A conversation with Lana Gifas, Executive Director of Women's Mentoring Network. As a leader in the community, Lana seeks to empower women and their families to achieve their career, educational and financial goals.
Lana Gifas joined the Women’s Mentoring Network as Executive Director in 2015. The organization focuses on the economic empowerment of women and their families, providing support services that focus on finding better employment and educational opportunities.
Lana shared that a strong work ethic was instilled in her by her father, who was a first generation American. She heard him leave early in the morning, 3:00 or 4:00 am, to go to Hunts Point Market to purchase produce for his fruit and vegetable store. She and her brother worked since they were teenagers, in food service or in retail.
After graduating from college, Lana joined Citibank as they were expanding their customer service for Fortune 500 companies, This began her multi-decade career working with corporate loans, culminating in a position working 24/7 as a manager in charge of documentation and loan closings at UBS Investment Bank. When an organization of which she was a board member, Women's Mentoring Network, approached her about taking over the Executive Director position from the founder who was retiring, she jumped at the chance.
“I was the primary breadwinner for many years, so I said this is my time; I could go back to school and I could start at the bottom of the education or nonprofit world, or I could start as the executive director of a smaller organization, but the support would be there.” - Lana Gifas
Key takeaways:
- Be a self-advocate. Lana knew that she was ready to step out of the financial services world, and into a new role as executive Director of a small not-for-profit. Rather than just walk away from her position with UBS, she advocated for herself, agreeing to stay with the team and help them through a transition, in exchange for a generous severance package.
- When planning a career transition, be intentional about preparing financially. Lana and her husband, who also left banking and started a business, made sure their healthcare was covered and that their savings would enable Lana to change careers while still meeting their commitment to pay for their children’s college education.
- Learn something new each day. When making a transition to the non-profit world, Lana relied on many people and resources to guide her. She attended online sessions about fundraising and boards, and even took some related college courses to help educate herself. Lana notes that the world is always changing, and it’s important to be open to learning new things.
About the guest:
Lana Gifas joined Women’s Mentoring Network as Executive Director in 2015. Women’s Mentoring Network, a nonprofit located in Stamford, CT, focuses on economic empowerment of women and their families, providing support services that focus on finding better employment and educational opportunities. Ms. Gifas earned her MBA and undergraduate degree from The Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. Ms. Gifas has worked at various financial institutions throughout her career prior to transitioning to her current role at Women's Mentoring Network. Lana serves on several committees to help support the efforts of the organization, including Co-Chairing Stamford’s Food Collaborative, serving on a committee for Stamford Cradle to Career’s initiative, and serving on the 2Gen, Financial Literacy, and Internship committees for the CT’s Governor’s Council for Women and Girls. Under her leadership, Women’s Mentoring Network was awarded Moffly Media's Light a Fire Women's Impact Award in 2020, and both the National Association of Social Workers of CT Latino/a/x Award and the SHero Award from the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity in 2021.
Email Address: lgifas@wmninc.org
Facebook: @womensmentoringnetwork
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lanagifas / https://www.linkedin.com/company/wmninc/
Instagram: @womensmentoringnetwork
Website: https://wmninc.org
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Lana Gifas: I was the primary breadwinner for very many years. So I said, this is my time. I could go back to school and I could start at the bottom in the nonprofit world or whatever world education nonprofit, I didn't know where it would take me. Or I could start as an executive director at a small organization, but the support is there.
Welcome to making change with your money, a podcast that highlights the stories and strategies of women who. life transition and overcame challenges as they redefined financial success for themselves. Now here's your host, Certified Financial Planner, Laura Rotter.
Laura Rotter: I am so excited to have as my guest today, Lana Gifas. Lana joined Women's Mentoring Network as Executive Director in 2015 after an initial career path working at various financial institutions including Deutsche Bank and UBS. Under her leadership, Women's Mentoring Network has received several awards, including Moffley Media's Light of Fire Women's Impact Award in 2020.
So welcome, Lana, to the Making Change with Your Money podcast.
Lana Gifas: Thank you, Laura, for having me.
Laura Rotter: I am going to start this interview the way I've been starting all my interviews, which is... Lana, what was money like in your family growing up?
