We are so excited to introduce you to Alexandra Erjavec, RAVEN’s Senior Philanthropy Manager. Alexandra joined the RAVEN team this past July, and she has already made such an impact. Joining us from Syilx, Sinixt and Ktunaxa territories (Nelson, B.C.), Alexandra is a second-generation settler whose grandparents immigrated from Slovenia, Lithuania and Cuba. Alexandra has a decade of experience in non-profit fund development and specialises in Major Gift work. She has worked across arts, health, and disabilities sectors, and looks forward to bringing her passion and expertise to support Indigenous rights and environmental justice at RAVEN. Read on to learn more about Alexandra and what she brings to the RAVEN team.
What drew you to working with RAVEN?
I’ve followed RAVEN for a number of years and always admired what they do. With this role, it’s an opportunity for me to live my values—to help uphold fundamental human justice and Indigenous rights while also protecting one of the things I love most (nature).
Indigenous land management is also critical in addressing the climate crisis. Returning lands to Indigenous stewardship is one of the best things we can do to protect biodiversity and ensure natural ecosystems remain resilient against exploitation, and another reason I was drawn to working with this team.
What is your favourite part of the job so far?
There is a lot of possibility within my role for long-term impact, and that’s one of the things I love most about philanthropy—it translates into real-world outcomes.
Our ability to support Nation Partners and their legal cases grows in real time alongside our ecosystem of donors, and the ripple effect of this is huge. At RAVEN, donor support is a critical piece that enables systemic change in Canada’s legal system to better support Indigenous rights and environmental protection. It’s exciting to think about being part of this type of change, which is likely to continue impacting the legal system for hundreds of years to come.
And perhaps most important to my day-to-day work—I love people and truly enjoy building relationships with donors. It makes me so happy!
Is there anything else that you are bringing to your position that you are excited to integrate into your work at RAVEN? Whether from your career experience or personal life experience?
I’ve spent the last decade working one-on-one with donors, and storytelling is an important part of helping donors see their gift intentions come to life in the real world. It’s incredibly rewarding to meet people who care deeply about RAVEN’s work and want to help achieve these goals together.
As a big-picture thinker, I’m also bringing a long-term, strategic approach to my work at RAVEN. This will help better support our Nation Partners and their legal campaigns long into the future, while also deepening relationships with donors who share our vision for the future.
What does Indigenous sovereignty mean to you or look like to you?
Decision-making is absolutely at the top of the list—over lands and waters, cultures and laws. To me, Indigenous sovereignty means shifting power away from colonial systems towards nation-to-nation relationships. RAVEN’s work plays a significant part in advancing Indigenous sovereignty by returning lands and waters to Indigenous stewardship and supporting self-governance.
What makes you feel connected to the land or water? Do you have any practices that keep you grounded in the natural world?
Despite living downtown in major cities for most of my life, I recently made the decision to relocate to a small town deep in the mountains. I start most days by hiking local mountains or running trails in the forests, and swim in the river in the evenings. Disconnecting from technology always keeps me grounded, as I’d rather experience the world through my eyes than through my phone.
Being able to connect to lands and waters has always been important to me, and I’m grateful that it’s part of my everyday life now. And I absolutely love my neighbours—cougars, bears, coyotes, wild turkeys, eagles, deer, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, grouse, bats, and hummingbirds are all regular visitors to our yard.
What’s something that brought you joy in the last year?
Happiness is always a priority for me, as I know that if I’m happy I’ll be able to show up in my life in more meaningful ways. With this in mind, I decided to take a planned career break in early 2025 solely for the purpose of spending time on the many other things that bring me joy.
I skied as much as possible, spent time on land and water, travelled, and dedicated a significant portion of time to my small creative business—designing and handmaking clothes for the mountain community from (mostly) deadstock and upcycled materials. I’m so grateful to have had such incredible support for this business from people here at home as well as all over the world, and I now joke that it wasn’t really a “year off.” But it’s all good things 🙂
Despite finding so much joy during this time, I found myself missing being part of a larger cause for good, and I knew it was time to return to work. Now, I’m grateful to have joined the RAVEN team and look forward to working with our wonderful community of supporters over the years ahead.
