This month we are excited to introduce you to our newest staff member: Emilia, or Emmy, Callero. Freshly graduated from PSU, with a Master’s in Public Administration and focus on women’s global leadership and management, Emmy has prior experience in social work and legal assistance for recent immigrants in Portland. As a graduate student she worked with Adelante Mujeres to design and implement a community based program evaluation. In addition to the work done locally, Emmy has over two years of international experience working on a variety of community and economic development projects focused women and children in Mexico, Peru and India.
Emmy’s past experience will be a great asset to our programs and we are happy to report that she is settling in nicely (despite the daunting task of learning our barrage of systems) Her focal area is to expand our outreach and service provision to the Latino community. She will be delving in to this right away, as she is set to co-teach our next two rounds of financial household resiliency workshops in English in June and in Spanish over the month of July. Keep reading to get to know Emmy better!
What were you doing before you came to Innovative Changes?
Before coming to Innovative Changes I was finishing my Master’s degree in Public Administration and an internship with the Office of the Auditor at Metro Regional Government.
What drew you to the position/organization?
I have long been fascinated with micro-finance programs that are addressing the issues of access to capital and services. I was able to incorporate this interest into my degree and I was looking for a career that would allow me to work with women, speak Spanish, and incorporate my passion and interest for economic justice. This position seemed like a perfect fit for me!
What have your first couple weeks been like?
My first couple of weeks have been great! I have been learning a lot about the new industry that I am working in and loving every minute it. I have also had the opportunity to meet one on one with clients in coaching sessions and it has proven to be a very challenging and rewarding experience so far.
What will be your main responsibilities?
I will be working with the Loan Program. My main responsibilities will be to manage the loan program, take lead with the Spanish speaking clients and facilitate our Spanish classes and seminars.
What are you most looking forward to in your work here? I am already learning so much about finance! I have been able to incorporate a lot of what we teach into my personal life. It is exciting to work for a young organization that is growing and full of dedicated individuals. I am looking forward to being part of a great community and to have a job that I feel will challenge me to grow both personally and professionally. There is a lot more to learn and I look forward to and I am excited to be a part of it!
What do you like to do outside of work? Outside of work I enjoy reading, researching and writing articles for my blog and working in my gardening. I spend some of my spare time working serving on the Development Committee for In Other Words (the feminist bookstore than many have seen in Portlandia) and the different campaigns and fundraising projects we are engaged in keep me busy!
