It was seven years ago that I decided to make a career change by leaving a corporate job to work at the Center. I was initially hired by Senior Services and now work in Information technology (IT).
The variety of the work and projects is part of why I enjoy being part of IT. I oversee the planning, scheduling and delivery management of the Center’s information systems application solutions. I’ve worked with almost every department at this point on such things as client databases, event registrations, e-mail and text communications, check-in kiosks, online user portals, and more.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the start of a particularly challenging time because the need for technology solutions skyrocketed. It’s something we couldn’t foresee or plan for, but thankfully, we’ve gotten to a better place and understanding about the role that technology plays in our daily lives.
The pandemic has opened up opportunities to really explore new solutions that make things more accessible to more people and communities. People who previously couldn’t participate in things previously due to mobility, transportation, or location are now active participants and more things are now transcribed or close captioned. Creating accessible, virtual spaces really has expanded the Center’s reach and services and events that were historically only available in person and on-site have reached people in other states and even other countries.
I’m fortunate to be able to have conversations and connect with so many people all over the Center over the last eight years. I recently visited a few of our locations after working remotely for a while and to be able to see familiar faces in person was amazing. I saw people I had only seen online and met some new colleagues too who I hope to be able to connect with also in the future. For me, it’s the connections with people that I remember and that leave lasting impressions.
Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be able to work in a place where I don’t need to defend or explain my identity or need to worry about how I present. I already deal with that everywhere else in life so one less place makes a difference.
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Hometown: Los Angeles
Year Started Working at Center: 2014
Staff Position: Information Systems Program Manager
Pronouns: they/she/he
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