Who We Are: Employee Spotlight Archives

Paula Errigo, M.Ed., the Director of CHS’ Migrant Resource Center, comes to URC/CHS with a wealth of life and career experience drawn from her work to develop programs for state education directors and migrant educators. Paula has spent 32 years working for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a variety of teaching, technical assistance, and administrative positions. While on the faculty of Millersville University, she directed a local project site for the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program. Paula has also served as a 10th grade English teacher, a high school technology coordinator, a television copywriter, a grant writer, and a partner in a firm that delivers grant writing and educational seminars.

Grogan Ullah, CHS Project Director in Pennsylvania, had this to say about Paula: “Lancaster Pennsylvania is famous for its Amish population. Although you probably won't catch Paula driving a horse and buggy to our 700 square foot office, it is here in the heart of Amish country that she provides tireless support and technical expertise to migrant educators across the country. With a lifetime of involvement in migrant education, Paula brings the dedication needed to serve the millions of children of migrant farmworker parents."

What is your current job with URC-CHS?
I am the Director of the Migrant Education Resource Center for CHS under a five-year contract funded by the Office of Migrant Education, U. S. Department of Education. The Center has established an interactive website, developed a Peer-to-Peer Network, developed an interactive and multi-media training package for home-school liaison staff, and conducts an annual national conference.

What professional experience in your current work has given you the most personal satisfaction?
I have most enjoyed representing the work of CHS/URC to the Department of Education. What has been most satisfying, though, is our work building a training program for the local and state staff of the national Migrant Education Program that assists them and clarifies their role in their daily duties and responsibilities serving the children of migratory farmworkers.

What do you find most exciting about the MERC Project?
Most exciting has been the creation of tools to assist teachers working within the national Migrant Program to grow professionally in knowledge and skills with material and training experiences to which they readily respond. Also, the fine team which we have assembled to create this project has been a joy with which to work.

Tell us about your team
We have a team of four subcontractors, three trainers, and two support staff. Our subcontractors include Encompass, LLC, which designs and facilitates our meetings and conferences; Macro International, designers and webmaster of our interactive website; Support Services International, which provides our evaluation design and services; and the Triscari Group, designers of our training package. Our trainers are Merced Flores based in Oregon; David Gutierrez in Illinois; and Sal Arriaga in California. Together, they represent almost 100 years of experience in all levels of Migrant Education across the country! They are very good at what they do, and our training participants have all responded to them very well. The team is completed by our Project Coordinator, Mariella Queipo Colon, and our Program Assistant, Janie Mata.

How do you think your work is making a difference in schools around the country?
Through our work on the MERC Project, students across the country are being assisted in their educational achievement by linking them with the services of the National Migrant Education Program. Without accurately identifying migrant students and enrolling them in the program, they would not receive the tutorial and supplementary services that make the difference between staying in school and dropping out. For many students, these will be life-altering experiences resulting in their school completion. We are proud to contribute to this process for migrant children.

What are some of the more innovative approaches to educating children of immigrants that you would like to see more widely adopted?
The National Migrant Education Program has been at the vanguard of providing innovative approaches to the education of migrant and immigrant students for over forty years – no small achievement for a federal program! Some of those approaches warrant greater attention from the general education community: Student Leadership Institutes targeting students from middle and high school; intensive second language instruction; student-centered instruction that honors the experiences of the learner; and better portability of academic credits, to name a few. We need to recognize the strengths that these students bring to their communities and schools.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
My spare time is spent traveling, reading, being active with local arts programs, and spending time with family and friends.

Employee Spotlight: Kim Ethier

Kim, standing in front of URC's office in Moscow

Kim Ethier's petite stature, at five feet in height, sometimes belies the large impact she has on her work and the people around her. Warm and caring, Kim is often the first to volunteer to take on organizational responsibilities, whether it is in her work at URC or in her volunteer activities. She has a large circle of friends of which she is at the core. Kim began at URC in 2000 as Project Coordinator for Russia and in 2004 moved to serve as Quality Assurance II Specialist in URC’s Moscow office. She speaks fluent Russian and has taught and tutored in the language but makes it a practice to reach out to people of all backgrounds and cultures. Kim has a well-traveled background but is first and foremost a down-to-earth and compassionate person.

