The Energizer for the ages

As CEO of the Metta Fund, she oversees money going to community non-profits and public initiatives aimed at alleviating the impact of poverty and racism on our elders.  She strives for equity in aging across all her platforms. She currently serves as President of San Francisco’s Commission for Disability and Aging Services and is Chairman of the Board for Northern California Grantmakers. In our conversation she refuses to dwell on her illustrious titles, feeling privileged that she can give back to individuals she considers wiser than her. When she talks about her work, she is so fierce in her compassion for the aging, she tears up. She wants everyone to experience dignity as they age, which is often elusive for the elderly in our current economic system. She is passionate about combating our systems of inequality and refuses to give in to convenient models of care for older adults.  She advocates for new innovations that will allow all boats to be raised together.

When I sat down to talk with her, we immediately started discussing her family. Like many of us, her story starts before she begins. She was the youngest of four siblings born to Robert Leon Spears and Beatrice Williams Spears. They moved to the city of Richmond, California in 1944. They wanted to escape the oppressive environment of the Jim Crow South that was rampant in East Texas. Her parents kept the struggles from their early years largely private from their children. They were determined to find new opportunities and horizons for their family. They didn’t want to dwell on the difficulties they’d had growing up in families with 9 to 11 siblings in a rural prejudiced Texas community during war years.

Bob and Bea married in their early 20s - later in life compared to other couples of that time. Together they consistently stayed one step ahead of the many pitfalls that young families experienced. Waiting nine years to begin having children allowed them to establish savings and a household.  Janet’s father took a job at the Mare Island Navy Shipyard working the swing shift, 4pm – midnight.  He would hold this job and these challenging hours his entire working life. At the time, Mare Island was one of two Navy shipyards that admitted blacks as union workers. This was due to Roosevelt’s signing of the Fair Employment Discrimination Law in 1941, which to be enforced, was followed in 1943 by a budget proposal. In 1946, Southerners who had taken control of the budget in Congress dissolved the effort. However, the law stayed in place long enough to establish desegregation at the Mare Island shipyard.  Janet’s parents lived in a trailer on her uncle’s lot giving them time to save money. They proudly purchased a home on 9th street in Richmond.  Janet’s mother volunteered at their church and did hairdressing work out of the home.  Later when they moved to Vacaville, she became a teacher’s aide thus adding an additional income to their household. 

The Spears’ first child was born in 1954. At that time the hospital in Richmond, which was closest to their home, prohibited the delivery of Black babies. They were forced to drive to Berkley, further from their home, to bring their first child into the world, a baby girl. By the time Janet’s second sibling came along 20 months later, the hospital in Richmond had changed their rules and her older brother was born there. Janet points out this fact and says “more history that has gotten lost”.  Janet’s third sibling, a sister, came next.  Janet was their fourth and last baby; born nine years after the first.

While the family lived in Richmond, the Fullers, who lived across the street became their de facto grandparents. To this day Janet uses a pot given to her by Mrs. Fuller that is fondly referred to as “grandma’s pan.”  The families regularly attended Church together; Sundays were an all-day affair for the Baptist congregation.

The Spears family had a busy city life in Richmond. But in the 60’s when there was some concern that their older children could get into trouble on the streets of Richmond, they sought a more pastoral life. The Spears’ wanted to find a place of solitude and normalcy for their young children. They kept their house on 9th street, firmly believing you should keep everything you buy, and moved their children away from the Bay Area to a farm in Vacaville, CA.

Janet was 2 years old when her family started farm life in a community of 13,000 people and only one traffic light. She remembers their fridge and freezer being full of paper-wrapped meat from their cows, pigs, or chickens that were butchered for family meals. They had robust gardens to fill their table with produce throughout the year. All the siblings were assigned chores. They would probably accuse her of having the least number of chores since she was the youngest! But she preemptively defends herself saying, “I always had a pig or chicken to feed before heading to softball practice.” When asked what, if anything, they bought from the grocery store, Janet admitted they bought white eggs. She and her siblings refused to eat the brown chicken eggs from their farm. Her mom would use the brown eggs for baking or Janet would give them away to neighbors, wheeling her little red wagon through the country roads.  Janet and I laugh about how much we spend on brown eggs these days.

