#WomenCrushingWednesday w/ Lori Poland

Name: Lori Poland

Organization: The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect

Title: Executive Director

Community work (board service, volunteering, mentoring, etc.): Therapy and Business mentor for 11 years for various women, men and professionals. Have worked in non profit sector for the under-served populations with homeless individuals, severely mentally ill, families, at risk youth, abused and neglected youth, and their families. 

CWCC Involvement (CWCC member for x amount of years, Engagement within CWCC: serve on our board, support our members and team, etc.): I have been a grateful CWCC member for 1 year now, and while that year has been engaged online primarily it has been a gift. I’ve had the pleasure of joining in the CEO meetings, as well as being involved as a participant in the Women of Influence and Impact Leadership program and it has truly been an honor. Our organization is working to expand relationships, engage with the community in Colorado, and embrace the assets we’ve witnessed that come from involvement with CWCC. 

The Why: Why do you do what you do/ why are you passionate about your work in our community?  I began my journey with abuse and neglect at the age of 3 when I was abducted from my front yard here in Colorado and taken to an outhouse in the mountains, where I was left for dead by my abuser. Four days later I was found by bird watchers who asked what I was doing in the bottom of a ses-pit and I told them “I live here” (this is the title of my book coming out this fall). I’ve spent my life trying to “be normal” after abuse, trying to never cause anyone to feel the pains and emptiness I felt inside. I’ve been a care taker for as long as my memory goes back, and have felt a strong calling to help people know that while my story is certainly an extreme case of abuse, it is no more important, valid, or true than anyone else’s story. We live in a culture where speaking our truth is becoming the norm, holding space for our differences and our similarities is becoming the status quo, and I am working to create the space for the ten’s of millions of survivors of ALL forms of abuse (while we have a long way to go in understanding that word) to come together and unite our voices into one and the same, creating a space for collective.

 

Thank you to our #WCW Sponsor: