As a resident at Women of Cincy, I was tasked to interview a team member. I briefly encountered Sandra Okot-Kotber at meetings, and I decided to interview her because, well, she just seems to have her life together (although she’ll probably tell you differently). I'm always in awe whenever I encounter an effortlessly cool, clever, and poised woman like Sandra. And after finally sitting down with her, I learned that she truly wants to make the world a better place. Her path in life is one of volunteerism and nonprofit work out of genuine love for others.

We met on a Saturday morning in September at the Contemporary Arts Center (C.A.C.) in downtown Cincinnati, just as the city was waking up and stretching its legs. As the morning sun poured in, Sandra talked about assessing failures, the importance of positivity, and the power of her mom.

Written by Olivia Taylor. Photography by Nicole Mayes.

Tell us a little bit about yourself – where you're from, what you do.

I've lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kansas for 10 years, and then Florida for many years, and that's where I spent the majority of my time. I moved to Cincinnati a couple of years ago, wanting to get involved with nonprofits. I eventually stumbled upon a job at ArtWorks as the executive assistant and office manager.

As for what I do with Women of Cincy, I am the director of volunteer culture, and that's basically trying to cultivate bonds and keep people happy with our organization. I also write for the team and do some social media. I've kind of done a lot of different stuff.

You said you traveled around a lot growing up, so why pick Cincinnati in your adult life?

I had family up here. My mom moved up to be close to her sister, and I was the only one left in Florida. I was like, "Oh, I miss my family." I really wanted to be around them. I also wanted to kind of shift my career path, so it was at a time when I wanted a fresh start. I came up here in October of 2017, and I love it. It's a beautiful city, there's a lot going on, and there’s a lot of people trying to do positive things. I found such a great network of people here, like the Women of Cincy crowd; people striving to be better and do better. I want to grow and learn, and I love being around that community, so I think I may be here for a while.

What are you passionate about?

I'm passionate about improving things... equal pay since there's still a huge disparity for women, as well as race relations, psychology, stopping sex trafficking – just trying to make our world better. There's a lot of work to be done. We have poverty issues and housing issues really badly in Cincinnati, this city is known for being pretty segregated racially, and it's happening all over the country.

I want to create genuine connections and support people and have them reciprocate that.

There are so many nonprofits in the city, and people are doing the same work. Chelsie [Walter, C.E.O. of Women of Cincy] talks about this all the time, about how to be more efficient with our organizations and resources, and how people should come together to fix problems. There's power in numbers, so I think we need to rely on one another more.

So how do you relax? How do you keep a work-life balance?

I can be strict with things. I tend to go to bed early, and I tend to say no to things. Or, if I can, I try to bundle things together. So volunteer culture team meetings will be right before the staff meeting, so I'm not out every night driving here, driving there. How do I relax? I just cuddle with my pup, and I try to have good social times with friends, going out to support different things.

What's your favorite quality about yourself?

I'd say that I'm pretty loyal – loyal to a tee. I just want to have people's backs and offer healthy advice if it’s needed or just be by someone's side. I want to create genuine connections and support people and have them reciprocate that.

If you could go back in time and speak to your 15-year-old self, what would you tell her?

"Girl, relax. Everything's gonna be fine." I wish I had brushed more things off. I wish I'd taken more chances. I would probably tell my younger self to work a little bit more, and reach out for help… Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Now let's say we go into the future and you're at your 90th birthday party; what do you want your family and friends to say about you?

I just want them to love me. I want to have a positive impact on people and say that I was there for them. I want people to admire the work that I've done. I hope that I can be a positive influence on everyone around me. I think that's one of my life goals is to be positive and do positive things.

It's so inspiring to be around people who want change in our community and share a similar mindset.

What does positivity mean to you?

We live in a crazy time and a crazy world. Things aren't as bad as they used to be, but obviously, there’s still room for improvement. So being positive is working in the right direction, even just lifting people up, being loyal to people, being a friend to people, creating a network of support. Just being positive is an improvement.

How do you handle making mistakes or failing at something professionally or personally?

If I fail at something, I have to criticize myself, but in a soft way – or in a realistic way and not be completely self-deprecating. I try to look at it from a realistic viewpoint, seeing both sides.

I try to think, "Okay, for the next, how am I going to improve? What did I do wrong?" Try to analyze and break down the situation. If the opportunity comes again to fix my mistakes, I'm glad I broke things down and analyzed it. Next time might not be perfect, but again, I can analyze why this is happening. I can reach out to resources or people who I respect and who have valuable advice or input. Failure is tough, but I try to remind myself that everyone experiences it.

So what are your goals for the next year of your life?

I'm not quite sure I've figured that out yet. I definitely want to help to grow Women of Cincy to where we need to be. I mean we're like a baby organization – we're young, we're still molding what it needs to be and what it needs to look like – we're always going to be trying to improve and tighten the grip on what we want to look like.

I also just want more people to know our name, and we will probably have a massive team in five years. We're already massive, but having a bigger network, maybe people will move out of Cincinnati and make a Women of Columbus or Women of Cleveland – wherever. And this is more like five years down the line, too, but I'd love for us to have our own building. We've played around with what we would want on the first floor, and I'm a huge advocate for a laundromat and a daycare; it would be great for our staff and community.

The last question is one you’re familiar with. Tell us about influential women in your life.

My mom is my number one, and I know everyone says that but, she only, like, created me [laughs].

She's just incredible. She has been through so much, she's carried so much, and she's really carrying my family. We're Ugandan; she came to a new country with my dad for a better life for her kids. She started her own business. My dad worked a lot – he was a biochemist, so she was juggling four kids, which is a lot to manage. I'm so impressed by how she did it all. I think she's been very, very influential in my life. I think even little habits of hers, that I was not necessarily in love with growing up, I see myself doing. She's incredibly strong, and she's great to people. I strive to be more like her.

Our team and the people we interview are so influential to me. It's so inspiring to be around people who want change in our community and share a similar mindset. It's refreshing to be around people who have similar values as you. Chelsie and Kiersten [Wones, Women of Cincy editor-in-chief/residency director] are around my age, and they just started a business. That, to me, is just so incredible and so insane. And people like my boss Tamara Harkavy... I'm lucky to know them.

Community Mix is our monthly hodge-podge of content from the voices of a hodge-podge of beautiful Cincinnatians. This is “Meet the Team,” where our residents get to help us celebrate the amazing volunteers that make this mission work. Are you human identifying? Join the team.

Meet the Women of Cincy Team: Sandra Okot-Kotber