I began my career at Southwest Key Programs over 13 years ago. In my first role, I worked in Youth Justice helping kids stay accountable for their whereabouts in an Outreach and Tracking program. I went on to work with students at East Austin College Prep, initially as the youth services coordinator and then transitioned to the Program Director of the GO program, which was a post-secondary support system. Today, I’m the Project Manager of Operations at Southwest Key Programs headquarters.

I’ve been able to work in direct service with youth and on the backend in operations. When I worked with kids, I loved that they would share good news with me and wanted me to know about their successes. It was always exciting when they would tell me that they were accepted to college. It was wonderful to get to know these kids, learn their stories and watch them grow and build their futures. Knowing the people we serve firsthand keeps me inspired when I’m working behind the scenes in operations.

I’m excited about the future with Southwest Key. We’re still growing, which means that we’ll be able to provide more services in more places and continue to make more positive changes to impact the lives of children and families.