Lana Gifas: That's a great question. Thank you for asking. Oh, well, my father, he had his own business and he worked very hard and I saw how hard he worked because he would wake up in the middle of the night and he actually had his own fruit and vegetable store, wonderful business, but he would have to go to the market, Hunts Point Market and get the fruits and vegetables in the middle of the night.
So I would see him leave or hear him leaving at three or four in the morning. So the work ethic was certainly instilled in us, in all of us at a very early age, showing that hard work on a daily basis of being an entrepreneur and having his own store. My mother was a stay at home mom, but I have to say that she also looked to many different businesses while she was a stay at home mom while we went to school, she looked to do along the lines of Tupperware sales, right?
This was a different time, right? It was Tupperware sales. She was an aerobics instructor, and then she became a nail technician. So she just tried out different careers, I want to say, or different jobs throughout her life just so that she wasn't just a stay at home mom. And don't discount that because honestly, it's a lot of work.
She did a lot of work and she was there for our family, you know, holding down the household and having meals on the table every evening. But she was definitely more of the frugal type where she watched the money of the household, making sure that it wasn't spent unnecessarily, but we really did not want for anything. I have to say, like, we were given. You know what was needed and what we wanted, you know, so we we didn't struggle but that was really because my father, you know, if you want to go back generation, you know He had grown up in a two bedroom apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey, and there was seven kids. Wow Right.
So when you're a person who only has hand me downs your whole life You want the house. So we saw his generation saying, look, I have a house. Look at my chandelier. Look at my fabric, you know, my fabric wallpaper, because the brothers and one sister wanted to show each other that they could be successful.
And that was a generation, you know, coming from their generation. Italy, where his parents coming to Hoboken, New Jersey, working there, not living with a lot of means, that's where children and we see that at my organization where children want to be successful and show their siblings how successful they are.
Laura Rotter: So your dad was first generation American? Wow. And you've said we several times, so you have siblings?
Lana Gifas: Yes. I have a brother. I have a brother who works very hard. I think that work ethic of my family has been instilled in my brother and I. Absolutely. And you
Laura Rotter: grew up in Connecticut? Where'd you grow up?
Lana Gifas: I grew up in New Jersey. I know. Riding our big wheels in the streets, having a pool, a pool and a tree house in the backyard. You know, we really had. That youth where we were out every day, but my brother and I worked since we were teenagers since I was 14 years old. I have had 2 jobs at any point in time, you know, through high school through college and then coming out of college.
I did get full time job. You know, but that was a longer term journey. Absolutely. And my father paid for my college, you know, he said I had to sell a lot of apples to pay for her college. And we were just talking about it on a call. I went to Fordham University and, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't inexpensive at that time, and it's not inexpensive now, so it's all relative, but, you know, I did go to college.
My brother did not end up going to college. So, you know, I think that benefited the family overall that you don't have to pay for two college tuitions. But, you know, my father, you know, always provided. And once I got out of college though, he said, you're on your own kid.
Laura Rotter: So, Lana, You were
you've said you've always had jobs, babysitting, you were, you know, newspaper delivering. What were the other jobs?
Lana Gifas: No, no. I, um, so I mainly worked at Luncheonette. You know, as a waitress, let's call it and that was a Saturday position, but we would make a lot of money that one day, but during the week I would work in either at the mall and, you know, it was always, you know, at a food kiosk or retail.
I was a camp counselor during college. I worked actually at Express, one of the largest Express stores in New York City. And then when you weren't in college, you could actually, I could go home to New Jersey and they would place you at the Express store to work. So I, I always had money, like if I needed my own gas money, or if I wanted like an outfit that I didn't want to ask my parents, you know, a high cost outfit that I really wanted, I would try to get it on my own with my own money. So yeah, we just had a strong work ethic, not that they wouldn't give me anything, but I just wanted to pay for things like gas and, you know, things on my own. But again, we didn't have cell phones. I didn't have a cell phone to pay for. I didn't have, you know, like there are things that we didn't have that you know, the kids today, if they had to take on the cost of things, you know, it would be higher for them at this time. Yeah.
Laura Rotter: Thanks for sharing that. I mean, it very much comes across, Lana, that it's important for you to be working, important for you to be earning your own income and to be independent.
