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Paola Maranan: A Voice for Children
by Kevin P. Henry

An African American family was living in squalor in a cold shack, where layers of newspapers lined the walls for insulation. Paola Maranan was shaken by what she saw. “There was no running water. A five-year-old boy stood before me with no hope in his eyes.”

That was over 20 years ago, when Maranan, then armed with her Bachelor of Arts degree in government and fresh out of Harvard, worked for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) in rural Alabama on a civil rights and voting rights project. “That was a transforming moment for me,” Maranan says. “I had never seen such poverty.”

Fast forward to the present, where on one particularly warm day in Seattle, Maranan, now 44, sits in a conference room at the offices of the Children’s Alliance, an advocacy network of over 8,000 members across Washington state who speak up for kids to their elected officials. She is cheerful and gregarious, punctuating the conversation with reflective pauses and broad smiles. Maranan turns serious when asked about the organization’s mission — to be a resonant voice for underserved and underprivileged children in Washington. As she talks about the plight of children, the conversation often blends with the sound of voices of small children streaming through an open window from the day care center next door.

Maranan is the executive director of the Children’s Alliance, which is located in the heart of the city’s Central District, and has been with the organization in various capacities since 1993. But her life might have been different if not for her work in Alabama during the mid ’80s where she saw first-hand how racism and poverty had beaten down African American communities. According to Maranan, you would have thought you were living in the 1950s, not in the 1980s.

“There were still separate boy scout troops there,” she says. “I was raised Catholic, and I was actually shunned when I went to the white Catholic church instead of the black church. It was bizarre.”

Growing up in liberal and multicultural Seattle, Maranan had been insulated from the racism and heartbreaking poverty that existed in the South. Mixed Filipino and African American, she was adopted and raised by a Filipino-African American father and Japanese mother. She does not know who her birthfather is, but she does know he is Filipino. She found out her birth mother died when she (Maranan) was only 19. She hasn’t wanted to know more because of the close relationship she has always had with her adoptive father, Arturo, who raised her from infancy. Lucia, her adoptive mother, died when Maranan was 5 years old.

“I grew up with a strong Filipino identity from my (adoptive) father and a strong overall Asian identity from growing up with Asian immigrant parents (my adoptive father and stepmother). While I don’t claim Japanese heritage, of course, I have a lot in common with my Japanese friends because we were all raised by Japanese women!”

Maranan’s African American identity developed when she went to Harvard. “I wasn’t welcome among the Asian students and the black folks accepted me and assumed that I was part of the group. It turned out well — it was a great time in my life to develop that identity.”

Ten years ago, Maranan says she became even more sensitized to institutional racism, one of the major factors she says that contributes to the disturbing health disparities affecting children of color in Washington state. All of her life experiences have contributed to her having a strong compassion for children, particularly children of color.

When she began at the Alliance, one of Maranan’s key activities was helping the organization define its public policy priorities, designing and providing advocacy training to groups across the state, and coordinating the organization’s efforts to look at and respond specifically to the needs of children and families of color. An ardent, vocal supporter of children’s rights, Maranan has been a regular visitor in Olympia. Recently, she was on the steps of the capitol applauding a bill signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire to insure that all children in the state receive comprehensive health care. In 2006, Maranan was one of 600 people who converged on the capitol steps for the “Have a Heart for Kids Day.” The purpose was to lobby for early learning, school breakfasts and foster care.

“Paola’s passion and enthusiasm for her work is contagious,” says former Children Alliance executive director, Peter Berliner. “She cares so deeply about what she does and she is committed to it on both a professional and personal level.”

Heading the Children’s Alliance and sustaining her energy are no problem for Maranan, but what is difficult are challenges and barriers that come with the territory, such as lack of funding, societal indifference and politics. Maranan admits she sometimes feels like she’s walking a political tightrope in a windstorm. However, one key to keeping her balance is to surround herself with people who share her vision, such as her family.

“The people who are around me in my life are the people who want to discuss these issues,” she says. “This is work about hope and possibility. I maintain a balance of being very angry and frustrated and very hopeful and optimistic. You can’t do this work without being frustrated and angry. Why would you do this work unless you have hope, though?”

Maranan also shares her optimism with other parents, and in particular, with members of the Equity and Anti-Racism committee at AS 1 (Alternative School 1) in Seattle. “Paola is the person I go to when I need a dose of real talk and when I don’t know what to do, says committee member Leslie Morishita. “She’s insightful, wise and has a magical way of bringing out the best in people, not by being preachy, but by example. She’s a teacher to all of us.”

Maranan sees a clear and bright future, but it hinges on the investment of a society that sees today’s youth as the key to the future. “It is critical to invest in children and invest early,” she says. “You don’t have a second chance to go back. If we want the right kind of world, we need smart, savvy adults who understand how things work. No child should be compromised. I feel we have the capacity to change the world for kids; the hardest thing isn’t money, but the will and political will. We need to be willing to spend more and invest in children.”

To find out more about the Children’s Alliance, visit www.childrensalliance.org.

Kevin Henry is a regular contributor to Seattle Woman.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company