JoAnn Albers is the founder of Albers Consulting, LLC, of Portland, Oregon, which aids nonprofits in fund-raising, communications and marketing, board and leadership development, event planning, and other aspects of running a successful organization. Since 1992, her efforts on behalf of Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland have netted $40 million. She helped Oregon Health and Science University, as a member of the OHSU Foundation board, to raise more than $300 million and to establish the nationally renowned OHSU Women’s Health Center.

Fund-raising is a great field for women because I think the playing field is very level, whether you are staff or working in development or consulting. Women’s opportunities for success are equal to men’s.

As for myself, I’ve never had a problem working with men because men tend to be more direct in the way they communicate and more singular in their focus, and I am that way, too. I do think it is important to recognize the differences between the sexes, though. As a strategist, I take those differences into account when I analyze a situation and plan how I am going to achieve the end result I am looking for. I don’t look at gender differences as negative things; I just incorporate them into my strategy for achieving a positive solution.

It’s fairly common for me to be invited to tackle relationship issues or personal conflicts in fund-raising—issues involving both male and female donors. I think what I have been able to do as a woman is to see things from a different perspective and to relate to women on an emotional level. I have developed a lot of solid relationships with women, whether they were board members or staff.

I developed skills for working with teams and organizations at an early age. I grew up in a family of ten kids, and I am the third child and oldest daughter. I learned as a child how to be part of a team or a community because that’s the only way our family could function properly.

I don’t have a college education. I had a full scholarship offered to me based on financial need and academic achievement. However, my parents were from the generation that wondered why a girl would want to go to college unless she wanted to be a teacher or a nurse. I didn’t want to be either, so instead of going to college, I married a Catholic boy. Yet I have done well without a degree because what I did have was the drive to be successful. All the people I worked with in the fund-raising firm in which I came up had master’s degrees. I was the marketing person, and not having a degree did not stop me from increasing their business 42 percent in three years.

I do think that women can accomplish great things together. I have lent my fund-raising skills to the Orange County Women’s Philanthropy Fund, which is part of United Way. That is a powerful group of women. Ten years ago, we established a “circle of giving.” A lot of men didn’t think women could be successful in doing this, but it is working all around the country in groups called Women in Philanthropy. These groups together have raised close to $1 billion. All the women in these groups support and respect each other and their missions, financially and in the time they give.

One very important way to support other women is to mentor those who are starting out. I think we have an obligation to give back by helping younger women develop the skill sets they need to move into upper management, and I love doing it.

The first thing I’d say to a woman starting out in her professional career is, “Don’t be afraid of being successful.” After that, find out what you need to do to achieve a balance between work life and home life. That is one of the most difficult challenges in my own life and career, but finding that balance is important to our lives, our companies, our families—even our health. So we need a solid support system based on our family, our friends, and other women we meet professionally.