Lana Gifas: Absolutely. And as soon as I graduated from college and was offered a few positions and chose to work for Citibank, the financial institution, I moved out into New York City almost immediately. So I'd lived in the city for, uh, for years before I settled down in Westchester County and I work in Connecticut right now. Yeah.
Laura Rotter: So how did you, what was your major and what led you into financial services?
Lana Gifas: That's a, so very interestingly, I was always interested in business.
Ah, well, you watched your dad, so.
Right, but I also had taken French throughout high school. I went to study abroad in France at a point in my high school years, and I really wanted to continue with French.
When I applied to Fordham University, they did not have an international business program. So I decided to apply to be a French major with an art minor, intending to take business classes. Yeah, but then they introduced international business and immediately I applied for the international program.
Laura Rotter: So interesting.
Lana Gifas: So I was in the liberal arts school at Rose Hill, and I had to apply for the College of Business Administration. So I got into the college. I needed to take a few classes just to catch up. So I caught up over one summer, but we were the second class to apply. Yeah. Graduate with this international degree.
So ultimately I majored in international finance, international marketing and French. So I continued my French studies throughout college. So, I had an international business degree overall. And I actually ended up, I did end up going back for my MBA in the evenings at Fordham also. So the banks that I worked for ultimately paid for my MBA. Which was wonderful.
Laura Rotter: Thanks. It's nice that way. I also had my MBA paid for by, um, I started it on, on my own dime and then my employer pay for it. So did you get to use your French at all at Citi?
Lana Gifas: Um, I definitely worked on the international business, but I did not get to utilize the French. Not that I didn't make some trips to France to make sure I could use it still.
But unfortunately, no. And interestingly, in college, because it was such a new program, they didn't even have an internship for it. For an international degree with French. So I actually worked at the French government tourist office, which was actually at the Rockefeller Center where the Atlas stands. It was at it was on street level at the time.
So the traffic of people coming in for French tourism and to talk to them about the country of France and bringing French tourism to France was amazing. They're not located there anymore, but it was a highly trafficked internship. I have to say, and I learned a lot.
Laura Rotter: And you got to use your language skills. So what was your first position with Citi?
Lana Gifas: Right. So when I got out of college, interestingly, we in, you know, we had interviews at the college. So I have to say that Fordham did bring in recruiters. From different companies, so when I was interviewing, I always tell people I didn't, you know, we didn't have the internet to research and apply for jobs.
So we really look to the recruiters coming to the university and. I was interviewing for a buyer position at a department store or
Laura Rotter: Ah! your retail background, right?
Lana Gifas: Or a finance and I was offered a job at Express. Actually, that was just offered to me right off the bat. Like, oh, you're graduating. You want to be a manager here.
So that was offered to me at Express. But then there was a buyer position at a retail store, a major department store. I forget exactly which one. And then the other financial institutions who come in, you know, who come to interview you. So when I graduated, I didn't have a job. I didn't secure a job at that time.
But right before the July 4th weekend, my brother had a house down at the New Jersey shore. And I said to him, can I, you know, can I live down there in this empty house during the week and work while I look for a job? And I worked one day as a chambermaid at one of the bed and breakfasts in Spring Lake, New Jersey.
And the next day, I got a call from Coopers Lybrand and Citibank with offers. So I chose the Citibank position, which ultimately the position was they were expanding their customer service for Fortune 500 companies. My complete career in finance for two decades was in corporate loans. So the product that I entered into in finance was an operations department at Citibank servicing corporate loans. And we're talking about Kodak. So it's fortune 500 companies, Kodak, Coca Cola, Estee Lauder, Louis Dreyfus. So very high profile companies, and we would work directly with their treasury departments on servicing their loans. And then we would work with other products throughout the bank, including letters of credit and, you know, cash management sales along those lines.
So we would, we would work with the other departments at the bank. And ultimately. I turned to down the road is highly leveraged transactions, not fortune 500 companies, but overall my product the entire time was corporate loans.
Laura Rotter: Right. Which we we've talked before is what you and I have in common in my previous career, being an investor in corporate loans of companies that were facing some sort of distress.
Lana Gifas: Right.
