An advocate for women of color who strives to redefine what it looks like to organize, Erika Washington, Executive Director of Make It Work Nevada, is our guest this week on Nevada Week In Person.

♪♪ Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week In Person.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

In 2008 is when she moved from Detroit to Las Vegas, getting her start in Southern Nevada as a journalist for the only black newspaper in the state, the Las Vegas Sentinel-Voice, and when that newspaper closed in 2014, a series of unique events led to the launch of her career in social justice work.

Fueled by long-term solutions to the challenges that women of color face, Erika Washington, Executive Director of Make It Work Nevada, thank you for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-I'm so happy to be here.

-And it's long overdue, because we've had you on Nevada Week several times about police brutality, maternal mortality, midwifery.

And when I think of maternal mortality and the fact that, according to the CDC, black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women, that is a striking example to me of why an organization like yours is necessary.

But I wonder, do you get asked, Why not advocate for all women instead of just black women?

(Erika Washington) So it's never just black women, but what we're doing is centering black women, because you take steps like that, if we are able to alleviate those numbers and create safe spaces for birth, that's not only going to help black women, but it's going to help all women, all people who are giving birth, to have a safe and healthy baby and to live through, live through the birth of their child so they can see them grow up.

It's not just for black women, but when we center them, everyone wins.

-And so part of what you do in this role is lobby the state legislature.

Is there an example of legislation that you've helped pass that impacts women of color in particular?

-You know, everything that we do helps women of color.

So paid sick days is something that we advocated for Since 2015.

In 2017 we were able to get it all the way to the governor's desk, and then it was vetoed.

And then back in 2019, we were able to bring it back again and finally get something passed.

And so now there is a law around paid sick days for all workers who work for employers who have more than 50 employees.

And so, obviously, that includes black women, but it also includes everyone else as well.

So, you know, but there are so many black women who are head of household, who do not have the resources or the benefits to be able to take the time off that they need to take care of themselves and their family.

And so this is why we were advocating specifically for that policy.

And same with paid family leave, which is something that we're advocating for now in the current legislative session.

So it's for everyone, but specifically when we're thinking about those who are head of household, those who have the brunt of the responsibility on their shoulders, that we have to think about them and what they need.

-And so we are in the middle of the 2025 Nevada legislative session.

This is why we're lucky to have you, because you are up in Carson City all the time.

Thank you for making time.

-I'm back on Sunday.

-Okay.

And fighting for a measure, like you said, to expand paid family leave, which is one of the core issues from the Make It Work campaign initially.

It was a national campaign.

Now it's state based.

How did that come to be, and what was your role in that?

-Well, I started as a state-- the state director, so when it was a national campaign, and so we had an eye towards the 2016 election with an idea that women's pocketbook issues should be at the top of the ticket.

That's what we should be thinking about, because when-- -In 2016?

-In 2016, yes, so with that, was the focus.

So it was paid sick days, it was equal pay, paid family leave, all the things that, you know, really mattered to a lot of women at the time.

So with that, with that election that happened in 2016, there were a lot of changes, and we didn't think that we were going to get the policy, federal, that we wanted, the federal policy.

So the national campaign was meant to just be a campaign.

It only-- it had a short life, but we did so well here with organizing folks.

We had all of these great events, and people were really engaged and they were fired up and ready to go.

And so that's why we were able to in 2017 bring a paid sick day bill to the legislative body.

And so the founder of the campaign, Tracey Sturtevant, she asked, Well, what do you want to do now?

I said, I don't know.

So it really felt like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, of having the golden ticket and asking you what you want to do.

Well, I want to continue doing the work.

She said okay, so we were able to shift some things around, and we became a state based organization, and I became the executive director.

-And that's because of the work that you put in implementing in Nevada?

-Oh, yes.

It's a lot of work.

You know, it is, it's a big deal.

It's also, you know, an idea that I didn't know was a possibility.

I didn't know this was a job.

I didn't know that I could advocate for, you know, my community and get paid for it and have health insurance and life insurance.

And so, you know, it's an honor, it's a privilege, to be able to to build and to create a safe space for all women and all people who want to fight for a better world and a place, our version of the American dream.

-When I mentioned the unique circumstances or series of events that led to this, there was a car accident involved, right?

When did that happen?

-I got into a car accident in 2015.

-And then how did that lead to you getting connected to Make It Work?

-So I always say that, you know, things happen for a reason.

And so I was just driving down the street and on my way to work to a job that I did not love, and I was broadsided and hit and spun around, hit a telephone pole and had to be removed from the car by the firemen and all of that.

And I was laid up at home, and I always say it was sitting around watching a bunch of TED Talks and being on a lot of medication, pain medication, that I had this dream.

I'm like, I'm not doing what I want to be doing.

And I sat and wrote out a proposal of exactly what I wanted to do.

And I thought, I'll start my own organization.

Didn't know how, didn't know where, but then someone said, Hey, this group is looking for a state director, this Make It Work group.

I said, I've never heard of them.

Who are they?

And so when I read their job description, I said, Oh, this is me.

This is all for me.

And so when I interviewed with them, I said, You found your person.

I am the person.

This is-- this job is for me.

And she sort of laughed it off.

And she's like, Okay, well, let's just keep talking.

And so, you know, need say, here I am still making it work.

And that was over 10 years ago.

-Wow.

What was the job that you were doing that you didn't love?

-Oh, I was-- I was doing some communications for SEIU.

-Okay.

Well, and then I thought you might have said Las Vegas Urban League, because you had been working for them.

I don't think it was that you didn't love working for them, it's that you wanted something different.

-I did.

I wanted something bigger.

And so the Urban League was great.

