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“Can I watch it on PBS?”
“As soon as I can get Ken Burns on board.”
She laughs. Not a polite tinkling laugh, but a full-on belly laugh. “Well, go on with the abridgment.”
I give her a quick rundown on growing up with social activist parents. How volunteering at a woman’s shelter in college opened my eyes to the injustices that so many women face and convinced me to go to law school. My own recent experience with being a “battered” and stalked woman. Cress’ graduate school boyfriend, who victimized her. I don’t mention her name since it’s not my story to tell. Then I tell her about the competition for the partnership.
“Wow. I don’t think twelve episodes would do it justice,” Kath says as I run down like a windup toy.
Leaning forward intensely as I unspool my history, now I settle back into the chair and guzzle water. “What about you? What drew you to this mission?”
“My sister. A group of college boys murdered her in high school.”
My breath catches, and I reflexively reach for her hand and give it a squeeze. She returns it with a shaky smile.
“Moving on.” Her artificially brisk tone makes my heart ache. “I thought I’d tell you a bit about the foundation and then, if you’re still interested, we can discuss the actual job.”
“Great. From what you said on the phone, the mission of the foundation seems to fit very well with my own goals.” I pause, rub behind my left ear, then blurt, “If I become a candidate, who will I interview with? Is there a board, director, GSU admin personnel?”
“Fair question. Right now, I’m the entire foundation, along with a borrowed secretary and an unpaid intern. If we come to an agreement today, that’s it, no other hoops. There is no formal interview.”
My jaw drops and my eyes kind of bug out. “Wha— wait— You’re the sole decision maker?”
She gives a decisive nod, clears her throat, and goes on. “There’s no board yet. That’s one of the projects for the near future. I heard about what happened at Miller, Lanscombe, blah blah, and when Jarvis told me you were looking for a new position, I jumped on the possibility of hiring you. From everything I heard, you fit my checklist perfectly.”
She picks up a piece of bread and tears at it. Crumbs shower down onto the table.
“I don’t want a pity offer or a handout.”
“That’s not what’s happening. I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect person to fit this job, and I’m pretty sure you’re it. At least on paper. You have great references. And now it’s just the chemistry.”
A warmth of fellow feeling creeps up. This may be a good fit for me.
“I’ve been working on this project for a while and Clay has been really supportive. At first I just wanted to do something that would make a difference in the community, but volunteering didn’t seem to be enough. That’s when I got the idea of the foundation. I have an MBA from Northwestern and haven’t been able to put it to good use.”
She offers me more coffee but I’m hyper enough already. Pouring more coffee into her tiny cup, she takes a minute sip. “I told Clay about my idea to open a progressive women’s shelter, and he suggested creating a foundation that could fund it and other programs.
I thought a program tied to GSU would cause conflicts, but Clay was eager to show security was more inclusive than just corporate offerings. He persuaded me to turn my idea into the nonprofit arm of GSU. Not having to worry about the initial startup cost has made everything much easier.”
She takes a breath, and when I don’t have questions, she continues, “We have office space in the Rookery Building and an old hotel in Avondale that’s being rehabbed into safe housing for women who need it.
“The creche and daycare are on the first floor of this building and are open to company employees and women who need, but can’t afford, childcare. Mostly children who aren’t school age, but we hope to add an after-school program as well. My intern is working on a proposal for a summer program for kids.”
“How much staff do you plan to have?”
“That’s another early step, figuring out positions and then hiring.”
“Would I be involved in that part?”
“I would hope so. Once we have a few administrative people, the next step is legal aid. And that’s where you would come in.”
I hold up a hand and she stops. “Would that mean I would be handling legal aid or would staff lawyers do the actual work?”
“You would have a couple of options. If you want to be in the trenches, that’s fine, but I’m envisioning your role as the director. You would have staff and be responsible both for the legal aid team and for working with the GSU corporate lawyers on any legal issues that involve the foundation.”
The idea is exciting, and she’s talking as if I’ve already accepted the position.
“I’m getting ahead of myself,” Kath says, the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.