Laura Rotter: So, Lana, what did you like about that work? And I think about that. What skills did you, did you?
Lana Gifas: Absolutely. I mean, there were definitely math skills and finance skills. And then also that customer service part of it was. Honestly, I see customer service in every job that is out there because you do have to deal with people, whether it's the internal people at Citibank or the external, you know, CFOs or treasurers at these major companies.
So, you know, we were working on deals that were closing and moving money. So there was a lot, I mean, I transitioned over to portfolio management where we dealt more directly with the companies and analyzing deals that they were looking to do, whether it was an M&A transaction, bankruptcy and IPO. But there's always a loan involved in all of those deals. So, you know, you had to have that customer service, but you also had to have that financial, you know, I was in spreadsheets doing budgeting. Future forecasting on a daily basis, but I was also writing proposals a lot in my career as well, where, you know, we would have to say why we would want to be in a deal and write, you know, do due diligence from A to Z on the deal.
You know, it'd be hundreds of pages as what the due diligence is on a deal and analyzing the companies. And I went back to school. After doing, working on deals, I went back to get my MBA and I focused on management because what I realized was, is that management is what makes a company successful. If you don't have good management, the company will go down.
And that's what we learned over the years is, you know, everything can be in place, but if it's not managed properly, you know, you can see a company go in the wrong direction.
Laura Rotter: So true. I mean, again, work I did, you always started with the numbers, right? You know, so what are the profit margins and what are profit margins of competitors and can they be improved? So the quantitative data, if you will.
But at the end of the day, it was really the qualitative information that helped you make the decision. Can they bring in a better management team? Where would they find it? Who are they talking to? Really understanding the people behind it. So I'm curious, because you talked about two sides of, you know, that part of your career, both the numbers orientation. Clearly you're skilled at, as well of the, as the people orientation, could you speak to which interests you more? Is that something you've thought about?
Lana Gifas: No, I mean, I, I loved it all. I mean, there was, the numbers were exciting because you would see, you know, the future of a company through the numbers. So, and what, what goes into those numbers?
So they had to give you assumptions as to why they're forecasting those numbers. I mean, when I worked at Citibank and most of the companies I worked at five different investment banks, you know, we got to know the deal teams as well. And. The companies. So we were out entertaining. So I love the people aspect of it, but I think like the analyzing of the deals was also very interesting to me as well, you know, the job was always kept it interesting because anything you see on the news, you know, is a deal that someone is analyzing and doing a, a loan for or other transactions on?
Laura Rotter: Yes. So Lana, how long were you in the financial services industry and then brought you to change?
Lana Gifas: I was in it for 20 years and I ended in my career in operations again after a journey and I was heading up closing those deals and actually moving the billions of dollars that would close those deals and looking at the legal documentation as well. So that was another part of it. Where we would actually review the legal documentation with our legal team, but we had to be responsible for it as well. So, I knew what went into those deals, every piece of those deals we were involved in. And so we were, I was heading up a documentation team and, uh, uh, closing team of the transactions.
And I obviously lived through a lot. So I lived through 9/11, you know, before 9/11, I think there was a lot of Good times, let's say, you know, there was a lot of good bank meetings and you would go to a bank meeting and they would say, do you want to, you want to play golf or go to the spa after the bank meeting, you know, so 9/11 occurred.
And I was, I was downtown in Manhattan across the street from the world trade center and the old banker's trust building, which was the Deutsche bank building. I lived through that and they transitioned us to, you know, midtown after that because our building was destroyed. And during that time I had gotten, you know, I had gotten engaged, I had gotten, I was finishing my MBA.
I think the year of 9/11 I was getting married. And right after that, I was having my first child. So there was a lot going on from that time, even though I know we will move up to 2008. But there was always uncertainty where your job was always being evaluated. And 9/11, I didn't experience any layoffs.
There was probably 2 layoffs a year after 9/11 at any company that I worked for. So that was a little unnerving. And then you live through the great recession in 2008 and on. Although, you know, I got promoted during that time and I got you know, paid well during that time. So I know it's all relative.