Her family was always generous with what they had, giving back to their community including those brown eggs from their chickens and vegetables from their gardens. It is obvious that consistent hard work paired with generosity of spirit is what guides Janet’s life today.

When speaking about her family she is most impassioned talking about what her dad went through in his job. She admits that she didn’t think much about it at the time, but in retrospect, it’s difficult to stomach what he must have been through. He worked swing shifts at the Navy shipyard for decades and was never promoted to a daytime shift. He trained his white coworkers how to do their jobs, bore the wrath of hurtful and racist language from colleagues, but kept his head down in order to care for his family and to avoid getting fired for lashing out. She says, “he was a soft-spoken man, but he drank.” We agreed that he had to - an escape was necessary when there was no way out from under that burden. Her parents achieved so much by carefully considering each move in life; the unfairness of what he had to endure continues to sting.  

Her mother, Bea, worked in agriculture before completing her AA degree and starting work in the Vacaville School District.  Janet was extremely close to her mother who was a true force of nature. 

She made her children think hard about their behavior and their decisions.  Bea shared her wisdom not only with her family but with everyone she was in contact with.  She encouraged people to strive for excellence.

Janet made it through high school with the clear idea that her only option was college. All her siblings had gone and set a high bar for her. She continued on that path and attended the University of the Pacific. She excelled at math which made her want to pursue a job in engineering. The University of the Pacific had a program that facilitated co-working and school, allowing her to gain valuable field experience while studying for her Electrical Engineering degree. With this in hand, she was offered employment both in government and the private sector. She chose AT&T as they would pay for an advanced degree yet didn’t make her commit to work requirements post-graduation. Like her folks, she was always trying to stay one step ahead of the future.

During her rising sophomore year in college her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was devastating for all family and friends of Bea. She fought cancer for 8 years, living long enough to see her youngest graduate college and launch her career with AT&T.

Janet stops to share one thing about college that was important to her. She joined a sorority. There were five historically Black sororities and fraternities on campus, and she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Being in a sorority taught her that the busiest among us are the ones who get the most done. Her ability to balance engineering, Greek life, and extracurriculars gave her confidence to go with gusto into corporate life. She attributes her ability to take on multiple board seats, government appointments, a demanding CEO role, and family obligations to her development of time management skills during college. For Janet, having a busy schedule isn’t a bad thing, it keeps her moving and doing. You can tell she thrives on this energy of inertia.

She chose Purdue University for her graduate degree. It was a one-year program, but one year in Indiana in the mid-80’s certainly had a big impact. She remembers seeing a billboard advertisement for “coon hunters.” She was not in California anymore. At Purdue, she fell in with a diverse group of other one-year program affiliates, all were paid a stipend while they attended school. Janet’s stipend from AT&T was $1500/month, paid to her for earning a master’s degree.  Considering she only paid $300 rent, her stipend was substantial! She remembers mostly studying at the library but admits to having a bit of fun. 

When she had some down time, she and her other school/work friends would go out to fancy brunches and dinners. Their backgrounds ranging from Black to White to Mexican raised eyebrows.  Restaurant owners would many times give them suspicious looks.  But since these students were well-funded the restaurateurs had no choice but to serve them. Janet and I briefly talk about how money buys power. The restaurant owners acquiesced because the students had the power of the purse. We can attempt to solve issues related to discrimination in a myriad of ways, but money always speaks loudest.