We asked Victor Boguslasky, URC Russia Country Director, to introduce Kim for the Employee Spotlight. He wrote:
“Fluent in Russian, Kim has successfully combined roles of the manager, improvement specialist, and the trainer. Being mainly responsible for the financial and administrative operation of the office, Kim is always instrumental in developing project strategies, plans, and numerous technical documents. She is an invariably positive and a caring person. All of us in Moscow thoroughly enjoy working with Kim."

What is your current job with URC?
I am currently the Country Manager for Russia. In Russia, my title for all official documents is Deputy Head of the Representative Office of University Research Co., LLC in Moscow. In this job I do a little of everything—I oversee some aspects of the technical work, participate in project planning and strategizing, help conduct QA [Quality Assurance] trainings and learning sessions, write reports and workplans. That’s the technical side. On the administrative side, I oversee the URC office in Moscow, keep track of all the aspects of our legal/organizational status, am responsible for the financial management of the office and projects in Russia, oversee the administrative and financial staff of the office, and manage human resources and recruiting.

How did you get involved with the company?
Soon after I graduated from graduate school in 2000, I met Hany Abdullah. At the time, I was looking for a job in the development field and in the Russia/Eastern European region. She told me that URC was hiring a project coordinator for Russia and that I’d have a great mentor (Rashad Massoud). I applied and was hired.

How did you learn to speak Russian so fluently? Tell us about some of your experiences speaking and teaching.
I ended up majoring in Russian language and literature at GWU [George Washington University]. (Although my original major was anthropology, I realized my Russian language skills were more likely to get me a job.) It took a lot of work to become fluent—four years in college, including one summer of intensive Russian language school and one semester abroad. Then after graduation, I went back to St. Petersburg to study language for another year. Experiences such as conducting anthropological research in Russia during graduate school also contributed to my fluency. My Russian language skills have gotten me some interesting work such as teaching first year Russian at GW and touring with the Bolshoi Ballet for six weeks in the US as a backstage interpreter. Of course, my six years working at URC on the Russia activities have helped me reach an even higher level of fluency (especially when it comes to medical and QA terminology).

Could you tell us about some of your interests outside of work?
No matter where I am living, I am always very involved in my church and volunteer activities. At my church here in Moscow, I currently serve as the Vice President of my church council, run a group for young professionals and am involved in several other committees—all of which keep me busy. Another love I have is swing dancing, which I have been able to continue here in Moscow to some extent. Other than that, I enjoy having friends over for dinner and just chatting. One great part about being posted oversees is getting to travel more—I’ve been to France, Croatia, Turkey, Estonia, Italy, and Cyprus since moving here.

What is your role on the Quality Assurance Project/Russia and PreventAIDS?
A little of everything…I am heavily involved in project planning and strategy development. I also help develop training materials, as well as train and facilitate learning sessions. I am likewise responsible for developing budgets and monitor them. I really do a little of everything.

Tell us about your background before you came to URC
I graduated from The George Washington University with a BA in Russian Language and literature. My MA (also from GW) was in International Development Studies with a concentration in Applied Anthropology. In general, anthropology has been a strong interest of mine and I’ve taken many classes in it. I’m always curious to understand other people’s cultures and worldviews—I love learning to relate to people who are very different from me.

