She Runs It Awards $160,000 in 2020 Loan Relief

Every year for the past nine years She Runs It has donated five or six 10 thousand checks to rising stars in marketing media and tech to help relieve the burden of education loan debt As the organization approached December of 2020 they were preparing to do the same although the total fund was 40K which meant that four women would receive the moneyOne applicant39s story however triggered an effort that transformed 40 thousand in loan relief to 150 thousand making it possible for She Runs It to write checks to 16 starsquotThe 2020 miracle was a cascade of events inspired by Elana Rossquot said Lynn Branigan President and CEO of She Runs It quotWhen a member of the nominating committee read Elana39s story she decided to send the application to Elana39s global CEO Wendy Clark Wendy in turn sent it to Jacki Kelley Not only did Jacki ensure that dentsu would fund Elana39s loan relief and that of an additional recipient she reached out to her professional network and encouraged others to write checks Within three weeks 40 thousand grew to 150 thousandquotShe Runs It loan relief recipients apply for the grants by submitting information and an essay explaining their situation their aspirations and the contributions they are making to the industry The woman who triggered the cascade of events in December 2020 expressed her feelings in another essay after she learned that she was going to receive the loan relief funds This is what she wrotequotMost of my close friends know that I39m incredibly private Having grown up around the same kids in my Ohio suburb since kindergarten everyone knew each other39s business I was never able to shake being seen as the poor girl with the dead mom after my mom passed away when I was 10 and my dad subsequently filed bankruptcy I just wanted to be treated the same as everyone else valued for my accomplishments versus the extenuating circumstances of my lifeIn college and postgrad I actively hid parts of my life even as my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer I wanted to mitigate the pity associated Work was my safe haven when I was in the office I could mostly forget about everything else going on in my personal life Even after he passed away I buried myself in my work as part of my own way to handle this painThat39s why writing my essays for the She Runs It application was so difficult I had to open up old wounds I tried to move forward from I also realized I hid parts of my life not only to spare other people potential comfortability but as a form of denial myself If I didn39t publicly talk about my parents39 passing I didn39t have to address the reality of the situation As I opened myself up The She Runs It application led to feelings of selfdoubt What if I seemed selfrighteous or selfpitying What if I didn39t win Would that mean that I was not quotdeservingquot I hid so much for so long that I was worried I would get rejected the first time I opened up I put so much of myself and my life into those essays it felt so inherently personalAfter pouring my heart into the essays and emotionally preparing myself for rejection I was completely shocked when the opposite happened Not only did I win the She Runs It Loan but I found out that one of the judges was so moved by my essays she sent it to Wendy Clark the Global CEO of dentsu my employer Wendy sent the application to Jacki Kelley dentsu39s CEO of the Americas Both Wendy and Jacki were so touched by my application Jacki reached out to her colleagues and friends to increase the amount of loan relief granted to other applicantsI am so humbled that my application was able to help other She Runs It members get loan relief as well At the end of the day the fact that I was able to help others is much more validating and gratifying than winning the loan relief for myself In a year of financial difficulty I am especially blown away by the incredible generosityI39m so thankful to work in an industry and a company that strives to support and champion women regardless of their background From the mentors that wrote recommendation letters to my friends who helped me edit the essay content I39m so grateful for a network of strong women and men lifting up other womenSmall shoutout to my personal bibles Modern Loss and Option B along with the Dinner Party and Gilda39s Club my people that get itquotThe 15 individuals who will receive 10000 in loan relief arePrianka Ball Digital Media and Web Analyst ENGINEEricka Beltran Director ContentEnterprise Inclusion WarnerMediaEvelyn Bray Senior Manager Sports Brand Solutions Disney Advertising SalesJess Chambliss Executive Assistant The Walt Disney CompanyEzgi Cubukcu Senior Advisor Market Development amp8211 Media ampamp Entertainment Vertical TransUnionTammy Blythe Goodman Vice President Communications SpotXAllie Greenspun Marketing ampamp Advertising Associate Studio41Emily Kaufman Senior Press Manager NBC UniversalMelissa Lee Senior Associate Wavemaker GlobalElana Ross Media Planning Supervisor dentsuKiana Sinclair Account Strategist GoogleMegan Swanson Media Planner CaratKatie Szajkovics Senior Associate Integrated Media Planning OMDKaitlyn Thompson Global Strategy Director Energy BBDOKate Vilt Project Manager FCB ChicagoXenobiah Williams Digital Account Manager Essence Communicationsamp160Click the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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