It's, it's, it's kind of, you know, I talked to people in the financial industry about that because it's ironic that I got promoted, you know, during that time. So, you know, I ended, you know, and after that, you saw like a lot of uncertainty still, but I still liked the, I still liked what I was doing, but I was definitely looking.
towards more women's groups, and that's where I got involved. I remember in 2007 that I went to a conference that UBS held in New York City, and it was for women. It was a woman's conference, and they had, you know, mentors, and they were talking about mentors, and they had all these, like, amazing women speaking from different Fortune 500 companies or large corporations, and You know, at that point, my mind went over to a different place like, wow, they're all talking about mentors.
I want to mentor and I joined the women's group at UBS. And that's when I got more involved in. What can be done for women and how we can advocate for women along those lines and so I got involved in the women's group and they did great meetings and we got to meet great people and talk about how we can, you know, try to advance ourselves as women in the financial industry, but then that kind of.
You know, simmered out because of the great, you know, of the Great Recession and ultimately someone I worked with at UBS introduced me to an organization, Women's Mentoring Network, and said, I want you to be on the boards for this organization. And when I dove into it more, I found out that her mother had utilized the services of the organization and she was really good friends with the executive director.
And ultimately I got on the board because I was something I wanted. I wanted to be on a board. So it kind of just came to me like 1 day. I said, I want to be on a board. And she said, I have this organization and actually at UBS. There were some. Positions open in diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I started to think along those lines as well.
Like, would I want to do those positions? And I ultimately ended up interviewing for a position, but I didn't get it. And ironically, a woman, I was in a woman's group, got that position. So my interests were definitely. You know, shifting towards helping women, if I could,
Laura Rotter: Athat was around 2009 when, when was that?
Lana Gifas: Yeah, I want to say when I joined the board, it was, yeah, it was like 2008, you know, I think by 2012, I was on the board for the organization after being part of the, you know, volunteering for the organization. Yeah, and, um, and it was, it was interesting how I had worked with a woman at UBS who introduced me to Women's Mentoring Network, and we still know her family.
She's cousins of a family that we help. You know, in our area and, uh, it's just wonderful to know that this is just such a family organization as well, but ultimately the, you know, I met got on the board, but the executive director who was still here founded the organization in 1990 with another partner, the two founders.
Are honestly still alive, they live in Florida and they are my mentors now, but it was just that thought process. I was actually starting to look to go back to school for social work too, because I thought I could go back to school and work and on my own time. I was thinking about going to school for social work around that time, too. So I didn't know exactly what direction I wanted to go in, but it wasn't banking anymore.
Laura Rotter: Was there anything in particular that soured you on banking? It's, or just that the whole environment changed after?
Lana Gifas: Oh, well, I, I switched departments because of finally, after all the years since 2001. In 2012, I was let go from my old position as a portfolio manager, but two months later I was taken back and made a manager to support the department that I was let go from and we were closing their deals. So from 2012 to 2014 the job turned into a 24/7 job, which I had never worked those crazy hours before.
And that was the first time I was vocal about what was going wrong at the company. That it wasn't the job was hard, difficult. It was that we needed more people to support what we're doing and we're moving billions of dollars. Therefore, I felt that there was risk. And but they wouldn't hire, necessarily hire more people.
So what we did entailed being available all day, every day. And that, that was a point where it took away from my family and I had kids.
Laura Rotter: You had how many?
Lana Gifas: Or being present, let's say, because obviously when you had cell phones, now you could dial it now.Well, let's, you know, fast forward. Now you had the cell phone. Now you could dial into your computer, you know, all of that. So you were always accessible to the point where sometimes they would drive cars to my house because they needed original signatures in the evening for a deal that was going to close in the morning.
So I would have to be on call to make sure that we were attentive. So, ultimately, the UBS position, though, they were going to near shore operations to Tennessee. So. My proposal was to help them nearshore it and then get a package and they agreed to that. And I did that for nine months and nobody knew I proposed it.
You know, when I figured out I wanted to leave and take over for Women's Mentoring Network, which was a whole other, you know, story, but I had a conversation with the, you know, with the executive director at Women's Mentoring Network, or someone mentioned to her that I was interested in doing this type of job and we had a conversation after that, and it turned into where I sit today as the Executive Director of Women's Mentoring Network. Yeah.
