What is your favorite food? I really love food, so picking a favorite is not easy. If I must choose, I’ll say pizza!

What is your favorite musician/band? I go through phases when it comes to music, but one artist that always seems to be in my recently played list is John Mayer.

What is a project you’re working on now? Right now, I am in the process of making photo books from all my past travels. I have a million photos on my phone and computer, but there is something about seeing them printed in hardcopy that really helps me relive the great memories I have from traveling.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? My favorite thing about working at BBBSEM is by far the people. I love that in my job I get to meet people from all over eastern Massachusetts and hear their unique life stories. I am also really grateful for all the amazing friends I’ve made in my colleagues.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? It’s hard not to go with the obvious and talk about the challenges presented by the pandemic. A lot of the work that I do is with our site-based programing where Bigs and Littles typically only connect with each other through their schools. The pandemic changed everything about how these matches needed to interact and it all got flipped on a dime. This taught me just how infectious one person’s resilience can be. Even when I was logging onto my first virtual match meeting a little unsure of how it would go, the excited energy of the Little immediately gave us all the confidence we needed to embrace the new program model. I’ve noticed in all my new matches that if one person, whether that be the Little, Guardian, or Big, comes into the experience confident and willing to embrace any challenges that come their way, it lifts the energy of all parties and the attitude is just infectious.

What is something you are hoping to learn in your new position? As an assistant manager, I am excited to embrace a new leadership role on the team and continue to develop my leadership skills. I am also excited to get my hands on some more project management opportunties.

What is your favorite food? Nachos are my go to meal, usually dairy free and with lots of veggies.

What is your favorite musician/band? We listen to a lot of different types of music at home and during the pandemic we have been exploring lots of new music.   The one band that I will never skip a song by is R.E.M. they are an old favorite that I still love to this day.

What is a project you’re working on now? At work I am working on building my school based program in Lowell.  It was only a semester old, before shifting to virtual last March.  I am excited to see existing matches connecting virtually, getting to know new matches and growing the program at a time when Littles really need the support. At home we are getting our seeds ready for next spring’s vegetable  garden!  We are trying out some new veggies this year.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? Engaging with matches, I love hearing about what matches are doing together, learning about what is special about each match and being a part of helping them succeed.  Helping Bigs see the impact they have on their littles lives is one of the best parts of match support, along with making sure Littles know that they are helping their Bigs grow too!

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Creating work/life balance, especially when my family of 5 switched to remote working and learning, has been a challenge.  I have learned to lean on my coworkers for support, create space for myself and my family, and I have learned from my matches as well, as we all navigate this new dynamic.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I am excited to be part of forwarding our mission in new ways as we continue to adapt and support matches in an increasingly virtual world.  I am looking forward to continuing to learn more about BBBSEM and what it means to be a leader on our team.

What is your favorite food? Pesto pasta, or anything chocolatey.

What is your favorite musician/band? I don’t know that I have a favorite! I’m not the most musically inclined person myself, so I love when friends share playlists and introduce me to new music.

What is a project you’re working on now? I’m working on a pilot project in which we have a group of matches using a new app called MentorHub. It has been a great opportunity to learn from those leading the research in mentoring, to adapt to the current virtual world we are living in, and to offer a new tool to our matches that is focused on positive youth development.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? The relationships I’ve built with teammates, Bigs, Littles, parents, guardians, and community partners! Our work is all about building connection, and I am lucky to get to connect with so many great people every day.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? When I started at the agency, I was doing a split role of both Match Support and Enrollment. I had to learn how to manage my time and my schedule so that I could be successful doing both! Even though I now focus only on Match Support, those time management and organization skills are still really valuable. I think I also learned how to bring innovation and creativity to my role – getting to still support matches that I enrolled and matched 2+ years ago has given me a really holistic view of our work, and how we can do it best.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I’m excited to continue growing my leadership skills, both in my own programs, and on the team.

What is your favorite food? I love Afro-Caribbean and Asian cuisines. Too many delicious dishes to choose just one!

What is your favorite musician/band? One of my absolute favorite artists is Neo-Soul singer, Jill Scott. She has a soundtrack for just about every experience in life!

What is a project you’re working on now? Currently, I’m working on a Black History Month project with our Racial Equity Committee. We are rolling out some enlightening and exciting information and resources!

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? I truly appreciate being a part of an organization that helps to foster not only impactful mentorships, but also healthy friendships. Friendship is one of the most uniquely important relationships in life. Friends are the family we choose! I am proud to have a hand in supporting friendships that can literally change a person’s life.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here, and what did you learn from it? A challenge that I’ve overcome has definitely been the various strains of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our world was completely turned upside down when this pandemic first started; and even now, many are still experiencing multiple struggles. In order to adapt to the changes brought by the pandemic, I had to shift my thinking on how I define a supportive and successful match. This meant looking at factors such as what it really means to spend quality time with someone—acknowledging that in-person time can be just as meaningful and impactful as virtual time. It still amazes me to see how natural and easy it is for my matches to support each other; whether through a simple video call to their Bigs, attending a drive-thru birthday party for their Littles, or leaving a bag of groceries on a Guardian’s porch. Our matches really pulled together and were there for each other in such a wonderful way. Overcoming this challenge has taught me that with the care and support we all have for each other, our matches are capable of getting through just about anything that comes their way.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I am looking forward to learning more innovative ways on how to further support our matches.

