Rest in Power.

CATHY HAN MONTOYA

Cathy Han Montoya was Within Our Lifetime Network’s first employee.  She stepped right up to lead the Implicit Bias Campaign with Dushaw Hockett and Mike Wenger.  And with her skills and experience – along with bring her passion, generosity of spirit and her humor, the campaign was extremely successful. In a little over a year, she did remarkable organizing work supporting leaders and organizations in eight jurisdictions in their effort to launch and sustain education and awareness activities focused on implicit bias. We were all devastated when we heard the news of her being murdered in her home. We honor her and her legacy.  

Cathy died on Monday, April 13, 2015 in Atlanta, GA. She is a self-described "Queer Chicana Korean Feminist."  She was well known for her work in civil and human rights, Asian American women’s rights, immigrant rights, queer rights, and racial justice.  She brought her full self into each engagement.  She was a brilliant strategist, organizer, coalition builder and visionary.  Within Our Lifetime is so grateful she joined our community and we are forever changed by her.  She showed up with humility, with tenaciousness, with her unending belief in ending racism in our lifetimes. Rest in Power.

MAMA LILA CABBIL

On February 21, 2019, Mama Lila Cabbil passed away after a brief illness.

Mama Lila was a member of WOL’s Leadership Council and remained an active member through the Network’s sunset. She was key in the development of our Campaign to Combat the Impact of Implicit Bias and our Rapid Response system to mobilize material, human, and financial resources to support and increase the effectiveness of on-the-ground racial justice efforts.

She was also active in shaping #DisruptPhilanthropyNOW ensuring foundations were held accountable and their practices were equitable Mama Lila represented WOL in our meetings, conferences and retreats in Dallas, Atlanta, St. Louis/Ferguson, New York, Washington DC, Oakland, and Detroit.

Mama Lila was so many things…an activist, water warrior, mentor, guide, truth teller, and most importantly she was our friend. She shared her many gifts, loved hard with each relationship, acted always with integrity, wrote the book on accountability, and had cutting analysis with the best delivery. And when she walked in a room you would be touched by her smile and the sparkle in her eye.

Mama Lila was WOL - she worked to build this network from the ground up, and infused everything we did with love. While we will miss her dearly, we vow to continue her good work.