Laurel Domanski Diaz, Director of Resources
International Parters in Mission

As a director of resources, Laurel balances the needs of an organization with a global focus that breaks down barriers of faith, culture, and economic privilege. IPM is Cleveland's example of a multi-tasking, interfaith change-agent with a threefold mission: providing funding to their Project Partners around the world, offering technical assistance and training programs regionally, and developing an Immersion Experiences Program (7-10 day trips to become “immersed” in the lives of their Project Partners), through education, exchange of ideas, and understanding of culture. IPM's support comprises fifty-two Project Partners in twenty-five countries around the world, focusing on the regions of Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent. This local non-profit has a well developed vision, assisting environmental justice, women, youth, and community building. Cool Cleveland senior editor Tisha Nemeth-Loomis spoke with her about IPM's mission, gender-positive concerns abroad, and IPM's impact both locally and internationally.

Are you seeing an increase of awareness internationally with women and children’s mental and physical welfare? Where is this trend gaining importance and action the most?
The work of IPM’s Projects is very focused on mental and physical welfare. I would say that this expands beyond what may first come to mind when you think of mental and physical health. The access to traditional western “doctors” is lacking in most countries we work with. Women develop programs to deal with these issues, using the resources that they have available. For example, a project that we work with in Nicaragua, Mujer y Comunidad, empowers women to take responsibility for their own and their family’s health. This is done through a nutritional program which focuses on cereals and soy products that can be produced in the community, and the production of natural medicines for ailments such as digestive disorders, respiratory disorders and women's healthcare. We observe this trend throughout the countries we work with. When women are given the opportunity to utilize the resources they possess in their own communities (both human and material) and are given some resources (financial and technical) from organizations like IPM, there is a huge recipe for success.

Does Cleveland have active women's rights advocates, and who are the ones making changes both locally and internationally?
I know there are hundreds of organizations working in Northeast Ohio advocating on behalf of and empowering local women to make change in their lives. This is one thing that I find beautiful about our city: we have so many amazing nonprofit organizations. The challenge is for these organizations to work together and providing them with the financial resources they need to succeed.

Has the feminist movement or the increased Christian presence improved health and safety issues for women and children in the U.S.?
That’s a tough one to answer. Both movements have positive and negative aspects to them, depending on where an organization or individual stands on the spectrum of beliefs and issues. Though they are often at odds, these two movements have come together to advocate for issues surrounding child protection, child pornography, human trafficking, and domestic violence. An example of where IPM embraces both of these movements is through our support of the Women’s Re-Entry Network (WREN) of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries. This program provides women who are recently released from prison with a positive way to transition back into everyday life, through job skills training and educational opportunities. Many of these women are single mothers who have few options in terms of taking care of themselves and their families. WREN helps them obtain the necessary skills and self-empowerment structures to move their lives forward.

How do you construct gender-positive strategies to improve women's concerns nationally?
The core of IPM’s work is about empowering and investing in women on many fronts. Locally, we work with Esperanza Threads to assist them financially in the provision of sewing classes for low income women and the production of organic clothing. Internationally we work with projects that are developed, organized and run by women as they work to improve their lives and their communities. In Uganda, our IPM Project trains women and youth to sensitize their communities to health issues, particularly HIV/AIDS, and provides economic opportunities for community members.

What are the options for self-empowerment, employment, and education to these women targeted in your outreach?
Our projects are focused on empowering women and children to develop opportunities for themselves and make a way out of the cycle of poverty, which is so entrenched in the developing world. The majority of our projects focus on education, whether it be about health, nutrition, or skill-building. Many of them encompass an income-generating activity, from producing traditional handcrafts, to operating a community poultry farm, to producing and selling natural medicinal products.

Human rights violations are high in foreign countries that place little or no value on women and children's well being. Does IPM's international presence liberate perceptions of women and children in other countries, and what is involved in this educational process?
Traditional human rights organizations predominately focus on advocating on behalf of the individuals they represent. IPM empowers individuals to advocate on their own behalf and to make change in their own communities. One example of this is our Bride Rescue Project in Kenya. Here is a community that has embraced the idea of protecting young girls from forced early marriages, and the traditional practice of genital mutilation. In doing so, it has created a boarding school refuge for girls and young women when their families fail them. There is controversy with this project, because it's created by Kenyans and for Kenyans who are tired of these harmful practices. This is not the North imposing their beliefs on the South, but rather an awesome example of liberation from every angle!

What is the secret to success for an ecumenically-focused organization in the secular business world; how do you fit in, adapt, or is it IPM's goal to go against the grain of conventional business strategies?
I think there must be a balance between embracing the spiritual beliefs of those individuals you work with and maintaining an open mind and perspective to all businesses and organizations that you come across. IPM’s interfaith approach is all inclusive and allows us to fit in quite well with many people’s mindsets. The challenge comes in when people can’t see beyond our Christian roots or don’t want to expand. We have made a strategic decision to be interfaith and must continue to move in that direction regardless, knowing that we have so much to learn from our global community.

