Nancy Maldonado became the CEO of the Chicano Federation of San Diego in January 2019, which meant she had about a year to prepare for the organization’s COVID-19 response—without any clue that that’s what she was preparing for, of course. Add to that the fact that she’s also a single mom, and that makes for a wild ride. But if anyone could take on a challenge like this, it’s Nancy.
Nancy and I go way back to middle school and high school. When I picture her, then and now, she’s all eyes. Her eyes are unforgettable. They just dance with passion and fun. So when we recently reconnected on Instagram, I was not surprised to see that she is now bringing that passion to both motherhood and to the Chicano community of San Diego.
Since we hadn’t spoken since high school, we had a lot of ground to cover, and I was so curious to find out how she discovered her passion for serving the Chicano community, what path she took to get there, and how she manages such an intense career and motherhood, especially with COVID in the mix. In the second half of our conversation, we delved into this a little deeper, and talked about two topics I’m researching heavily right now, mommy wars and guilt.
