate purpose to advance racial equity in the education space and beyond.
I also have a fourteen-month old daughter who has turned our world right-side up with joy. It’s been a wild, caffeine-fueled ride with my partner and papi-extraordinaire. I am still settling into my new normal, learning to prioritize, and when to say no to things that don’t serve my ultimate purpose on this planet. So much of what I do is for my daughter. Later, when we stand back and remember this time, I want her to know that we were there, fighting the just fight together for her, and all of the other children.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Enrich Chicago story. Tell us more about the business.
I feel so fortunate for the opportunity to leverage my strengths in a way that brings together my varied interests and passions as the first director of Enrich Chicago. Founded in 2014, Enrich Chicago is a collaborative of 21 arts and philanthropic institutions who have committed to advancing racial equity within the arts sector. Enrich sponsors quarterly anti-racism workshops for our member organizations which they then leverage into building their capacity to advance change within their organizations. They have addressed a wide variety of issues including hiring, fund development, and community access to their programs. Racial equity work requires that people go deeper than representation to ensure that every component of their organization operates in an equitable and inclusive way.
Enrich also facilitates an Arts Administration Pathways program at Chicago High School for the Arts aimed at developing a pipeline of critically conscious, diverse arts administrators. That initiative has been in existence for three years and will be expanding next year. Finally, Enrich Chicago will soon publish a commissioned research report on the state of funding equity for the arts. We will use the report to partner with our members and others in the arts to advance creative solutions for sustainability across the sector.
What is so exciting about Enrich Chicago is that not only do we have a bold vision for ending racism in the arts, and by extension, our city, we have been working hard to walk the talk. There is no roadmap for how to do this work or proven models to emulate. Our member organizations have endeavored to create something that is lasting and with a sense of accountability to those most impacted by racial inequities. We are excited to make our practices public and share the lessons learned along the way with our community at-large.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t know that luck has played a role in my life although what may seem like a series of chance encounters and opportunities to some, to me, represents my trajectory and true self slowly revealing itself. I also reject the notion that something can be singularly categorized as good or bad — it’s more complicated than that and often BOTH good and bad. I have certainly experienced loss and disappointment. What I want to do is stand firm in the knowledge that others have struggled and survived so that I could be here. I benefit from their existence and I want to carry them and their courage with me always — you don’t need luck when you’ve got that.
Contact Info:
- Address: 208 S. LaSalle
Suite 1540
Chicago, IL 60604 - Website: www.enrichchi.org
- Phone: (312) 327-8946
- Email: info@enrichchi.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnrichChicago/
Image Credit:
Afkara Mason, Ryan Blocker
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
