LA-Tech Special Programs Coordinator, Support & Compliance
Tell me about yourself. Walk me through your resume, your career, and why you transitioned from one role to another.
Throughout my career, I have collaborated with teams to ensure a comfortable experience for participants, patients, and students. I spent the summer before my first year of college as a Youth Counselor for a single site program under the City of Bridgeport’s lighthouse program. In 2021, I again spent my summer assisting the City of Bridgeport’s lighthouse program as a site monitor, overseeing timesheet completion, work hour tracking, and compliance with program guidelines from the Youth Counselors at several sites. For the summer of 2022, I worked as a Student Assistant for Hamilton College’s Facilities Management. Under this role, I maintained the inventory of the campus’ maintenance resources, updating the records based on part deliveries, work orders, and counts. After college, I transitioned into the role of Team Leader for City Year Los Angeles. My team members were comfortable asking for advice around partner staff, after school program compliance, or other aspects of life impacting their work directly. I transitioned to PUENTE as a Research and Evaluation Associate to develop methods of improving program capacity, meeting the needs of program participants, and maintaining documentation of all data analysis conducted. Overall, the transitions in my roles have been centered on expanding my sphere of influence. I want my services to reach more people intensely, and the role of Special Programs Coordinator for LA-Tech is the clear next step.
Why are you interested in LA-Tech? What excites you about the Special Programs Coordinator role in general?
I appreciate LA-Tech’s data driven and intentional four step process in enabling the future of aspiring members of the technology industry. It only requires one look at the tech industry to realize that it is competitive, cold, but rewarding. As the Special Programs Coordinator, I aim to play a key role in facilitating a smooth onboarding process, ensuring candidates maintain high program performance metrics, and assisting with the hiring experience for partner organizations. The role excites me because I will be playing a role in all four steps: I will educate candidates throughout the onboarding, hiring, and enrolment processes,connect candidates to resources they need to compete for internships and job placements, mobilize Los Angeles youth into breaking into the tech field, and amplifying their stories of success.
In your own words, how do you see the Special Programs Coordinator role and the work you would do contribute to LA-Tech;s success?
Through the role of Special Programs coordinator, I will bring years of program experience in various capacities while grounding myself in LA-Tech’s four steps. First, I will educate candidates by creating brave spaces. As a Team Leader for City Year, I created an after school environment where students and team members were comfortable expressing what I could do to better engage them. In response, I tailored my workshops to the wants and needs of participants. As a result, my team’s site maintained after school enrollment equal to or better than other City Year Los Angeles sites. Second, I will connect participants to opportunities by keeping clients informed and engaged through appropriate communication on documentation, program benefits, and tailoring adjustments to meet needs. At the PUENTE Learning Center, I was the point of contact with our food distribution service provider- the Los Angeles Food Bank. When our orders were not being completed the way I ordered them, my coworkers and I engaged in outreach, adaptation, and seamless food distribution execution. Despite hurdles, we served 300+ community three food distributions. Third, I will mobilize program participants by addressing barriers to programmatic growth. At the PUENTE Learning Center, I conducted feedback gallery walks, needs and assets assessments, and survey data analysis to inform what external partnerships or internal adjustments could be made to fill programmatic gaps. My findings informed workshop development, partnership formulation, and interpersonal connections with community members. Finally, I will amplify our participants’ success through cutting-edge organizational systems, monitoring candidate program performance metrics, and overseeing work hour tracking. My goal through these goals is not to micromanage busy participants. Instead, I am leveraging research skills as a Research and Evaluation Associate and compliance skills as a Site Monitor to ensure program participants get the most out of the opportunity LA-Tech is providing.
Describe your supervisory experience and please share a specific time in which you demonstrated leadership. What did you do and what was the outcome?
I have been in several leadership roles beginning in college and expanding into the initial years of my career. I was a Site Monitor for the City of Bridgeport’s Summer LightHouse Program, a Peer Mentor at Hamilton College, a Team Leader for City Year, and as a Research and Evaluation Associate at the PUENTE Learning Center. Throughout my time as a Team Leader for City Year, I demonstrated leadership in the facilitation of an after school program frequently. Once, a student approached my teammates and I with concerns that required a number of steps aligning with compliance protocols. I contacted my program manager to confirm the series of steps I should take. Then, we reached out to the school administration to resolve the situation to the best of their abilities. From those circumstances, we strengthened the trust students have in us because we took the appropriate steps to protect them.
