Conversations with the Inspiring Natalie Rekstad

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Rekstad.

Natalie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Our Deepest Passions Often Spring From Our Deepest Wounds. Like many readers, I am the beneficiary of the bold movement of feminism that exploded in the 1970s. Yet, at the time, I found it absolutely perplexing and in direct contradiction to the reality I experienced as a female in our culture. My ferocity and vision of women’s empowerment stem from the wounds of a confused, frustrated girl whose wings felt clipped at an early age. But like so many women who care deeply about equality, I have transformed those wounds into a source of awakening, power, and ferocity in bringing about a more just and gender-balanced world.

Today, I lead a purpose-driven life as the Founder and CEO of Black Fox Philanthropy, a leading fundraising strategy firm serving global nonprofits. Black Fox Philanthropy exists to accelerate the social sector’s effectiveness in solving complex problems on a global scale. As a B Corp, Black Fox Philanthropy measures the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

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?
Callings Call For Us To Grow Into Them.

My strategic brain outperforms my wallet, so beyond my financial investments toward solving issues that are urgent and dear to me, to have far greater impact, I started a fundraising firm serving nonprofits called Black Fox Philanthropy.

Did I know all I needed to know when I began? No.

While I had the “right” professional background to begin the firm, I had to learn, grow, and learn and grow some more. I had my nose bloodied a fair amount but always strived to make things right, learning even more in the process. I love the imagery of falling flat on your face and after climbing to your feet, finding yourself a full body length ahead of where you were.

There are boundless rewards in taking the risk to respond to your calling. In my case, I’m deeply honored to work in a sector that labors toward eradicating global poverty, particularly because poverty lies beneath most of the world’s suffering. I’m inspired weekly — sometimes daily — by the extraordinary visionaries and the missions we serve.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Black Fox Philanthropy story. Tell us more about the business.
My strategist’s brain outperforms my wallet so I started Black Fox Philanthropy to have far greater impact than I could do on just my own as a funder. We are a high-touch boutique fundraising firm working with incredible organizations solving issues such as child marriage, clean water, education, health, poverty alleviation, and more. As a B Corp social enterprise, our mission is to help worthy organizations attract significant and sustainable funding so they can affect deep and lasting social change.

What I’m most proud of is our ability to accelerate fundraising for these incredible organizations around the globe.

For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
It is the feminine side of our nature that will lift our world, so more women in every aspect of leadership are needed. To do with what they are most well position for — Women are particularly well-positioned for whatever they set their minds to as long as it fits within their wiring/personality.

Why does it matter? In the US alone, women continue to be more economically disadvantaged, experience much more violence, earn less, and are dramatically underrepresented in positions of leadership across all sectors. And still, in 2019, issues facing women and girls receive only 1.6% of the country’s philanthropic funding.

But there’s good news. As context, we’re living in the most important time in the history of humanity. Never have we had so many viable solutions to suffering, poverty, and discrimination. Never have we had so many passionate people equipped to take direct action toward a thriving planet in which everyone can live with dignity.

We are living in the sweet spot of a world and time where women are more fiercely coming into their voices, thereby becoming more fully expressed and more fully empowered. In the US, women now have the economic chops to get equality over the finish line on a global scale.

Contact Info:

• Website: blackfoxphilanthropy.com
• Phone: 303.910.8859
• Email: natalie@blackfox.global

Image Credit:
Morgan Lynn Photography

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