What is your favorite food? It’s a close race between shawarma and breakfast tacos

What is your favorite musician/band?My heart belongs to Dolly Parton! I grew up listening to old school country music, and I have always admired her talents as a song writer- she wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same day!

What is a project you’re working on now? I recently inherited my grandfather’s Minolta camera that he’s had since the 1960s. Film photography was never my thing, but this camera is special because it’s captured every major milestone in my life. I’m learning to shoot with it to carry on its legacy- mostly nature shots for now, but I can’t wait for the day I can photograph celebrations with family and friends!

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? My favorite thing about working at BBBS is developing relationships with our matches over time. I’ve been supporting some of my matches for close to 3 years- it’s a truly humbling experience to get to witness our youth growing and changing in real time and support the match in adapting and stretching alongside them.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Converting my school based programs to a virtual setting has definitely been a challenge, but I’ve been so inspired by the resilience of our matches as they’ve adapted to every change thrown their way.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? This new position encourages me to learn more about the big picture of the work that we do and our role in the community!

What is your favorite food?  I love cheese!  All kinds…fresh mozzarella and cheddar cheese kurds are my favorite J

What is your favorite musician/band?  I am a huge fan of Sublime and the Red Hot Chili Peppers

What is a project you’re working on now?  I am on a quest to be active everyday—I am trying to walk, run & go to the gym whenever I can.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM?  The eclectic mix of staff!  We are all so unique & good at different things, and together we make an excellent team.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it?  I had to overcome my fear of using technology in order to work efficiently from home—thankfully, co-workers and management are super helpful and often, there are trainings or one-pagers that give details instructions on how to do the various things so over time, I was able to pick it all up.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position?  I am hoping to learn whatever I can from the people who have been doing this job before me—everyone has such great experience, there is a lot to be learned.

What is your favorite food? It’s hard to choose a favorite food. But I will say my partner and I designed a shirt that says “We’re a chips family” with drawings of chips and French fries.

What is your favorite musician/band? Anything with a synthesizer works for me. Or anything that makes me feel like I can’t get up after listening to it. And anything my parents listened to like Otis Redding, the Temptations, Linda Ronstadt, Tina Turner

What is a project you’re working on now? I recently completed a few crafts (embroidery and paint by numbers) that need to be framed and hung. We made a poster of “We’re a chips family” which also needs to be framed and hung.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? I love interacting with families. My days are spent on the phone with volunteers and families giving the same information, but no day feels the same. It’s great to hear a parent open up and hear their excitement grow as they think about what their child would enjoy about having a Big.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? COVID has been a challenge both personally and professionally. I continue to be impressed with how quickly the agency was able to adjust and continue to make and support strong matches in a virtual world. It felt very gratifying to be able to say to a parent that yes, we are still making matches. It might not be what they were initially thinking, but BBBSEM is still able to create those connections in a time when it is needed. In CRS, we were able to see how communication with families and volunteers had changed and updated our practices to meet everyone where they are.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I’m looking forwarding to growing my leadership skills and applying what I’ve learned over the years to serve more youth in new ways.

What is your favorite food? Ice cream, specifically the DQ chocolate strawberry Blizzard

What is your favorite musician/band? Chris Cornell

What is a project you’re working on now? Virtual events and trying to connect our Spanish Speaking Bigs through LC3

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? Talking to my matches! Particularly hearing how they have gotten creative during COVID

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Parenting while working from home. I have learned to give everyone a lot of grace in dealing with that type of shift, and try to be very empathetic towards what my matches might be dealing with as they try to balance these new demands.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? How to create partnerships with other organizations. I am excited to be working on the events team, as well as working on finding more opportunities for our teenage Littles. I think working on new partnerships would be a skill that will compliment these two projects.

What is your favorite food? Nachos

What is your favorite musician/band?  I just listen to Disney music and showtunes!

What is a project you’re working on now? Leading our Language, Community, and Culture Committee to build an inclusive experience for our matches and staff.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? Being a part of real mission moments with our matches. Getting to hear the excitement in a Little’s voice when they describe their outings or hear the pride from a Big when their Little does something great can turn a whole day around.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? The last year has been complicated, to say the least, and has created the need for many changes and adaptations in our work, but the resiliency of our matches has been a hope-filled lesson in patience and perseverance.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I am excited to join and soak in knowledge from our talented group of Assistant Managers while working on long term projects and objectives for BBBSEM.