STAT BOX
Director of Strategic Partnerships since October 2013
Last vacationed in Buenos Aires and Iguazú, Argentina
Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia and later Phoenix, Arizona
Currently reading “La Isla Bajo el Mar” by Isabel Allende
Before coming to CBD she led the Boston Youth Service Network on fundraising and advocacy to support alternative education and career training for youth
Tell us about your work with CBD.
My role is to help College Bound Dorchester expand to serve double the number of youth through collaboration efforts and partnerships with other organizations.
Q: What has been the hardest part about your job?
The role of Director of Strategic Partnerships is a newly created position at College Bound Dorchester. Mark Culliton’s vision to expand the capacity of College Bound Dorchester came with the understanding that as an organization, we cannot target as many youth as we would like on our own—we need established collaborations and partnerships to increase the number of youth served to more than double our current capacity. This is huge responsibility that will have a significant impact in Boston’s most underserved communities and troubled neighborhoods. The hardest part, for me, has been having the patience it takes to adapt to a new role to get the ball rolling. I want to move quickly to impact more youth, but I understand that building trust and new relationships, both as partnerships and with our staff, takes time.
Q: What job or training best prepared you to work with CBD?
I graduated from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business with a Masters of Public Administration in 2012, which was instrumental in linking me to Boston’s non-profit community. This program led to my focused interest in youth through community-based organizations.
Tell us more about yourself! What was your last, best meal?
I love to eat so I have many memorable meals, but one of my most recent was in La Boca; Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had an incredible meal that consisted of calamari, Spanish torta (eggs, potato, and red chorizo), a platter of steak tips, ribs, and rib-eye, with chimichurri and an incredible Malbec from Mendoza. The meal finished with home-made flan and bread pudding and espresso.
SheGives connects committed, inquisitive, engaged donors with a slate of diligenced nonprofits in the Greater Boston area. We provide members with relevant data about the nonprofits in our portfolio and an opportunity to meet directly with our nonprofits’ Executive Directors and senior staff in small settings that promote in-depth q&a’s and, ultimately, informed giving. Giving is personally driven, but because we give side-by-side our collective impact is greater. See a list of the vetted nonprofits selected for our slate here.