What is a typical workday like for you?
Well, we start work later in Russia. Usually I get to work between 9:30 and 10 and stay until at least 6:30 (although usually more like 7). I always write and respond to emails in the morning. The afternoon hours are usually reserved for my “thinking time” such as writing/reviewing reports, finances, and catching up on paperwork. One constant in my life in Russia is signing TONS of papers!!! I usually handle all the paper signing to help free up Victor for dealing with the political side of our work. Russian bureaucracy and accounting requires signatures for everything. I sign every invoice that comes into the office; I sign “decrees” sending people on business trips; I sign contracts for everything from purchasing three pencils to holding big seminars. Just to send one person on one technical assistance trip we need to sign no less than 7 documents between URC’s documents (travel advance form, travel expense statement) and Russian forms (too many to list).... To give someone petty cash under Russian law takes six pieces of paper! Luckily, I only have to sign them. My poor accountant and secretary have to prepare all the papers.

What is it about Russia that draws you?
I can’t explain it. There’s a term we use—“Being bit by the Russian bug”— somehow once Russia has gotten under your skin it keeps drawing you back—no matter how reluctant you are! There is a famous poem that says “The mind of Russia cannot be understood, you can only believe in her.” I guess that sums it up. For all the amazingly frustrating things here…there is something about the zaniness of it all, that’s attractive. Each day you wake up with your plan for the day, knowing that the chances that it will go as you planned are pretty much 0%. Every day is a new adventure.

Would you describe what life in Moscow is like for you?
I can’t say that Moscow is a hardship post in comparison with other places I’ve heard about. I have a nice apartment downtown with constant electricity, high-speed internet and British Cable TV. However, there are aspects of life here that are unique to Russia—such as the months and months (up to seven) of weather at 0° and below (32° and below in F). This year has been oddly warm, but last year we had a month of -25°F weather. (I bought a fur coat to keep myself from becoming a popsicle.) The hardest part though is the lack of sun. It's been over three months since there has been sun for more than two minutes in a row. (And I’m dead serious about this.) This can really get to you. In the winter our days are short—usually only “light” for about six to seven hours. And by “light” I mean grey and cloudy. I find Moscow to be a little bit too big and aggressive city for my taste (I prefer St. Petersburg), but definitely a place full of fun and excitement which is nice for a few years. That said, I really like my job and my life in Moscow.

Is there anything about how your office runs in Moscow that is similar to how we work in Bethesda? What are the biggest differences?
We do a lot of things the same way as they are done in Bethesda, but of course, the primary language in the office here is Russian. I think that one similar thing here is a sense of camaraderie between colleagues and a real belief that we can improve the quality of healthcare here. The best way to sum up the differences is that there is a different way of approaching laws and rules. Many laws and accounting regulations just don’t make sense to me as an American. Often, I question my accountant—why is it this way? And she answers that it’s not worth asking why, we just need to follow it. We often run into vague laws or laws which contradict each other and we have to do our best to figure out the safest way to proceed.

How do you say URC in Russian? (put the phonetic spelling and also show it in Cyrillic)
Well, officially in Russia we are the “Representative Office of University Research Co., LLC in Moscow” which would be “Predstavitelstvo Kompanii s ogranichennoi otvetstvennostyu ‘University Riserch Co, lls’ or Представительство компании с Ограниченной ответственностью
«Унивесити Рисерч Ко., ЛЛС». But, as this is very complicated, we usually introduce ourselves as “University Research Company” which would be Universitetskaya Issleovatelskaya Kompaniya or Университетская Исследовательская Компания.

Employee Spotlight: Jeannie Schultz

Jeannie Schultz is the most famous person at URC-CHS. As Director of Human Resources, she is most employees’ first contact with the company, and invariably, the last. She is a model of professional HR management and the source of guidance for project staff and managers alike on countless topics. She graciously responds to endless questions about company policy-related minutia (the kind of thing most of us just don’t want to have to search for that copy of the Employee Handbook to answer). The occasional ironic comment has been known to send her thoroughly professional demeanor into a burst of laughter; her irrepressible sense of humor serves her well as she guides URC-CHS in all things personnel-related.

In December 2003, Jeannie was recognized for her 20 years of service to URC-CHS. To kick off URC’s 40th Anniversary year, we shine the Employee Spotlight on Jeannie Schultz.

