Common Threads
Renee Pastor weaves her acts of charity around a central theme: empowering women.
Newsletter | Successful Women | April 2021
The building has no identifying markings, no signs or logos. Renee Pastor faces the video camera and someone behind a locked door buzzes her inside. She is there to teach a handful of women about finance.
But these are not typical students. And the Metropolitan Center for Women & Children, a shelter for domestic violence victims, is not a typical classroom.
“Some of these women are hiding,” Pastor said. “Their safety is in jeopardy.”
A successful financial advisor and founder of her own practice, The Pastor Retirement Planning Group in New Orleans, Pastor has a place in her heart for women trying to make their way out of abusive relationships. She was a student once, with a 4.0 grade point average in her final semester of college, pursuing a finance degree.
Her husband made her drop out.
“I was in a violent relationship,” she said. “I was in a verbally abusive and eventually physically abusive relationship and felt trapped by money issues. I was a very independent young woman before I met him, and how I got into that situation still astounds me to this day.”
Pastor’s passion for empowering women is evident in her many charitable endeavors. In addition to teaching classes at the shelter, she belongs to two women’s groups that hand-pick projects to support with their donations. Her reach even extends to Guatemala, where women waiting for buses hook their looms to nearby trees to weave textiles.
She feels a kinship with the women who come to the Metropolitan shelter one night a week for an eight-week financial literacy course. The classes teach them about income taxes, wills and trusts to protect their minor children, credit ratings and budgeting. They can bring their kids. Dinner is provided. Passing an assessment at the end of the course earns a certificate many will put on their resumes as they strive for independence.
Pastor is proud of the accomplishments made possible by the fundraising efforts of two New Orleans-based women’s organizations: the Women’s Leadership Council, which is affiliated with United Way, and Impact 100. With each, an annual donation is required and members decide how the funds are put to use.
“I like a lot being able to have a say in where the money goes,” Pastor said.
The Women’s Leadership Council frequently funds pre-school education and head-start programs. It recently funded an effort to pass domestic violence legislation in Louisiana that would afford protection to more people.
“The journey they went on was unbelievable,” Pastor said. “And the stuff they got told – ‘Go away, little lady’ – some of it was unbelievable.”
Renee Pastor has a passion for empowering women who, like she once did, break free from abusive relationships. 22 Inaugural Issue Impact 100 awards an annual $100,000 grant. Potential recipients submit proposals, four finalists are selected and members vote to award the money.
“It’s getting a lot more attention these days as more and more women join,” Pastor said. “And it’s being noticed that we are directing this money where we want it to go.”
Pastor recently became an empty-nester. Her four children – the son from her early marriage, two stepchildren and a 21-yearold daughter – are out of the house. She remembers her first financial services job, at a time when everyone worked together in a bullpen – except her, a single mother without childcare.
“My husband got violent with me in front of my son,” Pastor said. “That was the trigger. That’s why I left the relationship. So, I left and I never looked back and went into the business. And it’s a fabulous business for women.”
Her first manager converted a store room for her to work in, so she could bring her son to work after school.
“I couldn’t call it my office,” Pastor said. “I couldn’t decorate it. It was kind of dirty. But my son had a sleeping bag and a toy box in there. I would pick him up from school and bring him back to work with me and make cold calls until 9 o’clock. I have photographs of him, 5 or 6 years old, with me at a booth at some trade show. He grew up riding around in the back seat of my car listening to tapes about building your business.”
Then, Pastor was determined to claim her life.
Now, she helps women claim theirs.
Renee Pastor first visited Guatemala about 20 years ago, when a dear friend moved there and founded WomenWare, an organization that empowers local women. Pastor was touched by the country’s scenery, its people and its disparate economic classes. A few wealthy families have power. Poverty is widespread. Orphanages are plentiful.
“And like many cultures, the women do a lot of the work,” Pastor said.
Textiles and weaving is a source of income for indigenous Mayan women. On one of her early trips, Pastor watched women at bus stops with backstrap looms – one end tied around the waist, the other around a telephone pole – weave while they waited.
“I kept a little doll of a woman with a baby on her back with her backstrap loom in my office for years as a reminder that we have it pretty darn good,” Pastor said.
Pastor vowed to do what she could on her visits – bring toys to orphanages, donate money and buy textiles for swag-bag items at professional conferences from the many weaving co-ops run by Mayan women.
Through her friend’s WomenWare program, Pastor was invited last year to participate in a three-day workshop for Guatemalan women called Poderosas: Deja tu huella, which translates to Powerful: Leave your mark. Pastor gave her Educating Women on Wealth presentation to a diverse audience, including indigenous Mayans and Supreme Court justices.
“What inspired me was their questions and their concerns are the same as ours,” Pastor said. “No matter where you go and no matter what the income level, it’s about safety and security and taking care of their family. They were locked onto every word.”
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With longtime client relationships spanning several decades, The Pastor Financial Group has proved able to help beyond investing money – but rather to help you use your money to enjoy your life. Since 1989, our lead advisor, Renée Pastor, has concentrated on providing quality financial and investment advice to individuals who have reasonable long-term goals and who share the team’s philosophy toward the financial markets.
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With longtime client relationships spanning several decades, The Pastor Financial Group has proved able to help beyond investing money – but rather to help you use your money to enjoy your life. Since 1989, our lead advisor, Renée Pastor, has concentrated on providing quality financial and investment advice to individuals who have reasonable long-term goals and who share the team’s philosophy toward the financial markets.
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