BIO
ERIKA LIAN CHEN
(erika "lee-ann" chen)
they/she
Erika is a consultant focused on embedding and implementing racial equity within nonprofit operations, fundraising, and organizational culture, with an emphasis on inclusion and employee happiness.
Erika is a co-founding member of the Community-Centric Fundraising movement. They have also volunteered their time as the Appeals Chair for the Seattle Human Rights Commission and as Vice President of Equitable Policies for AFP Advancement NW.
Erika holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Miami with a major in Economics and minors in International Business and Spanish. She also holds a Masters of Public Administration and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.
TESTIMONIALS
“I feel blessed to have had Erika as a student. I learned from her then and I continue to learn from her now.”
ERICA MILLS BARNHART, ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
“As VP of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access Committee (DEIA) for AFP Advancement Northwest, Erika has been a stalwart leader and champion for racial equity. Erika has led our volunteer board in navigating difficult conversations about organizational culture, integrating BIPOC voices in our decision-making processes, and taking a proactive stand to be anti-racists. Erika is strategic, compassionate, and unapologetic in helping us to lean into our DEIA work in a meaningful – if not revolutionary -- way that is making real organizational change.”
ABBEY NORRIS, 2020 BOARD PRESIDENT
AFP ADVANCEMENT NORTHWEST
"We contracted with Erika Chen early on in my tenure as Interim Executive Director of Friends of Waterfront Seattle [Friends]. The organization had a longstanding commitment to racial equity, but it was not systemically and comprehensively embedded in our organizational practices, policies, and investments. We also needed a clear statement of workplace values and new practices to ensure those values—collaboration and inclusion—shaped our hiring processes, internal culture, and relations with external partners. Finally, the staff needed an advocate, a trusted leader dedicated to overall employee well-being. Friends is a much larger organization than it was when Erika started with us, and now it is far more functional. The workplace culture she has guided and nurtured into being is more collaborative, mission-focused, and fun than any team I have ever led. I am hugely grateful for all Erika had done for Friends and—personally—for all I have learned from her about being a more effective director."
THATCHER BAILEY
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2020-2022
FRIENDS OF WATERFRONT SEATTLE
SERVICES
Facilitation
Does your board, staff, volunteers, or other stakeholders want or need to engage in tough conversations? An outside facilitator can help create an inclusive space for individuals and communities to flourish.
DEIA
Do you want to embed and implement diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) values into your organization? I’ll work with you and your team to bring your DEIA values to life and operationalize them into your everyday work.
Org Culture
Do you want to embed anti-racism into your fundraising, operations, and organizational culture? I’ll work with your leadership team to create a custom development plan that will help your organization move toward anti-racist policies, systems, and structures.
Equity-Centered HR
Do you want your organization's HR policies to be equity- and people-centered? Do you want your compensation philosophy, hiring processes, performance reviews, and other HR processes to be more equitable? I can work holistically with your org to move from compliance-based to people-centered HR.
Rates
My rates start at $150 per hour. However, I offer a sliding scale depending on your project goals, organizational budget, and work scope, as requested.
Interested in learning more? Let’s connect!
ESSAYS
- COMMUNITY-CENTRIC FUNDRAISING
- COMMUNITY-CENTRIC FUNDRAISING
- COMMUNITY-CENTRIC FUNDRAISING
AFFILIATIONS
Community-Centric Fundraising
Co-Founding Member
Hub Contributor
communitycentricfundraising.org
Seattle Human Rights Commission
Appeals Chair (2019-2022)
Association of Fundraising Professionals
Vice President of DEIA (2020, 2021)
Vice President Equitable Policies (2022)
Social Justice Fund NW
Seattle Donors of Color
Past Steering Committee Member