Over the years I have enjoyed being involved with a variety of non-profits, volunteer opportunities and outreach organizations. These have ranged from annual events such as "We*Care" their Holiday event with the Boys & Girls Club, where designers help kids to create personalized gifts and crafts for friends and family, to designing award winning pet habitats for PAWS fundraiser "Petchitecture", amongst others.
LEAP | ARTS IN EDUCATION
TEAM CAPTAIN > COMMITTEE MEMBER > COMMITTEE CHAIR > BOARD OF DIRECTORS > CHAIR OF THE BOARD
One organization that struck a lasting chord with me is Leap: Arts in Education; an organization who's mission is to provide quality arts education and creative thinking to elementary schools that face major cuts due to Prop.13. I initially became involved by being designated the team captain for "The Sandcastle Classic". A huge event that brings together designers, engineers and builders from around the Bay Area and partners them with elementary school students to design and build giant sand sculptures in an awe-inspiring competition held at Ocean Beach in the fall.
The following year I was invited to join the Event Committee that helps put on the event that hosts 3000+ attendees, and raises over 40% of the organizations annual income. I brought an insight into how teams operate and how the organization could improve the communications and involvement. After a year on the committee, I took the role of committee chair, helping to grow the event and diversify the participant pool while also maintaining the core group. Efforts have included, outreach, developing event and team materials around fundraising and student involvement, on-boarding of new committee members and a major re-branding push to name a few.
In 2014, I accepted a position on Leap's Board of Directors, where I’ve been serving as liaison to the the sandcastle committee, as well as providing strategic and tactical input across the organizations needs from events, to programs, succession planning and helping to develop the current strategic plan. I became the chair of the Board at the beginning of 2019 and have helped over see the organizations recent 3 year strategic plan, operations transition due to AB-5 converting our Teaching Artists from independent contractors to part time staff members. The spring and summer of 2020, required a lot of pivoting and reposition due to the far reaching effects of the COViD-19 pandemic - Tackling both remote working and distance learning, an office move, and the ongoing need for critical fundraising in such a difficult time.
