The Washington, DC area is full of amazing moms. There are working moms, stay-at-home moms, single moms, moms of multiples, foster moms, adoptive moms, etc. We want to highlight some of those moms like Sarah Wen!
Each month we will feature one special mom as the Mom of the Month. Know a fellow amazing local mom here? Nominate them here!
Meet our August Mom of the Month: Sarah Wen
Sarah is 35-year-old mom based in Woodley Park. She and her husband James moved here from New York City right before the pandemic in December 2019. Sarah grew up in the Utica, NY area and has lived several places since, including Puebla Mexico, Western Massachusetts, the Mississippi Delta, St Louis, and Manhattan.
Recently, Sarah started a new role as Director of Programs and Membership at the Community Development Bankers Association. Previously Sara served as an Economic Justice Senior Specialist for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
When not working, Sarah loves doing hot yoga, reading (Deborah Feldman and Zadie Smith are favorite authors), swimming, and going on long walks with her family. Sarah is a proud sustainer at the Junior League of Washington and a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution Manor House Chapter.
We are excited to feature Sarah Wen who is in the nonprofit world! Sarah talks about her new role as a mother and how she recently lost both her parents at her young age providing some tips on navigating grief.
Here is our Q&A with Sarah Wen
1. Tell me about your career trajectory. How did you land in the non-profit space as an Economist?
I started off my career as a Secondary Spanish teacher in the Mississippi Delta with Teach for America. When my commitment ended, I left inspired by my students and fellow teachers to help make the system better so that each child had the opportunity to be happy and healthy. This led me to pursue my MSW at Washington University in St Louis to become a school social worker.
After graduation, the universe took the reins and it led me to become a financial coach and eventually the financial capability manager at the St. Louis Community Credit Union’s nonprofit affiliate Prosperity Connection. We were confronting racist policies and inequitable banking practices head on through financial coaching and financial stability services.
During this time, I met my husband James and he moved to New York City. I eventually joined him and started working as a lead financial coach and eventually an Associate Director at a financial coaching social enterprise called Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners. This was a tough but rewarding time because we were building a startup at a best in class financial coaching nonprofit with the understanding that financial products and services coupled with one on one, personalized financial coaching can be a way for people to achieve financial stability.
When we moved to DC, I pursued combining my expertise in financial health and passion for ending gender based violence. At NNEDV, I delivered technical assistance to state and territorial coalitions in their economic justice work as well as administering a credit builder micro-loan to survivors.
That was absolutely the right place for me because domestic violence was the shadow pandemic. 99% of survivors experience financial abuse one way or another and I know I was doing much needed work.
Very recently, the universe indicated to me that it was time to take a leap to grow professionally. Even though the timing was not the best, it was absolutely the right move. I am now serving Community Development Banks because they are extremely powerful tools in poverty reduction and financial capability for families and individuals.
2. What is the best career advice you received?
The best advice I have ever received was make it known that your family is first and everything else is way, way behind it.
I heard this beautiful piece of advice from a speaker at a Volunteer Education and Training session at the New York Junior League, and I have held it so close. For the first time in my career, it feels like people finally respect that. When you are younger, it’s hard to hold the line. I really wanted to prove myself.
I recently lost both parents and both grandmothers – all within two years. However, I am so lucky that I have my husband and son. The one thing we cannot get back is time, and the deep wisdom of that has come from the tragedies I have experienced. I am a valuable member of my team and I know that deeply now.
With this confidence and wisdom, I now can hold my value firm – my family comes first, and work is way, way behind that.
3. You recently lost both of your parents. Can you share what have been the most
challenging aspects of raising your toddler without your loving parents by your side? How have you sought to overcome this adversity?
Grieving my parents has led me to this belief: I am so grateful for the 35 years I got with them. However, they left way too soon.
Luckily my father got to meet my son once and my mother got many visits with my son. In their short time on this planet with my son, they truly were the best grandparents to Robert. And how blessed Robert was to have experienced so much love in his just under two years on this planet.
I am angry and sad for my son that he has had to endure this tremendous loss, and I am angry and sad for myself. My dad was just so interesting and had so many cool talents that my son would have been overjoyed to learn from him.
It is hard to not be to talk to my mom all of the time. She would be my person that I would share everything with. Our favorite thing was to gush about how blessed we were to have Robert.
From now on, I will work on cherishing and honoring my parents by doing activities with my son that they enjoyed like swimming, camping, and playing music. Additionally, doing intensive caretaking of my heart and soul is critical at this time. This looks like ample sleep, sunshine, lots and lots of group and individual therapy, acupuncture, reading and joyful human connection.
Thank you to the countless other DC moms and friends who have connected with me to share the good things and the really hard things.
Do you know an amazing mom? Nominate a mom of the month here!
