What is your favorite food? Seafood Carbonara

What is your favorite musician/band? The Wind and the Wave is one favorite of mine!

What is a project you’re working on now? For a work project, I’m working with some awesome program team members to expand our partnership with Boston College! I’m excited to be able to engage more BC students across our six school and campus-based programs next year. Personally, I’m working on a series of water color paintings (quarantine has led me back into doing art!)

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? The people. I’ve been lucky to meet many of my close friends and key professional mentors during my time at BBBSM. I’ve also been privileged to work with a ton of kids,  families, and volunteers who are wholeheartedly invested in our mission to defend the potential of so many children in Eastern Mass.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? I’ve had the privilege of working in three different teams within the larger program team over the years, and with that I’ve been challenged by a fair amount of professional change. Over time I learned that navigating big changes goes best when I keep the big picture in mind and ask for help from teammates when needed. All of that feels particularly relevant in light of COVID-19 as our community navigates a challenging time of constant change. I’m lucky to walk through this period with an excellent organization that puts our mission first.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I’m excited to learn about possibilities that lie ahead for the BBBS mission and our team’s work to promote it. Because of COVID we’ve been pushed to serve kids and families in new ways, and I’m excited to work with my (truly awesome) group of fellow directors and our leadership team as we lead the program team to innovate and serve our community even more effectively in the future.

What is your favorite food? Tacos!

What is your favorite musician/band? Everyone knows this one due to the epic serenade I received from my colleagues for my 15 year work anniversary… The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen

What is a project you’re working on now?   I just stepped on to the agency’s newest DEI committee, the Access-Ability Resource Committee (AARC). I am really excited  to bring awareness and celebration of all abilities across the families, youth, and volunteers we serve to the agency. The committee has some great ideas and I am looking forward to helping execute them. I’ve learned a lot already! As far as a personal project, I am in the process of learning how to encourage my 45 lb boxer mix rescue pup to come inside after a walk… without having to carry her.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? The agency’’s willingness to continuously evaluate, innovate, and get better. We are always learning and looking for more innovative and higher quality ways to do things that result in better outcomes for the youth in our program. There is a culture of sharing ideas and thinking outside the box that I really appreciate and keeps us at the forefront of the mentoring field. I am so proud of our agency as one of the best in the nation. Our swift pivot to virtual mentoring is the latest example of our entire team’s ability to think big and demolish any obstacle in our way. We are killing it!

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Navigating remote management & culture. With two office locations and staff spread across Eastern Mass and beyond (hello Maine, Florida, New Hampshire, etc), it’s been important to ensure that BBBSEM’s culture reaches beyond just the office water cooler. Being based out of the Cape office, this is something that has been on my radar for a long time. Regular video chat check ins, dual office celebrations, and advocating for technology are just some of the things that come to mind that have worked in learning how to make sure people feel as included and connected as possible – but it’s a lot of trial and error! Continuing to learn, being open to feedback, and hearing other perspectives have been my biggest takeaways here as we continue getting better at this – and have been even more important during COVID19 when we are all remote and balancing multiple priorities.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I am looking forward to having a stronger voice in the strategic direction of creating new programming and new matches across BBBSEM service territory. Although I have been engaged in the larger Enrollment team for several years, primarily I have been focused on Cape programming initiatives. I am excited to build a deeper knowledge of Greater Boston and surrounding territory programming and uncovering new opportunities for serving youth with my fellow amazing Program leaders.

What is your favorite food? Smashburgers

What is your favorite musician/band? Frank Ocean

What is a project you’re working on now? Work Project: Supporting our BC Bigs through virtual mentoring // Personal Project: Mastering sous vide cooking

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? Giving back to the community I grew up in.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Learning quality over quantity: Just because you’re putting out a volume of work doesn’t mean it is the best of your ability.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I’m looking forward to learning and problem solving with my supervisee.

What is your favorite food? Dumplings

What is your favorite musician/band? Eminem and Post Malone

What is a project you’re working on now? I love cooking and experimenting with new dishes as a hobby. I am using this quarantine time to self-learn some plating techniques

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? At BBBSEM everyone cares- not just about their work or our volunteers and families, but also about each other! We show up for our mission and for each other, which is what makes our work so impactful

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Connecting with children cannot be formulaic and our work encourages us to be creative about how to forge a meaningful connection with a child. I have learned to better identify the needs of each child that I interact with and have also understood that children emote and communicate in unique ways, all of which must be honored. One of my favorite things to do is to spend 10 minutes a month with one of the children I provide match support for, just coloring and chatting. Over the course of the one year that I have known her, she has shifted from not wanting to engage to asking me to walk her to the cafeteria.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? In my new role, I am very excited to get more involved with program development and improvement, as a way to continue providing quality services to our volunteers and families.

What is your favorite food? Tacos. Specifically, the fish tacos from The Port Hunter in Edgartown, MA.

What is your favorite musician/band? I grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire, Van Morrison and Santana but I usually complete all my to-do lists while listening to Miles Davis… It’s too hard to pick a favorite!

