Women at The Doe Fund: Nadia

In honor of Women’s History Month, The Doe Fund is proud to celebrate the women on our team who lead racial and economic justice through the power of work — who fervently believe in building bridges of opportunity for our most underserved communities. 

Nadia Sadloski began her career at The Doe Fund in 2005 as the Assistant Director of Ready, Willing & Able at our Peter Jay Sharp Center for Opportunity. Now, she’s our new Vice President of Workforce Development. “This is my third go-around at The Doe Fund,” Nadia told us. “Each time I come back, I’ve brought a wealth of experience from other positions to share with this incredible organization.”Nadia’s winding journey included serving as Director of Social Services at Urban Pathways, returning to The Doe Fund to run the Ready, Willing & Able Pathway Program for three years, then becoming Director of Programs and later Interim Executive Director of Programs before leaving again. In her latest role, Nadia’s vision is to revitalize programs impacted by the pandemic and develop new programs that will take trainees to the next level.

“New York City has gotten exponentially more expensive to live in,” Nadia said. “Before, you could get a job making $15-$20 an hour and manage okay. That’s not the reality anymore. Now, we’ve got people making decent wages that are having a hard time finding housing, looking at rooms instead of their own places.”

She continued, “I want to tap into other economies and workforce areas we have not looked into where we can develop training tracks.”

Nadia’s passion for social justice came early in life. “My family used to donate to Covenant House, and we’d receive these pamphlets. There were these stories about children, heartbreaking stories that bothered me. I grew up fortunate with a  loving family, and I was so far removed from all of that, and it struck a chord,” she said. 

Her commitment to helping others only grew as an adult. “My first job out of grad school was in an ‘alternatives to incarceration’ program in a lockdown facility,” Nadia said. “It put things into perspective about people who the criminal justice system has impacted and how the rest of their lives get pulled off track. Despite the fact that they served their time and were rehabilitated and released back into society, every door seemed closed to them. They really get a raw deal. Especially for communities already experiencing inequalities, it became this systematic way to keep those communities down. That burned me up. What drives me is trying to correct that imbalance and be part of the solution instead of perpetuating the problem.“

Nadia is excited by how The Doe Fund can address these inequalities. “I’m very excited about Jennifer Mitchell returning to The Doe Fund as President because I know she has a lot of ideas. I’m eager to hear from her and what she envisions,” she told us. “Under her leadership, I’m confident we can ensure that we’re providing trainees with the best possible outcomes so that they can not only get a job, but then continue to develop in that job, increase their income, increase their skills, increase their learning, and increase their quality of life.”

For other women who have chosen a career in workforce development, Nadia’s best advice is to be humble. “This is a challenging field. We aren’t saviors of anybody and we don’t know everything. Our job is to help people with what they have inherently inside of them — to listen to people who need some assistance getting off the ground.”

Nadia credits her mother for encouraging her to speak her voice, the teachers who believed in her and what she could achieve, and the many mentors who inspired her career. “I’ve learned so much from Felipe Vargas [our Vice President of Programs] and admire so much of what he has done. I’ve worked with some of the most amazing people. I get so much inspiration from the trainees we serve and the dedicated staff who give so much of their time and heart. I’ve been truly blessed to be surrounded by so many inspiring people — so many to learn from.”

She continued, “I truly love working at The Doe Fund. There is so much support here and I;ve always felt very at home here. I applaud The Doe Fund for being risk-takers.”