From September 15th to October 15th, we’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, showcasing some of our Spanish speaking staff who work hard to make matches for our Spanish speaking Littles.

Jenny Bautista

What department do you work in?

Marketing and Community Engagement

What major projects are you hoping to work on with the Spanish speaking (SS) team?

Currently I am working with the group on an agency wide Hispanic Heritage month celebration. We want to take this opportunity to get staff together to drink, eat, and celebrate all of the diverse cultures in Latin America. To create some friendly competition and team building, we will be incorporating a game of trivia around HH month. We are testing folks on their knowledge around the arts, food, geography, and more. Staff can have fun while also learning. We are even incorporating some favorite food dishes for staff to sample!

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

To me, it means celebration, love, and unity- and these are things that we do year round. Being a Latina, you find joy around celebrating all of the things your culture represents- whether it’s the food, music, or traditions- along with friends and family. It’s an opportunity for Latinos to showcase the magic and importance we represent in our communities, native countries, and here in the US. It’s also a reminder to continue to uplift our people and our voices.

Daniel Vatnick

What department do you work in?

Community Relations

What major projects are you hoping to work on with the SS team?

I’m working a lot with data analytics, determining high wait areas for SS youth, major SS volunteer sources, factors that get SS kids matched faster, etc.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

It’s a unique reminder that I have Hispanic heritage in my family that I have not explored nearly as deeply as my American lineage. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to enjoy various aspects of Hispanic culture, and celebrate awesome people, music, food, etc.!

Alexi Joannidis

What department do you work in?

Enrollment

What major projects are you hoping to work on with the SS team? 

To improve our ability to match our kids from Spanish speaking families and identify volunteers who can work well with Spanish speaking families as well as help our non-Spanish speaking staff understand the dynamics of matching these kids.  I am also working to help identify the challenges (not just lingual challenges) faced by matches, which include their families, and to work on providing solutions or pathways to success for these matches.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you? 

Hispanic Heritage Month is a celebration of a huge and diverse segment of the population of the Boston area and the USA as a whole,  It’s a reminder of the importance and growing power of this group in our communities.