Pati M

I was born and raised in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood by Mexican/Guerrerense immigrants; a disabled home worker and a meat packing factory worker. After graduating from NEIU, I received my Masters in Latin American and Latino Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago and began my PhD in Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara before leaving academia and transitioning into the field of philanthropy. Having studied sex work for several years, I was selected as a Fellow of the Sex Worker Giving Circle (SWGC) at Third Wave Fund in 2021 before being hired as SWGC Program Associate and is now SWGC Program Officer. As part of my role, I produce social justice philanthropy education for incoming Fellows, facilitate participatory grantmaking, and support sex worker movement organizations from across the country who become Third Wave Fund grantees. My education in sociology and the mentorship I received at NEIU continue to be the foundation of my work today, channeling the popular education I received into the SWGC'S curriculum and the radical theory I was taught into my service to the sex worker community.