Lisa Trefzger Clarke Ramps Up the “Women in Development” Initiative

Lisa Trefzger Clarke (she/they) is an educator, mother, wife, scholar and social justice advocate. She’s the daughter of a German immigrant and German-Jewish refugee, and identifies as queer and disabled. With over 20 years of experience in nonprofit work and leadership, she now researches the intersections of feminist care work, policy, legislation and frontline practice. She spoke to PANL Perspectives about her recent research and the MPNL program’s newly created Women in Philanthropy (WiP) project, which she’s leading.

Question: What are the topics of your recent PhD and research?

Lisa Trefzger Clarke: My PhD comes out of Canadian Studies and the nonprofit and voluntary sector, specifically the work related to addressing gender-based violence in Ontario. I looked at psychotherapists and counselors – and the legislation, credentialization, the Nonprofit Act, and the ways in which these intersect for psychotherapists and social workers who work with survivors of gender-based violence.

Question: Your role in WiP is the first of its kind in Canada. How did WiP start, and what’s driving it?

Lisa Trefzger Clarke: This three-year opportunity was founded through the philanthropist Roslyn Bern and Dr. Susan Phillips. It’s a privilege to join these women. When I met Roslyn, I was just so amazed by the work of the Leacross Foundation. She really demonstrates to me the vision of this project. Dr. Susan Phillips and I have discussed the way Women in Philanthropy is a quiet power, a true opportunity for social change, but these women are becoming more important, visible and powerful to the charitable and nonprofit sectors. You can see that in the work of the Leacross Foundation: the interests in education, the environment, young people, women, especially in women in STEM. And I’m a little bit of a geek myself. I love STEM education. I love playing with microelectronics. As much as I love to write, I also love to play and tinker, and what really excites me is the way Roslyn Bern is also interested in the how women can be represented — women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people can be represented in STEM in powerful ways. We (I am part of the queer community) have great ideas. We are innovative and creative.

Employment in the charitable and nonprofit sectors is dominated by women. As a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, I’ve seen myself represented in this field, especially in nonprofits, like in the work of harm reduction in HIV/AIDS, and so, I’m excited to be working with, and working for these incredible humans at Carleton University who want to make a difference through the charitable sector, nonprofit work, social enterprises, and venture capitalism. What are women doing in those spaces? What can changemaking mean? What can hope mean in times like these?

Question: Specifically, how is the WiP project ramping up?

Lisa Trefzger Clarke: We’re already up and running. We have a PhD student, Allison Norris, who has just joined us. Allison and I have delved deeply into the history of women in philanthropy in Canada — what it looked like in the past and what it can look like in the future. We’re hosting a roundtable this summer, and are building a steering committee and setting goals, one of which is to facilitate mutual learning among women philanthropists, changemakers and individuals from diverse generations and communities.

I see myself as a philanthropist. As I’ve aged, as my children have grown up, I invested in organizations that I care about, and I know other women do, too. I’ve learned lessons along the way, and others have, too. Let’s share those lessons. Let’s understand how the Nonprofit Act works. Let’s understand how foundations work, so that our money goes to the places that we believe in. We’re going to build that research. There’s limited research in Canada on women in philanthropy. We want to build a body of research and encourage other scholars to join us. We aim to engage directly with the sector itself — to raise awareness, support leadership for women in the voluntary sector, expand our audience, and empower individuals in ways that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Question: Can you talk more about your role in WiP?

Lisa Trefzger Clarke: The work in the social sector, particularly in social wellbeing, has been led by women and people from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community throughout our history – and continues to be. That work, those voices, matter. Often our care work, our activism, was silenced and these voices weren’t heard. Activism is a way to amplify them. After the 1960s and 1970s, when there was so much conversation about equality in the workplace – about pay equity, for instance –some women gained financial parity or opportunities that allowed them to reinvest in the voluntary sector, the nonprofit sector. That’s interesting to me, and I want to understand what they were thinking, what motivated them — what the personal missions and values were.

We stand with them. Even a few weeks ago, in Ontario, our government was challenging Indigenous people who have treaty rights on this land. We witness a lot of racism against racialized people, new Canadians, immigrants, and refugees. We have a global crisis in real time. Voices are trying to be heard in our sector. I stand with them in this WiP project, alongside Roslyn Bern and Dr. Phillips, at Carleton University, as we explore and amplify opportunities for changemaking and social belonging.

My mother is a German-Jewish refugee, and my father is a German immigrant – and my great-grandmother survived Ravensbrück concentration camp. Many people have had firsthand experience with the dynamics of war and persecution. My family came here to have a better, safer life, as have many immigrant families, and I want to invest in that, in better social services, in living up to recommmendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and in this WiP project. This project focuses on the issues that matter most for families, children, for all of us, and focuses on how to invest in the social change we seek.

Sign up for PANL Perspectives, MPNL’s free newsletter.

Thursday, June 19, 2025 in For homepage, News & Events, Shifting Power, Women in Philanthropy
Share: Twitter, Facebook