Meet Angela J Garcia | Nonprofit Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angela J Garcia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work–life balance is a matter of intentional decision-making and power. We have the power to plan how we use our time and how we live our values and that changes as we move through life and career. In my teens and twenties, I focused on exploring my own interests and talents while experiencing other countries, cultures, and work environments. I studied, worked, and volunteered in 5 countries over 10 years, clearly defining what wasn’t a good fit for my future while also coming to realize what brought me the most joy and fulfillment. By choosing work that allowed me to think creatively to address both environmental and humanitarian challenges, I found energy and motivation to build on our organizational success to keep more surplus out of landfills while simultaneously addressing inequities in resource availability. However, in my thirties, I fell victim to the “superwoman complex” and did NOT maintain balance between my career, my young family, and my own health and well-being. I was determined to “do it all” to the detriment of my physical and mental health. I had the power to ask for help. I had the power to work smarter, take breaks and “unplug”. I had the power to change my own priorities and self-expectations, but I didn’t accept that until my early forties. I now see balance as an evolving and deeply personal aspect of all of our lives. I am now a firm believer in being open about the need to rebalance, re-prioritize, and re-calibrate through the roller coaster of personal and professional changes in our lives and I encourage my family and staff to do the same.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I came to work for Global Links (globallinks.org) after 8 years studying, volunteering and working in a variety of roles and places. I waited tables for years honing the problem-solving and customer service skills. I taught English as a second language . I spent a year working with seniors at a long-term care residence in Belgium and came to deeply appreciate and respect the gift of those who help seniors age and die with dignity. I worked for the travel office in Champagne, France, giving tours to visitors from all over the world. But it was my decision to move to Mexico and work with a nonprofit focused on empowering women & children that changed my life. I spent 3 days a week traveling alongside a Mexican doctor to remote Mayan villages. While the doctor conducted medical exams, I would teach Spanish and math to help women earn their elementary school diploma along with basic financial literacy and hygiene. The years I spent working with these women and alongside the mobile doctor gave me a profound look into the realities that so many of the world’s population live with: lack of access to clean drinking water and basic healthcare; the vital importance of education; the traditional respect and conservation of the earth’s resources by native communities; and the vital role women play in a community: fostering nutrition, health, hygiene, education and more.

When I joined the small team at Global Links, a nonprofit dedicated to improving health for vulnerable communities locally and globally, I knew that all of my experiences of the past 8 years would be put to use. I worked alongside the co-founder of the organization for years, connecting her vision to organizational structure and processes that would allow us to grow the staff and ultimately, the number of lives impacted with improved access to health resources along with the volume of medical surplus we could divert from landfills to life-improving and life-saving use. When the founder retired, I was hired to lead the organization into our “second generation”. Many nonprofits were founded by baby-boomers, who are now retiring at rapid rates, leaving their legacies to the “next-gen” of leaders. While change is inevitable, it is not always easy. Despite careful transition planning, we still had some bumps in the road as I sought to reset our direction by working globally and domestically. With a name like “Global Links”, more than a few people asked why we would work locally.

The truth was that we were founded on a surplus collection model- capturing over 250 TONS of healthcare surplus annually ranging from unused single-use supplies to gently used durable goods like hospital beds, stretchers or IV poles. However, the US healthcare system has been changing and expanding homecare, which generates surplus products when a patient passes away or if their treatment plan changes. This home medical surplus is available to those who can afford it, but for low-income neighbors, the costs of simple items that allow people to live with health, mobility and dignity are out of reach. This situation fostered the creation of new programs to connect viable home medical surplus to nonprofits serving domestic low-resourced communities, many of whom are seniors.

This model and our experience responding to global disasters over 3 decades gave me the confidence to approach our philanthropic community in March 2020 with a proposition: we could act as the supply chain for hundreds of nonprofits in our region who did not have the expertise or resources to tackle the purchasing they would need to do to operate safely in a COVID world. We ended up raising 10 times more financial support than we had pre-COVID and were able to source and distribute masks, face shields, sanitizer, gloves and more to over 400 nonprofit agencies, 600 childcare facilities and 140 low-resourced schools. As we approach the 2nd anniversary in March 2022 of when the public health disaster began, I am proud of all that our “small but mighty” work family accomplished during COVID, but I am even more excited about the new partners we met and lessons learned along the way that have opened our eyes to inequities in our own healthcare system that we have the ability to address.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Pittsburgh is an amazing city that was reborn in the past 20 years. Long gone are the factories and visible pollution. Pittsburgh has more public parks and green spaces and was characterized best by a friend visiting from overseas as “a city amidst the woods”. We have hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails- the latter follow our 3 large rivers and connecting to a bike trail that can be followed all the way to Washington DC! The rivers offer kayaking, rowing, boating, fishing and some of the best views of our evolving riverfronts, numerous bridges and unique skyline. But Pittsburgh also offers unique terrain and a visit is not complete without a ride on one of our two inclines (funicular railway) to Mt. Washington for a breathtaking view of our rivers, Steelers, and Pirates stadiums, unique downtown architecture and neighborhoods. A walking tour of Pittsburgh’s downtown and Oakland neighborhoods is key to see our history in architecture.

But no visit would be complete without food and drink (often the highlight of any visit!)! Taking a stroll through our international market district presents so many options: Pamela’s famous crepe pancakes and Lyonnais potatoes for breakfast or more traditional diner fare at DeLuca’s or Kelly O’s? Lunch options include fried fish sandwiches or fresh sushi from Wholey’s fish market or Penn Ave. Fish Co. or Primanti Bros. famous fries & coleslaw topped hot sandwiches. While lines form at those restaurants daily, we love to take visitors on a tour of world cuisine within 6 blocks; Edgar’s Best Tacos for authentic Mexican; mung bean pancakes at Sambok Korean; beloved pierogies at S&D Polish Deli; espresso at La Prima and and Italian pastries at neighboring Colangelo’s Bakery plus Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Lebanese, and more. Moving on to Happy Hour, there are breweries, Wigle Whiskey (Pittsburgh was the home of the whiskey rebellion after all!), Pittsburgh Winery, Maggie’s Farm Rum and a traditional Irish pub, Mullaney’s Harp & Fiddle.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am blessed to have been raised by 2 artists who taught raw honesty and creative, independent thinking. I’m also blessed to be raising 2 social justice advocates who challenge me daily to re-evaluate “accepted” norms. I had my eyes opened to realities beyond the one I grew up in thanks to 25 years of adventures with my husband. I would not have found my voice and self-confidence if not for some very close friends who’ve seen me through my darkest moments of self-doubt. I would not be the leader I am today without an amazing network of mentors, coaches, and colleagues that are some of the most creative thinkers and problem solvers contributing to improving life for ALL of our neighbors locally and globally. It takes a village to raise a child or change the world and I could not be more grateful for the global village I belong to!

Website: globallinks.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globallinks/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-garcia-7785a39/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalLinksPgh

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAqfV25e88XGIY24kPuEVA

Image Credits
Lynn Johnson (for half of the photos)