Laura Rotter: Wow. I mean, it sounds like, did you have the experience, Lana, of sort of, I'm gonna, I don't know how else to refer to it, karma? You know, when both the way you were introduced to Women's Mentoring Network and then you were, can you talk about how that feels?
Lana Gifas: I said all the stars aligned. All the stars aligned, so my position still exists in Stanford, but my support team was put in Tennessee, so you know the front facing position still exists in Connecticut, so when we were when we found out that.
They were going to do this and there was going to be a whole uproar in our department. I said, you know, I said to my husband, look, I was introduced to this organization. They're looking to replace this woman. She's 75. She's looking to retire. You know, she founded the organization, but she needs someone to replace her.
And I want to have a conversation with her about it and we had to evaluate our own finances, of course. So we're very conscious of our finances in my family now and we had to evaluate. We did have 2 kids to send to college. So we had to make sure that everything was in place for that. But my husband actually stepped out of the banking industry and started his own business to teach kids sports.
Laura Rotter: Wow at the same time?
Lana Gifas: No, he did that years earlier.
Laura Rotter: So so you were the primary breadwinner?
Lana Gifas: Correct. Correct. Yes. I was the primary breadwinner for very many years So I said this is my time. I I could go back to school And I could start at the bottom in the nonprofit world or whatever world education nonprofit. I didn't know where it would take me or I could start as an executive director at a small organization.
But the support is there. Nobody's going anywhere. They're going to teach me, you know, so we made that decision. Then I went back to my boss and I said, yeah, I, you are transitioning this department to Tennessee, there are going to be some layoff periods, and it was going to be March and December. I said, I'll stay with you for as long as you need. I didn't tell him what I was doing. I said, but I'd like a package. And the good thing was is. He agreed to it, or him and his boss agreed to it, so we checked, and a week later I found out that I could stay, and they said, you can leave in December. So we agreed to stay nine months and then I would transition over my position to the other manager there because there was four managers.
That was the thing. I said, there's four managers. You know, all of us are not going to last through this upheaval in this department. I've seen it. I've lived through it over and over again. So they agreed to it. I stayed till December while I hired people in Tennessee, told my team in Stanford that they would need to find other positions or, you know, find other positions in the bank and or move.
So it was one of those situations. Most of them found other positions within the bank, fortunately, and I had lived through that before. I have to step back with that. That was a great lesson. In Citibank, in my first position, they near shored our positions to Delaware. So, when I, when I traveled through my career, I always grew in every position, and if I wasn't growing, I'd look to work for another company.
So, I always took on more responsibility, but I always knew to have my resume ready. And I always moved from mostly getting more money or a better title, you know, at every single transition through the five banks that I worked at.
So going back to transitioning, you know, they said you could stay through December, not knowing where I was going to go, but help us with the transition at UBS. And ultimately, I had a package in December that. Spanned over the eight years that I had worked there, even though I was let go in between, they actually bridged my package. So transitioning, clearly you're making more in banking versus nonprofit. It truly helped also the transition.
Laura Rotter: Well, it sounds like you knew you were ready emotionally and then It's that you did have someone who advocated you advocated for yourself and you package and so it sounds like you and your husband were intentional about being ready financially.
Yes. And with Women's Mentoring Network, I'm curious about the financial side. Did you negotiate or or you knew their finances?
Lana Gifas: Um, no, I knew their finances and that would be You know, a big thing that you think about is the, you know, health care. So, ultimately, we wanted to make sure our health care was covered and, and so from there, we made that decision that, yes, we knew that the salary would be lower, but being in banking, the both of us, for many years, Was a means to where we are today not a means to an end But it means to that we don't have to necessarily Worry because we went into our marriage, you know knowing what our goals were Financially and you know to provide for our children that we ultimately had so, you know, we had that same vision of Where we want, where we want to be, but not to stress ourselves out.
You know, we, you have to have your health first and, you know, be happy as well and have balance and that's very important. And in all my years in banking before my, that last position. I always went to every single event of my children because during their school years, I worked in Connecticut and lived in Westchester County. I wasn't in New York City anymore. So I was able to have some flexibility and that means going to a play at the school, but coming back to work and making sure that you attend to what needs to be done.