When Janet graduated, she moved to New Jersey to begin her career with AT&T.  She stayed with them for 21 years. She navigated many roles that spanned from engineering to marketing to sales. She was both an individual contributor and a manager of large teams, which is where she excelled. Her success was due to an earnest desire to learn something new, go somewhere different, and be responsible for the next big thing. Remaining limber in corporate America can be hard, but she was consistently rewarded for her ability to continuously change with the times and fearlessly tackle each new assignment. When she moved into a sales leadership role, she was a master at “selling smart” Knowing the industry’s technology inside and out enabled her sell to clients based on what truly mattered to their businesses. It’s not surprising that someone with the level of strategic acumen she gained throughout her corporate career would eventually become a CEO.

I asked if gender and/or ethnicity shaped her career at all. She said, “it helped, until it didn’t.” She attributes getting more attention early in her career because, as a young, black, female engineer, she easily stood out. However, as she climbed the corporate ladder, her differences held her back. She took up golf so she could insert herself into the “meetings” that took place before the official meetings. I forgot to tell her in our discussion that I did this too. I’m certain her hand-eye coordination and athleticism won her more praise than mine, but it’s a bit shocking to think of how many women have probably spent money on golf shoes, clubs, and lessons in hopes of being included and getting paid or promoted commiserate with their skill level.

Janet married a man she met while at AT&T. He was tall and handsome and had immigrated from Senegal. His family was Muslim. His father had two wives and eleven children. This information about her ex-husband’s family isn’t truly relevant to the story but I must add it somewhere because I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to be married to someone who grew up with a rich father who had two wives. And, he only had two wives because he couldn’t afford to have more (in Muslim culture he was allowed up to 4). It sounded like Janet and Abdul had too many differences to stay together, but perhaps this experience is what allows her to appreciate the many diverse backgrounds in the San Francisco community.

Towards the end of her time at AT&T she traveled frequently with a group of ladies visiting baseball stadiums throughout the country. Baseball is one of Janet’s passions, along with music; especially gospel music.

It makes a very sweet story to say that Janet and her wife Marie met working at AT&T but didn’t fall in love until they traveled together to visit baseball stadiums across the country.  Baseball is a passion for both. Each had divorced their previous male partners and didn’t expect their friendship to grow into a beautiful partnership.  Janet now identifies as bisexual - her heart wants what it wants.

Janet retired from AT&T expecting to simply stop working at a young age. She took a year off and realized she wasn’t ready to watch her bank account quickly dwindle. Her one-year sabbatical sounded pretty grand and included a travel excursion to South America.  However, what surprised me most was that she rode SF Muni for pleasure. Janet would take the bus all the way to the end of the line, walk around, and then get back on to ride home. I can relate because one of my favorite things in San Francisco is to ride the bus all the way to the Sutro Baths, walk around, then take it back. But I’m still not sure I’d use my year off for that! It inspires a humbling serenity.

After a year off, Janet was ready to go back to work. She explained that her career move from the corporate world to the non-profit sector started with a headhunter. She found someone to help her transition to a philanthropic role. She took a job at the East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF), a huge $400 million-backed non-profit in the East Bay. Many of EBCF’s programs target the Richmond area, so I’m sure it was rewarding to contribute to her place of birth. She created a perfectly timed and well-written white paper on strategy that earned her a promotion to COO. But like the infamous song, her heart was in San Francisco.

Although she grew up east of San Francisco, her roots have extended into the city. She’d been through a marriage and a divorce and ultimately found her life-long love, her wife Marie. They are now firmly planted together in San Francisco. Janet’s heart told her it was time to dig into her own community.  She once again contacted a headhunter who helped her find work in San Francisco and she landed at Metta Fund. Her position there has been a terrific fit, tying together so many of her passions – community, reverence for her elders, and equality of life for all. As a strong strategist, she is focused on long-term solutions that will benefit the city, the county, Metta Fund grantees, and the other organizations whose boards she sits on. She continues lending her support to the community with passion, empathy, and the energy necessary to make a difference.

10% of the sales of this wine will support Southwest Community Corporation (I.T. Bookman Community Center). It is the community center closest to Janet’s home that focuses on equity in aging, provides transport services to the elderly, and is expanding so it can serve more folks in the community. I’m proud to be a part of her passion in this small way.