What is a project you’re working on now? The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts and Boston City Hall Workplace Mentoring Program launched recently which has been an ongoing project that I have been lucky to have a leadership role on. The team worked incredibly hard to put this partnership together, and it has been such a great experience to see really excited 6th and 7th graders from East Boston being matched with such amazing mentors who work tirelessly for our community.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? The collaboration that happens at BBBSEM is one of my favorite things about working at the agency. We are constantly collaborating and sharing perspectives and innovative ideas as teammates, and those perspectives and ideas are always heard and appreciated. I think as a team, we all share a very similar drive which makes working together really enjoyable.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Navigating work through the COVID pandemic has been a challenge that I think everyone at the agency is working through. It’s a really hard time for so many people and it can be easy to get tunnel vision while you’re working. I’m constantly reminding myself to slow down and to check in on myself and others. These are unprecedented times and it’s okay to be a human and it’s important to take care of yourself and those around you.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I am excited to dive into a new skill set and to learn more about what it means to be a leader at BBBSEM. One thing is for sure, there are amazing leaders at BBBSEM and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work and collaborate closely with them.

What is your favorite food? Eastern North Carolina BBQ (with extra vinegar!), also my mom’s baby back ribs J

What is your favorite musician/band? Childish Gambino

What is a project you’re working on now? Partnering with United Way to build trainings and bring our expertise in Youth Outcomes and mentoring to other nonprofits working towards similar missions of bringing an SEL focus to their work.

Personal project – Poaching the perfect egg!

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? Our innovation- We love to tackle problems and find new ways to drive our mission further. We are goal-oriented and human-focused which allows us to really push to be innovative while ensuring we never lose sight of the most important part of our work, supporting youth to thrive.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? A challenge I had to overcome early in my BBBS career as a match support coordinator is connecting the quantity to the quality and seeing how the end goal of both of these metrics is supporting youth to thrive alongside caring mentors. Now, as a leader on the team, I work to ensure my staff understand that the goal-orientation nature of our work is directly connected to the well-being of the youth in our programs.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I’m hoping to learn more about how to balance the drive for innovation while simultaneously maintaining what is right in front of us with the highest quality. I’m very interested in the change process and with an agency that is forever evolving to drive our mission forward, I’m stoked for the opportunity to make big picture decisions to drive the right kind of change to build a bigger and better agency for the kids that count on us.

What is your favorite food? Chicken Pad Thai

What is your favorite musician/band? Dijon and Frank Ocean

What is a project you’re working on now? At work, collaborating with the rest of our mentor2.0 EMK team to put together an awesome summer sendoff video for our students featuring words of encouragement from their mentors! At home, learning how to give myself a DIY dip powder manicure!

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? My amazing kids!! I feel so lucky to get to stay with the EMK Class of 2022 year to year and to get to see them all the way through to their high school graduation! I am also potentially slightly biased in saying that I work with the most dedicated, passionate cohort of mentors ever!

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? Learning how to be a teacher has been my biggest challenge! I love being in school with my kids, but there’s definitely been a learning curve to figuring out how to manage a classroom and how to be as engaging of an instructor as possible. I am super lucky to have an amazing, supportive community of teachers and staff at EMK who I can lean on for guidance!

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I’m excited to continue to learn about how the mentor2.0 program fits into the bigger picture of the agency’s mission and to see how we can collaborate more with other departments!

What is your favorite food? Not sure I have a favorite but if I had to pick one thing it would probably be pizza out of our pizza oven

What is your favorite musician/band? I like a variety of music but probably OAR or Pearl Jam (especially in concert)

What is a project you’re working on now? I got a Cricut cutting machine for Christmas so I have been playing around with that trying to make fun wine glasses or t-shirts.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? A great sense of camaraderie amongst our team especially being remote I feel as though as I can reach to anyone on the team for support.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? My biggest challenge is being remote and finding a balance between home life and work life and trying to keep them separate. Which I feel like I could pretty good at until recent changes.

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? I am hoping to learn more of the inner workings of the agency and become more involved in the various moving parts of our operation.

What is your favorite food? My mom lived in Israel for part of her life so growing up, hummus was a big deal in my house. It’s always been my go food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I will smother it on just about anything!

What is your favorite musician/band? My musical taste is pretty eclectic but folk music has a special place in my heart. From the classics (like Joni Mitchell) to more modern folk artists (like Brandi Carlile), I love the story telling and the way it makes me feel like home.

What is a project you’re working on now? The Match Support leadership team is currently working with a group of consultants to better understand our volunteer experience. It’s been an exciting opportunity to see our program through a different lens and collaborate on deepening the sense of community and relationship with our agency for our Bigs.

What is your favorite thing about working at BBBSEM? A common phrase heard around the BBBSEM office: “We simply cannot sit still.” In nearly a decade with this agency, the constants I have seen are dedication and innovation. We are an organization that is always pushing the envelope and working to find ways to create the highest quality outcomes for the most kids possible. I am proud that the work we do is consistently on the cutting edge of the mentoring field.

What has been a challenge you’ve overcome while working here and what did you learn from it? In the age of COVID-19, our program has shifted to be completely virtual. We are re-thinking the way we connect with our matches and support them in connecting with each other. This has forced us to get creative and think outside the box on a daily basis and I am so proud of the resiliency and innovation on our team, going the extra mile to support our Bigs, Littlies and families. Kids need their mentors now more than ever and we are helping these critical relationships continue to thrive. Personally, as a brand new mom, my return from parental leave occurred just a few weeks into the stay at home order. While this certainly wasn’t the return I had expected, I’m feeling grateful for this added time with my baby and have seriously developed my skills in multitasking!

What’s something you’re hoping to learn in your new position? Good leaders don’t just take action, they inspire belief in their mission. I hope to develop my skills as a motivational leader and inspire my team to serve our kids with determination and excellence.