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Connecting The Dots On Sexual Misconduct In The Philanthropic Sector Part Two: The Response
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By Gail Picco
his is the second of a two-part series that AFP Global Daily has been working on about sexual misconduct. Connecting the Dots on Sexual Misconduct in the Philanthropy Sector Part One: When Women Speak Out was published on October 31st. Part two: The response In the wake of a Tough Topics track held at AFP Congress 2018 in Toronto featuring four sessions about significant issues facing women in the sector, seasoned fundraiser Liz LeClair, CFRE, decided she would go public with her experience of being sexually harassed and assaulted by a donor of the charity where she worked. Cementing her decision was a Congress plenary speech from Hadiya Roderique. Roderique was named one of Canadian Lawyers’ 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2018 and calls herself a “diversity and inclusion advocate.” LeClair said Roderique really spoke to her when she said the onus is not on the marginalized and those who are victimized to speak up. It is on people with more privilege and power to advocate for change. LeClair sees herself as privileged. “I am white, cisgendered, and fortunate to grow up in a family where I was able to afford a good education. I live in a two-income household, and my husband works in the military. So,
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FOUNDATION Magazine
January/February 2020
ultimately, a lot of what I’ve been talking about will not adversely affect his career.” She says that speaking publicly about her experience has been one of the most challenging things in her life. “But it’s also been one of the most rewarding in the sense that I have acquired an incredible network of men and women around Canada, in the U.S. and beyond who have shown their support,” she says. “It’s also taught me what needs to be changed in our sector.” Liz LeClair was recently named the new chair of AFP’s Women’s Impact Initiative at the recent Women’s Impact Summit, held in Phoenix, Ariz., on October 5-6. As the chair of the Initiative, she will be in a position to drive some of that change. Ignited demand for a reckoning The high profile allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against film producer, Harvey Weinstein, catapulted sexual harassment and assault into the news cycle during the fall of 2017. The initial allegations were published almost simultaneously in early October, first by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey in the New York Times and, five days later, by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker. All three reporters won the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service, and the information revealed throughout the fall and winter of 2017 ignited the demand for a reckoning from what would
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