Describe a time when you took personal accountability for a conflict (with a colleague, customer, vendor, etc.) and initiated contact with the individual(s) involved to explain your actions.
While working at the PUENTE Learning Center, I sent emails to high school students at three different sites without utilizing the BCC function. Although I was unaware that this does not align with compliance, I was quickly approached by the College & Career Program Manager after the emails were sent. In response, I initiated contact with the Vice President of Programs to explain my perspective, maintain responsibility for the issue, and develop next steps to mitigate any damage that could come. Although it was difficult to be responsible for what could have been harmful to the organization, I found it was necessary to walk through the storm instead of running away.
Describe a time when you championed an idea or approach that met with resistance from leadership. What resistance did you encounter and how did you address it?
When the PUENTE Learning Center initially established a partnership with the LA Food Bank for food deliveries, we found that the deliveries would often not match what we ordered. When we reached out to partners at the LA Food Bank, they said we would need three months of growth and high impact to qualify for greater access to their inventory. Although PUENTE leadership was hesitant because of their unreliable nature, I reasoned that their contributions could be a part of a greater whole and that additional partnerships would ensure we can adequately serve our community. The conversation encouraged the pursuit of partnerships with local organizations, leading to food distributions utilizing multiple inventories.
Tell us about a situation in which you had to adjust to changes over which you had no control. How did you handle it?
When the PUENTE Learning Center initially established a partnership with the LA Food Bank for food deliveries, we found that the deliveries would often not match what we ordered. When we reached out to partners at the LA Food Bank, they said we would need three months of growth and high impact to qualify for greater access to their inventory. Although PUENTE leadership was hesitant because of their unreliable nature, I reasoned that their contributions could be a part of a greater whole and that additional partnerships would ensure we can adequately serve our community. The conversation encouraged the pursuit of partnerships with local organizations, leading to food distributions utilizing multiple inventories.
Tell me about a time you received criticism and how you responded to it.
During my senior thesis investigating how a social belonging intervention mitigates the impact of stereotype threat on the working memory of underrepresented students, my professor criticized the line of reasoning of my research. She believed that the participants of the articles or the conditions in which those participants existed did not adequately align with my target populations. I remedied her concerns through further research, directly addressing the gaps in my line of reasoning. My adjustments informed who I would classify as an underrepresented student, helping me expand my participant pool.
Tell me about a challenging situation at work. How did you handle it?
While working at the PUENTE Learning Center, I sent emails to high school students at three different sites without utilizing the BCC function. Although I was unaware that this does not align with compliance, I was quickly approached by the College & Career Program Manager after the emails were sent. In response, I initiated contact with the Vice President of Programs to explain my perspective, maintain responsibility for the issue, and develop next steps to mitigate any damage that could come. Although it was difficult to be responsible for what could have been harmful to the organization, I found it was necessary to walk through the storm instead of running away.
Describe a time when something unexpected happened at work. What was your response? How did you adapt? If you were a manager or team leader, what direction did you give to the team?
While working at the PUENTE Learning Center, I sent emails to high school students at three different sites without utilizing the BCC function. Although I was unaware that this does not align with compliance, I was quickly approached by the College & Career Program Manager after the emails were sent. In response, I initiated contact with the Vice President of Programs to explain my perspective, maintain responsibility for the issue, and develop next steps to mitigate any damage that could come. Although it was difficult to be responsible for what could have been harmful to the organization, I found it was necessary to walk through the storm instead of running away.
What do you do when your work priorities change quickly? Give me an example of when this has happened and how you managed through this.
When the PUENTE Charter officially became a Phase 3 Community School, they needed someone who would fill the role of the Community School Coordinator. In response, I needed to shift my focus on assisting in defining what the Community School Coordinator role would look like. I utilized PUENTE’s Community School Implementation Plan, PUENTE’s Strategic Plan, and Community School workshops to highlight the gaps in service that exist. In response, PUENTE’s administrative leaders shifted practices and considered me for the role before I finished my service year and transitioned into an apprenticeship.
6. Tell me about a specific time when you were given new information that affected a decision that you had already made. What was the outcome?
When the PUENTE Charter officially became a Phase 3 Community School, they needed someone who would fill the role of the Community School Coordinator. Due to the outcomes of my work and my qualifications, I was presented with the opportunity to fill that position. However, I had already decided to pursue an apprenticeship in IT. After multiple conversations with the program leaders whom I interacted with throughout my time at PUENTE, I chose to pursue the apprenticeship.