Laura Rotter: That's amazing that you were able to do that because I certainly can't say the same for myself. I tried as much as I could, but I was always in the city and, uh, wasn't always possible to be there for, for everything. So Lana, are your kids off the payroll now? Are they, where are they?
Lana Gifas: No, I have a son who's graduating high school. Ah, and I have a daughter who's going to college in college.
Laura Rotter: Yes. So, so still on the payroll.
Lana Gifas: Yes, yes, yes. But all good. All good. This is what we've saved for though. This is what we've saved for our entire lives.
Right. My daughter, you know, and my son too, so that they can have, you know, benefits of, and, and have a platform. This is what we've saved for.
Laura Rotter: I mean, clearly your, your parents sent you to college and felt like that's what they were dedicated to that value translated to you .
Lana Gifas: And well, that's what my parents did not go to college, but they said you are going to college.
Laura Rotter: So can you please share with our listeners about women's mentoring network? We know a little bit what drew you, you know, being able to empower women, but you've been there for a while. So tell us about the organization.
Lana Gifas: Right. So we're helping low income women to find better employment and educational opportunities.
And we're providing basic career services for free. So if the women need to look, have us look at their career goals, their resume, their LinkedIn profile, help them search for jobs, practice interviewing for jobs. And then we also look at their finances. So half of our curriculum is financial wellness.
Making sure that any money that comes into their household is looked at to make sure that there's, you know, proper spending of funds or if they have the right accounts that are open or improving their credit scores, paying down debt, looking at their insurance options. I mean, we get. Professionals from the community involved in our programs so that we're bringing these this professional advice to them and all these professionals are volunteering from the community.
So we're so lucky to have that as an aspect of what we do, but we're really bringing this. Information, very valuable information to our members. We also have a food pantry to help our women budget, you know, get through their budget if they can't afford food right now. And we have clothing donations. And we help the entire family, so we really look to work with the students, their kids as well, on their goals and how we can help guide them as they navigate through middle school, high school, college, or career.
Laura Rotter: That's quite a broad mandate. Where, where do you do this? What's the, uh, location?
Lana Gifas: We're serving we're in Stanford, Connecticut. We're serving most of Fairfield County and we've expanded our services through a partnership. In Westchester county with the Y.W. C. A. of White Plains in central Westchester and our programs now are offered hybrid. So we do see further reach because people can join. On Zoom or, you know, join our meetings online,
Laura Rotter: but how would women hear about you even to know about the programs? I'm curious.
Lana Gifas: Yes, a lot. I'm part of a lot of community collaborations and we reach out to a lot of other organizations. So I personally am involved in a food collaborative in Stanford where food pantries get together to share best practices through the United Way. I'm part of a cradle to career initiative where we get together with other nonprofits that serve students and we're on a transition from high school to college or career committee.
I'm part of a Connecticut collective for women and girls. I'm part of a governor's council for women and girls, and we're on 3 committees, including a financial literacy committee that's throughout the state. And in Westchester, I'm part of the West Chester women's advisory board and also part of business council of Westchester County.
So we're always trying to get out there and advocate for the organization. Let other places know that we exist. So through all of these collaborations, we get many referrals. And if we can be out there at a table at a college, or, you know, we were just doing a volunteer fair last week to let people know of our services.We are out in the community, letting people know about our services.
Laura Rotter: Now, I mean, I love how passionate you sound about all these services, and it strikes me that you said. That balance in your life is important to you. Do you, do you have time for yourself?
Lana Gifas: We do. I do . You have to, you have to make sure that you're not completely engrossed in work because there's many important things as your family and your children.
And getting out there on vacations and taking time off so we're very scheduled here. So we schedule appointments. We have workshops scheduled. So with all of that, we know when we have to allocate our time towards work at the organization.
Laura Rotter: One last question about the organization. You mentioned that volunteers, you certainly said for help with financial literacy, if anybody listening would be interested in learning more about volunteering, how would they?
Lana Gifas: Absolutely. So we, we look to companies or individuals with their own businesses, consultants working with many in the area, but we're always open to new volunteers who either want to present on a topic of their choice on job readiness skills or financial literacy. Or mentor our clients or help out with our events or help out with our food pantry.
They can certainly reach out directly to me and we will talk to them about what they'd like to do. And honestly, we find a place for all of our volunteers. At this time, we have over 300 volunteers, but we allocate them towards different things.
Laura Rotter: Right. And we will certainly have Lana's contact information in the show notes.
So as we come towards the end of our conversation, I'm wondering if how you've defined success for yourself and perhaps even financial success may have shifted over the years.
Lana Gifas: Yeah. I mean, it's just a matter of. Being happy for me, it's being happy. What you do work has always been a large part of my life, so I definitely wanted just to have that happiness in what I'm doing, whether it was in the financial world and being challenged by that and or at Women's Mentoring Network and having this great community that I'm now a part of, you know, being a part of with all these volunteers and my co workers, you know, and also having that balance so that you can be a part of your family's life and, you know, besides, you know, my immediate family, but extended family and making sure that you have time for all of them as well for now.
It's a balance I'm not at the end of my career by no means. But for now, it's about, it's the balance that I've found. You know, some days there's more work and some days there's more home.
Laura Rotter: And how lucky are you that you've found challenging work that you feel like you're growing and you're learning and you're doing good and you're able to have. I don't know if there's really such a thing as balance, but a sense that you're able to be there both for your family.
Lana Gifas: Absolutely. And I learn every day. This was clearly a huge transition that I had to learn a lot about, but I have many people and many different resources that I look to every day.
I look to see if there's something else I need to learn, you know, I did even go back for a few classes at Norwalk Community College on, you know, about, you know, You know, a nonprofit, but I attend online sessions about fundraising events, you know, boards, you know, a lot of, a lot of different things because running a nonprofit is like running a, is running a small business.
Laura Rotter: It is. Yes, it really is. So I assume you still get to use your financial skills.
Lana Gifas: Yes, I do a cash flow on a daily basis. Absolutely.
Laura Rotter: Lana, is there anything else you'd like to be sure you mentioned before we close?
Lana Gifas: No, I mean, we're talking about finances and, you know, not just because I come from the financial industry. We just know that everybody needs to be educated on finances and wishing that it would start more in high school. And through everybody's life, though, and when we teach about financial management here, and the professionals come in, everybody learns something, including myself, because it's an ever changing world.
Even if it's an account that you hold at a bank, now it could be online. Now you can deposit checks on your phone, you know, so you just have to keep up with your own finances and be responsible. About them. And I think that's so important for everybody to know.
Laura Rotter: Thank you for that. And I, I do share your frustration that there's really little to know education, financial literacy in the school systems.
And so, you know, my adult kids come to me and say, how much should I be spending on rent? And How are you supposed to know? You grow up in families that don't talk about money and don't be ashamed to ask. I, I speak to so many women especially who are bright, perhaps even primary breadwinners of their family and are just ashamed that they don't know more.
And it's For everyone to know. So thank you so much for taking the time to be my guest. So wonderful to continue to get to know you.
Lana Gifas: Thank you.
Laura Rotter: I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Lana Gifas, Executive Director of Women's Mentoring Network. I'd like to share some ideas that I'm taking away from our conversation.
My first takeaway is to be a self advocate. Lana knew that she was ready to step out of the financial services world and into a new role as executive director of a small, not for profit. But she didn't just resign UBS. Instead, she advocated for herself and agreed to stay with the team and help them through a transition in exchange for a generous severance package.
My second takeaway is that when you're planning a career transition, be intentional about preparing financially. Lana and her husband, who also left banking and started his own business, made sure their health care was covered. And that their savings would enable Lana to change careers while still meeting their commitments, which included their commitment to pay for their children's college educations.
And finally, learn something new each day. When making a transition to the non-profit world, Lana relied on many people and resources to guide her.
She attended online sessions about fundraising and boards. And even took some related college courses to help educate herself. Lana notes that the world is always changing and it's important to be open to learning new things.
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Thanks for listening to Making Change With Your Money, certified financial planner, Laura Rotter specializes in helping people just like you, organized, clarify, and grow. And invest their money in order to support a life of purpose and meaning go to www.trueabundanceadvisors. com forward slash workbook for a free resource to help you on your journey.
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