Location: BlogsAppleseed in the NewsNational Appleseed
	4/23/2007
Appleseed Executive Director Betsy Cavendish is profiled in The Washington Post. April 23, 2007 The Washington Post Judith Mbuya Position: Executive director, Appleseed Foundation, a national nonprofit headquartered in the District that identifies social injustice and addresses it through education, legal advocacy, community activism and policy expertise. Career Highlights: Interim president, NARAL Pro-Choice America; vice president, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation; legal director and general counsel, NARAL Pro-Choice America; assistant professor of law, University of Illinois College of Law; attorney adviser, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice; and trial attorney, civil division fraud section, Department of Justice. Age: 47 Education: BA, American studies, Yale University; JD, Yale Law School.   Personal: Lives in the District with husband, Cliff Kellogg, and their children, Margaret, 10, and Lucy, 7. How did you get to where you are? In college I wasn't at all certain that I wanted to go to law school. I wanted to work in government, teach and live abroad to try to test out other ideas for what I might want to do. It took me some time to come to that understanding. Then I was fortunate to go to Yale. I was really lucky to have inspirational friends and faculty who conveyed a sense that society's leaders should take some ongoing responsibility for ensuring continuous social and legal improvement. During law school, I wanted to apply for a District Court clerkship. And the dream case came through because Judge [Gerhard A.] Gesell was assigned to the trial of Oliver North arising from the Iran-contra matter. That was a terrific opportunity to see some of the best lawyers in action, and in some sense, the limits of the criminal legal process in addressing structural problems. Sometimes career moves aren't completely plotted out in a linear way. I moved to teaching in some ways for family reasons, though it was interesting to me. Teaching afforded a great opportunity to look at whole areas of the law from a broad perspective. But I think I learned through that experience that my heart is really in advocacy and I prefer the mentor relationships with young staffers to students who are typically in fairly large classes. I've had some experience at NARAL running research projects, helping affiliates and advocating for social change and social justice. I also had fundraising and program development responsibilities that integrated the substantive areas of the organization. It was a very exciting and challenging time for choice, with a couple of presidential elections and very challenging judicial nominations -- the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. So, I guess in a sense you could say I was battle-tested in those jobs. Probably the biggest challenge in running a nonprofit is raising sufficient funds so that the mission can be accomplished. Allocating money to programs involves tough choices because so many programs seem really worthwhile. What I've tried to do is figure out how to raise as much money as possible and decide which programs merit funding, then try to hone those programs so that the dollars are spent in the most effective manner. It's better to fund a program that fills a unique niche than to be a me-too player. Who does it help? Is it likely to lead to success? Does it fill a gap? Is there leadership? Are there clear deliverables? Does it build on an organization's previous work? It's important to have program managers make their own case and be on board on what they are supposed to deliver if they are to be funded, and to have program management and funding work hand-in-hand so that the pitches for funding coincide with the goals of the people who will actually be doing the work. I really am delighted to work at Appleseed on a broader set of issues relating to social justice -- such as ensuring health care for low-income Americans, ensuring fair financial systems for immigrants and educational access for all -- and to work with centers across the country and in Mexico that have such an impressive set of accomplishments and ambitious goals to work for structural reform in their communities.
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