How has IPM's ecumenical approach proven successful within our society that has become increasingly secular? Why do you think groups and organizations shun faith-based business support and partnerships?
I think there are many people out there, craving alternatives to the glaring extremism we are seeing today. IPM provides a nice middle ground for people to come together and engage in positive activity surrounding issues that are so important, so it is hard to debate them, such as the AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa, lack of health care access for children, and women’s empowerment in traditionally male-dominated societies, to name a few. I think that faith-based alternatives are shunned because it is perceived as a “my way” type of approach. There is an amazing spectrum of organizations on the faith-based continuum, from extreme evangelicals to liberal, cutting-edge individuals. Not knowing the facts, or not knowing where an organization stands makes it easier to shun faith-based initiatives. IPM, on the other hand, believes that being interfaith and working with people from across the global faith spectrum is the only way forward.

How will IPM demonstrate peace and hope while maintaining justice around the world? What are some examples of local individuals impacting in this area?
IPM’s Immersion Experiences Program is probably one of the most effective ways in which we promote peace, hope and justice. Through this program, we take groups of North Americans to the countries where we have Project Partners—particularly El Salvador, Kenya, Nicaragua and India—to expose them to the global realities of poverty and injustice. Our Project Partners have the opportunity to share their stories and learn that people in the North do care about their destinies. By engaging in this type of activity, individuals on these delegations come back with a greater sense of responsibility toward their global community. A connection is made and you can no longer just sit and not care about what is happening.

How did IPM start, and how has it evolved through the years?
IPM was founded thirty years ago in St. Louis, Missouri by two Lutheran missionaries with the vision that mission should be a two-way street, and that we have as much to learn from the people we seek to “serve” as we have to give. IPM built partnerships with small community based organizations, through the provision of funding and two-way communication. In 2001, IPM moved to Cleveland with the hiring of Joseph Cistone, Executive Director. At the same time we became totally interfaith, and began to embrace practices that provide funding to our Project Partners around the world, offering technical assistance and training programs regionally, and the developing of an Immersion Experiences Program. It's a way to promote education, exchange ideas, and understand many cultures and its history.

Global awareness is not a topic commonly discussed in Cleveland. What is an effective way to spread this discussion and involve our region?
This is an interesting question to ponder. We are a community built on immigrants: Italians, Poles, Slovenian, Puerto Rican, Sudanese, and Russian to name a few. We certainly appear to be diverse on the surface, and then you look a little closer, and see that we all live in separate communities with our own restaurants, stores and friends. Occasionally, we break out of our bubble but quickly return to where we feel comfortable. Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of people who break out and love it! I’m a born and bred Pole who grew up in Brecksville and I now live on the near west side with my spouse, Sergio Diaz, and our Puerto Rican neighbors. But for the most part, I think this massive division within our city neighborhoods is the reason why global awareness is not talked about.

IPM works to reduce stigmas that exist in cultures and faiths. The most effective way to do this is by exposing individuals to our global community who would otherwise not have had such an opportunity. We bring our Project Partners to Cleveland, and we take Clevelanders outside their comfort zones. We bring in speakers and engage in conversations surrounding the issues facing our brothers and sisters in Latin America, Africa, Asia and beyond.

How will IPM and its partnering organizations achieve "environmental justice" and what are the results and challenges?
Environmental justice reflects a reverence for the natural world, which is threatened on many fronts today. IPM believes the despoiling of the earth has a detrimental effect, especially for marginalized communities. IPM looks at the issue of environmental justice in a holistic sense: If we are jeopardizing forests and land areas with construction and destruction, we are also jeopardizing the communities that make their livelihoods in those areas. We must work mutually to educate large entities and small communities about the importance of conservation. In Bolivia, IPM supports the CER-DET Project which works with indigenous communities of the “Chaco” to help community members improve their income through their arts and crafts production, the preparation of traditional medicine, and a greater participation in the local power structure. In Nepal, we support QUEST, which is working to plant trees where massive de-forestation has occurred. QUEST is instituting the idea of agro-forestry, where natural forests and agriculture can subsist in harmony.

What attracted you to IPM's mission, and what keeps you motivated when our nation and others are destructive towards humans and the environment?
I came across IPM at the [former] Federation for Community Planning’s Human Services Institute about two years ago. When I walked up to the table, my jaw dropped. I could not believe such an interesting organization existed in Cleveland and that I had never heard of it. I began volunteering a few weeks later, and when my present position opened up, I jumped at the chance to work here. Working for IPM fulfills me on both a personal and spiritual level, and I’m able to work within the issues that I care most about: women’s empowerment, health, and environmental justice. The interfaith aspect to our work is satisfying because it is all-embracing. I do not believe one religion is superior to the other or that any one institution has the “right” answers. My motivation is IPM’s work around the world. To restate the question — "What keeps me motivated when so many nations are destructive toward both humans and the environment?" I know that what I do everyday helps combat that destructiveness, and makes a difference in the lives of not only our Project Partners, but also those who are involved in our work.

What has IPM gained in knowledge overseas that can be applied to the betterment of Cleveland, and vice-versa?
Important knowledge we have gained is that community leaders and organizations must listen to community members to gain a sense of the needs that exist; I think that this type of dialogue has been lacking in our community - not to say that it is the fault of one side or the other. Community members are to blame when we don’t take the time to go to our community meetings, to vote, or to communicate with our local and regional representatives. The leaders are to blame when decisions are made without taking into account how they are going to affect not only our region, but our neighborhoods, schools, and livelihoods. It's why I appreciate a publication like Cool Cleveland which brings both sides together to dialogue, whether it be electronically or through the numerous events, meetings, and discussions highlighted in the newsletter. We are lucky to have such a resource.

Interview by Tisha Nemeth-Loomis

Image by Laurel Domanski Diaz

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