We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Doorae Shin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Doorae, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

Working with Clarity Project is my first job in the psychedelics space, but since being a youth activist, my career has centered around environmental issues and social change, from work on immigrant rights campaigns to fighting for environmental solutions like banning single-use plastics among other efforts.

Doorae, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born into an activist family. My parents were very involved with Korean-American movement work in Philadelphia, where I was born and raised. From that exposure, I had a couple summer internships at the age of 15 & 19, where I worked full time and gained a lot of experience at a young age in community organizing and social justice work. When I was an undergraduate student at University of Hawaii at Manoa, I dove into activism, first working on a successful campaign to give undocumented local students in-state tuition and then another successful campaign banning Styrofoam from being used in cafeterias and food vendors on campus. From there, I dove into environmental and sustainability work, working in the University of Hawaii’s Office of Sustainability until the time I graduated and then working at Kokua Hawaii Foundation, which is an environmental education nonprofit founded by Kim and Jack Johnson, where I ran the Plastic Free Hawaii program. I then went on the run the Surfrider Foundation’s Oahu Chapter for 3 years, until I decided to become a freelance activist and now serve as Clarity Project’s Project Manager as part of my consulting portfolio.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I spent several years in the nonprofit field. I loved the work and put my heart and soul into it, but after a long enough time, I realized it was unsustainable to work in a sector that often underpays and overworks its staff. A year and a half ago, I left my full-time job at a nonprofit to pursue freelance consulting work. In this way, I still get to work with nonprofits as a consultant, where I get to determine my scope of work and income more intentionally. Living in Hawaii, which has arguably the highest cost of living in the nation, it is important to do work that allows you to keep up with this reality while still having room to save and build a future. As my parents are Korean immigrants, and I am the first in our family to go to college and have a real career, it is critical for me to build generational wealth for the first time in my ancestral line. This means I cannot settle for a low-paying job, even if it is one I love. Consulting has allowed me to pursue my passions and do important, mission-driven work, while also have income growth opportunity I need to retire my parents, gain financial independence, and build generational wealth.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

On a small island, word of mouth and social capital is critical to getting jobs, being offered opportunities, and networking. After 13 years of living on Oahu / Honolulu, I have a really strong community of changemakers that I know deeply and it allows me a sense of security in my career and future knowing that I have built the social capital I need to be successful no matter what happens.

Contact Info:

• Website: clarityproject.org / hawsaiiimpact.org
• Instagram: @clarityhawaii / @hiphipdoorae
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doorae/