The Urban League was actually a really big stepping stone for me.

I had a lot of mentorship from the then CEO at the time.

-What are you doing?

What kind of work?

-I was doing development and communications.

So I was their development director and their communications director.

-For those who don't know what Las Vegas Urban League is?

-The Urban League is a nonprofit organization that provides direct services, so folks who might need help paying their rent because they have an eviction notice or someone who needs help with their utilities because they've been shut off.

You can also get some job training done there.

And these are all really good things that folks need.

However, what wasn't happening was advocacy, because I saw people standing in line for hours and hours and hours to get help with their utilities, but then not able to advocate for the policies that would actually help them in the long term.

And it wasn't something the Urban League did, it wasn't their lane.

And I realized I needed to do more, because we can help all we want, but that's a band-aid.

We need to get to the root of the problem, and we need people to be able to advocate for themselves and say, Hey, these policies that you are putting into effect in Carson City or in Washington, D.C., are directly affecting me, and I'm not able to make ends meet.

So, you know, it's not enough just to give somebody a month's worth of rent.

-Prior to Las Vegas Urban League, you were with the newspaper that we talked about.

How did that come to be?

You told me the story off camera, a lot of tenacity for you getting into journalism in the first place.

Where did it start?

-I lied.

I lied, I lied.

I'll tell you like-- and I'm not a person who thinks people should lie in any way, but I really, I kept trying to get a hold of him, Ramon Savoy, who was publisher of the paper, and I couldn't get a hold of him.

And so, you know, I told a publicist that, you know, I'm going to write a story for the, for the Sentinel-Voice, because there was this big event happening on the Strip, this show.

So I went down and I interviewed all of these celebrities and was able to get this press pass to do it.

I spent the day there.

I took pictures, I did the whole thing--Vivica Fox, Brian McKnight, a bunch of other folks--and I wrote the story.

And then I knocked on the door and I handed him the story and the pictures, and I said, You should print this story, and you should hire me and pay me.

And that was really it.

-And you had prior experience as a journalist in Detroit, and you're still doing it-- -Yes.

- --in the form of podcasting.

-Yes.

I love podcasting.

It's so much fun.

-How can people listen to you?

-So every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on KUNV, which is UNLV's radio station.

We are on, but also we're available on streaming.

So Apple, Spotify, wherever you stream, you can get our podcast.

And so I have two.

I have "Sticky Note Conversations," which are long-form conversations where I really want to talk to people about the work that they do and the life they lead, and what they think about where we are now.

What is democracy?

What is your version of the American dream?

And so I really long for, like, those long conversations with folks.

And then we have another podcast called "American Dreams: Reproductive Justice."

And that's more docustyle.

And so there we are trying to really pull and tell stories of folks in various positions and kind of connecting the dots back to what reproductive justice is, because I think a lot of folks don't realize how, how deep it goes.

-We only have a few minutes left, so let's get that in.

What is reproductive justice, and let's also make sure to talk about Ruby Duncan-- -Ah, yes.

I love Miss Ruby.

- --because that became a new part of your mission how many years ago?

-I would say probably about two years ago is when we really decided to change and wanted to be a full reproductive justice organization.

So before, Make It Work Nevada was considered an economic justice organization; however, when I started to do deeper research into what reproductive justice was, I realized that all of these things are interconnected.

So economic justice is reproductive justice, because reproductive justice is the right to have children, the right not to have children, the right to raise children in a safe environment with access to resources, and the right to autonomy.

And so if you can have all those things, then you can have anything else that you need.

But if you do not have a safe environment in which to raise children, if you don't have access to resources, quality public schools, doctors who care about you, you know, adequate transportation, housing that you can afford, then you don't have reproductive justice and you don't have economic justice, you don't have environmental justice if you can't afford to keep your air condition on when it's 115 degrees outside.

These are all things we need in order to live the best versions of our lives.

And so this is why we became an RJ org.

-Ruby Duncan.

You came in contact with her through the newspaper that you worked for.

She is the advocate for civil rights as well as welfare rights here in Las Vegas, marched down the Las Vegas Strip with Jane Fonda.

I mean, such a such a figure.

What's wisdom that she has imparted on you that you still look to this day?

-You know, Miss Ruby, sometimes she tells me some things, and I don't know that I can repeat them on air.

But I'll tell you, Miss Ruby, you know, Don't take no stuff from nobody.

That's what she tells me, because she in the same way, she didn't know that that was a job.

She just knew that she needed to advocate for herself.

She knew she needed to advocate for poor mothers.

She knew it was so important, and she knew it wasn't right what was happening.

She didn't know how to do it, but she figured it out.

And so I think all the-- any time I get a chance to talk to her, it's just a wealth of knowledge that's, you know, kind of passed over me.

But also, if I'm feeling discouraged, I can call her and she can say, Honey, you know, there has been so much worse, and you're so smart, and you can do it.

You tell these people to get out there and vote.

We vote and we hold them accountable.

She's like, If I need to get up there to Carson City, we're going to get up there.

And so she has still got all that fire in her, and she's like, No, just we can't let people run over us.

And she was doing this long before I was born, but the work she did helped me, you know?

She is the reason why we have WIC offices in the state of Nevada.

She's the reason why we have food stamps available.

And I was a young mother, and I was also on food stamps.

I was also on WIC.

And so these are things that I needed in order to get my children the resources so that they could grow big and strong and do all of these amazing things.

And now they're college graduates, and they're off in the world doing amazing things.

But that's because I had the resources and the ability to make choices and do this work, not by myself, but with others.

-Erika Washington, Make It Work Nevada, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-Thank you.

I'm so happy to be here.

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