Show description
Welcome to Dreaming in Color, a show that provides a platform for BIPOC social change leaders to candidly share how their lived experiences (personal and professional) have prepared them to lead their work and drive the impact we all seek. 
In this episode, Dr. Carmen Rojas, the President and Chief Executive Officer at the Marguerite Casey Foundation, joins the show. She shares stories of her upbringing as a child of Venezuelan and Nicaraguan immigrants, confronts the complexities and contradictions of the social sector, and offers us a space to think and dream boldly. We learn of the familial roots and values that shaped her path toward a Ph.D., brainstorm around collective liberation in an age of mass wealth and inequality, and discuss how philanthropy can sharpen its focus on social justice. Join us as we bask in Carmen’s wit and wisdom. 
Jump straight into:
(00:21) - Introducing Dr. Carmen Rojas, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marguerite Casey Foundation.
(1:51) - Carmen shares a quote on optimism from Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis.
(03:24) - Moving to the US ​​at the peak of the civil rights movement: A cultural perspective on Carmen’s roots and the family dynamics that shaped her.
(09:19) - Liberation for the public sector: The people and events that encouraged Carmen to focus on social work.
(14:18) - Everyone should be able to dream: Discussing the radical change that Carmen is working to achieve.
(18:51) - Our collective being: How Carmen embraces the concept of contradiction to make it powerful and meaningful.
(22:24) - The urgency of naming: Working to repair a broken system and shift philanthropy in a new direction
(32:27) - A world organized around liberation: The hopes Carmen carries for our future
Episode resources
Follow Carmen Rojas through https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-rojas-phd-she-her-1b521316/ (LinkedIn) and https://twitter.com/crojasphd (Twitter)
Read https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/780-freedom-is-a-constant-struggle (Freedom is a Constant Struggle) by Angela Davis
Read https://www.amazon.com/Song-Solomon-Toni-Morrison/dp/140003342X (Song of Solomon )by Toni Morrison
Learn more about Dr. Manuel Pastor’s https://dornsife.usc.edu/eri/manuel-pastor/ (research)
Know more about https://www.caseygrants.org/ (Marguerite Casey Foundation)
Learn more about https://greenlining.org/ (the Greenlining Institute) 
Learn more about https://www.kaporcenter.org/ (the Kapor Center)
Learn more about https://sff.org/team-members/fred-blackwell/ (Fred Blackwell) and https://sff.org/ (the San Francisco Foundation)
Thank you for listening to Dreaming in Color a https://www.bridgespan.org/ (Bridgespan) supported https://www.studiopodsf.com/ (StudioPod) production. Nicole Genova is the Show Coordinator and Teresa Buchanan is the Show Producer. The production team from The Bridgespan Group includes Cora Daniels, Michael Borger, Christina Pistorius, and Britt Savage. Additional music and editing provided by https://nodalab.com/ (nodalab).