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32 CHILDART GLOBAL CREATIVE LEADERS JAN-MAR 2021 33

net, a moment in time when our political leaders EMPOWERING
were willing to regulate corporations and services
for the public good.”
At the Marguerite Casey Foundation, she is OTHERS
working for inclusivity. She wants to make sure
that people who have been excluded from sharing
the resources of our economy and of representation CONT.
in our democracy find a seat at the table. “One of
the things that’s happening right now in our
world is that everybody wants to be a winner
without talking about who loses when one of
us wins. What we’re seeing in our work day-to-day
is that young people are not only engaging more,
but they are framing the conversations that we’re
having as a nation right now. I think it’s a critical
moment for all of us to sit back and listen. There’s
a real appetite for young people to shape the future,
which is theirs now. I am committed to a generational
shift. There’s something that a young person said
that really struck me: ‘I’m willing to do whatever I
can to make sure generations after me live lives
of dignity and hope, and are filled with joy, and
their dreams and desires are represented in our
economy and our democracy.’“

Trust and empathy are pathways to inclusivity.
“Oftentimes, this is not found through the reports or
through the statistics, it’s found through creativity.
It’s the books that moved you and somebody else.
It’s the song that makes you dance or smile. It’s the
poem that is resonant and reflective of a moment
that we’re living in. As an organization we’re on a fun
journey, trying to be really thoughtful about how we
bring creativity into our work in every way.”
She recommends reading books because of the
opportunity to put yourself in somebody’s else’s life.
“You become the protagonist when you read a book.
You interpret every detail through your experience,
your stories, the songs that you love, the food that
you love, the smells that you love, everything that
brings you pain. That’s one of the things that I love
about reading, that there’s this opportunity to be the
center in somebody else’s story. To bring my lens
to their work.”

As she participates in the work of finding joy for
others, Carmen sings. “I do sing,” she says. “I sing
to myself and I sing for our staff. Somebody recently
told me that the way that they know I’m happy is
that I’ll just start to sing.” She admits that there’s
“a constant jukebox in my mind. Always singing,
humming, whistling songs.”

CARMEN ROJAS EMPOWERING OTHERS https://icaf.org