June 7, 2023

Eva Mazura is an analyst at Croatan Institute where she supports our REEFS program. Through this work, Eva works with BIPOC students, farmers of color, and investment decision-makers to integrate racial equity into financial and agricultural systems. We interviewed Eva to highlight some of the important work she is doing!

What is the most fulfilling part of your work?

The most fulfilling part of my work is getting to see the changes and connections we are able to make from the projects and collaborations we work on everyday. One instance of this occurred during our outreach for The BIPOC Leaders Advancing an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy (BLAISE) Project, I was able to connect two young professionals aiming to connect BIPOC students with paid internship opportunities to an investment advisory and wealth management firm. In this partnership, they worked together to improve the firm’s marketing strategy for their internship and accessing specific student networks to best fit their needs.. From this opportunity, an idea grew to continue this work with other firms to achieve the goal of connecting students with purposeful, impact driven careers. Hearing about how this partnership has evolved made me feel very grateful for all that I am able to do at Croatan.

What most excites you about your work at Croatan Institute?

What program areas do you work on at Croatan Institute?
I work on a variety of different programs, but I primarily work within Croatan’s Racial Equity, Economics, Finance, and Sustainability (REEFS) Program. The program has three main pillars of work: enhancing investor decisions to integrate racial equity, expanding the BIPOC pipeline to the finance community, and achieving financial health for BIPOC entrepreneurs, households, and farmers.

What is the most interesting book you’ve read recently, and why did it capture your attention?

I recently read Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. The book’s setting is in a world where the American government fans the flames of fear against the rise of China, with anti-Asian narratives running rampant. While the story is fiction, it is based in reality and it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the world in this way. The story is about a young boy in search of his mother and the truth about why she left him and his father. I could easily relate to the prevalent theme of loss and the quest for identity. It was a beautiful and heartbreaking story. I couldn’t put the book down.