Career Path of a Program Coordinator at Mt. San Antonio College

I graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science. This led me to an internship in Washington D.C. where I worked on a commission researching the status of women in America.

That paid internship allowed me to then work for the Merit Systems Protection Board. This board adjudicates cases for federal employees in Washington D.C. The internship was instrumental in launching my full-time career with them.

I was there for about three years. Afterward, I moved to San Francisco and continued working with the same organizations for another year.

Following that, I decided I needed further education. I pursued a master's degree in International and Intercultural Management at the School for International Training in Vermont. There, I focused on leadership, human resources, and diversity training.

This degree was highly beneficial in launching my career in professional development for many years. For my master's, I also completed a practicum that took me to Boston.

In Boston, I worked for Ibis Consulting Group. I was involved in designing and implementing stereotype and diversity training. This fulfilled my practicum requirement for my master's degree.

Afterward, I joined another similar consulting group called Empowerment Workshops. There, I conducted leadership and diversity training for large corporations like General Electric and Gillette.

Once I finished my work there, I decided to return to California. I landed a job in San Francisco with Interaction Associates, another leadership consulting and training firm. I was there for a little over three years.

During my time at Interaction Associates, I traveled extensively across the country. I conducted training on topics like facilitative leadership, meeting facilitation, and change management. I also worked extensively with grassroots organizations, teaching them leadership skills.

I worked with organizations focused on children's education, though I can't recall the specific name right now. I helped develop their leadership programs to provide essential skills. This work took me to places like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

I also worked in Guam and the Mariana Islands. It was a period of significant training and travel. After a decade away from Los Angeles, I decided to return and regroup.

I continued seeking work in professional development, as those were my core skills. Upon returning to LA, I accepted a position at Casey Family Programs, a foster care organization. I served as the trainer for their western region, focusing on leadership development for their offices.

From there, I moved to Kaiser Permanente, entering the healthcare industry. I provided professional development consulting to physicians, focusing on building relationships between physicians and managers. I worked on major initiatives to enhance skills in leadership, diversity, and creating safe environments.

I also developed mentoring programs for various Kaiser Permanente groups and hospitals in Southern California. This role was very exciting and lasted about seven years, involving significant change management and diverse projects, all within professional development.

Unfortunately, there were layoffs, and I was affected. This led me in a completely different direction. I joined World Financial Group, which sold life insurance.

After a period there, I moved to Prudential, a much larger and established life insurance company, where I worked for several years. This industry was a significant departure from my previous experience, as it focused on sales and commission-only compensation.

I stayed in financial services for about three years, trying my best to succeed. It was during a recession, making it incredibly challenging as people were struggling financially, losing jobs, and income. Appointments were canceled, and policies were even rescinded after purchase.

Those years were very difficult, and I realized I did not want to pursue financial services long-term. As a single mom, I needed a stable job with a reliable income.

I decided to leave financial services and return to my strengths: consulting, training, and leadership development. This led me to apply for a position at Rio Hondo Community College.

There, I worked in healthcare training, developing numerous customer service training modules for their staff, physicians, and nurses. I did this for about two to three years under a federal government grant.

Having gained experience in higher education, I applied for a job at Western University of Health Sciences. This university had nine different medical programs. I worked in their counseling department, assisting students navigating their graduate-level studies.

My work there involved counseling students in programs like dental care, optometry, and veterinary medicine. While new to me, it was incorporated within higher education.

From there, I decided to transfer to a different college and came to work at Mount San Antonio College (Mount Sac) in Walnut, California. I began in professional development, focusing on programs covering emotional intelligence, unconscious bias, and stereotypes.

The goal was to teach people how to eliminate these issues from the workplace, grow, and learn terminology to create a different, safer environment for students. I found this work very exciting and fulfilling. I also pursued certification as a mindfulness meditation and wellness coach.