How do you describe URC/CHS to people who want to know what it's like to work here?
A fun way to answer this question is to hear how others at URC over the years have consistently described it to me in their own evocative words:

What was URC-CHS like when you started work here? Have you seen much change in the qualifications of people applying for jobs at URC/CHS?
Absolutely. Applicants have higher education credentials, more relevant work experience, global travel experience, and bilingual or multilingual capability, flexible career paths. URC has always had high diversity. We are still predominantly female at 63 percent women and an average age of 41. The life insurance company mortality tables are taking life expectancy for women to age 90.

What do you think makes people successful at URC?
Keeping your corporate resume up to date (just had to squeeze that one in!). It’s true, though, because it means that you are continually learning, acquiring new skills and talents, as well as keeping up to date in your professional areas. Other success factors include: networking with senior professionals inside and outside the organization; accepting and seeking out new assignments; putting forth quality and timely efforts in tasks that are not glamorous; flexibility in adapting quickly to changing circumstances; excellent written and oral communication skills with strong listening skills, because the environment can be so fast paced at times; and the ability to work well in different types of teams.

What are some of the most memorable reasons you've heard in job interviews for why URC should hire an applicant?
These responses are all true.

We all imagine that separation interviews are one of the more difficult parts of your job. What have you learned from employee separation interviews that was unexpected?
URC conducts confidential exit interviews for voluntary separations. In general, URC is made up of people who can think and act gracefully across boundaries of language, ethnicity and culture and give useful feedback. There’s sometimes a perception that people don’t or won’t frankly disclose much, however, most people are very open and much more comfortable sharing their opinions than one might expect. People don’t perceive providing honest feedback as a stigma once associated with "burning your bridges." The structured exit interview questionnaire we use helps to focus the interview and collect important information about trends and issues. In HR, we’re sometimes asked what is done with the responses. We use them to report trends in employee experiences with company policies and management. Believe it or not, ratings on the benefit plans and the performance review system run high. URC has always gotten good marks for flexibility and a place to learn and grow. Even better are the responses that are not surprising. One of the exit interview questions is "Would you return to URC?" Invariably the answer is yes. URC is the kind of company people come back to. Returnees include Jack Galloway, Maria Francisco, Neeraj Kak and Margurette Norris. Then there are folks like Lynne Franco who move from full time to part-time to full time to part-time depending on location, project work and availability.

Employee Spotlight: Maina Boucar

Position: Associate Project Director for Africa for the Quality Assurance Project, Niamey, Niger

Maina Boucar, MD, MPH, began his relationship with URC in 1992, not as a staff member or consultant, but as the counterpart for the Quality Assurance Project's Resident QA Advisor, Lauri Winter, in the Tahoua Region of Niger, where he was Regional Director of Health. In 1996, after Dr. Boucar had served as the Secretary General of Niger's Ministry of Public Health, he quit this position, and QAP Director David Nicholas approached him to join URC. Since joining URC's staff in 1996, Dr. Boucar has provided technical assistance in health services quality improvement for the Quality Assurance Project and other URC activities in Niger, Benin, Rwanda, Tchad, Morocco, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, including running our regional office in Niamey.

Lauri Winter, former QAP Resident Advisor in Niger, shares this perspective about him: "Boucar is a leader in the true and modern sense of the word. He thinks of the greater good and always makes others shine. I consider myself very lucky to have worked with Boucar. In the pioneering stages of QA work in Tahoua, his foresight and gentle encouragements allowed the creativity of many young doctors, nurses and other health personnel to blossom. I remember briefing him on progress in Tahoua and how exciting it was to "plot" with him on how to use the field experience to build up strategies for operationalizing districts in Niger. Boucar loves his country dearly and has found QA as one of the ways to contribute to its growth and progress in healthcare. He is proud to share his pioneering experiences in implementing QA in Niger and continues to mature and enrich those foundations with his new experiences and his wisdom as a leader." QAP Director David Nicholas describes Dr. Boucar as "one on the most respected leaders in the project and in URC, highly regarded by USAID missions and by host country counterparts. The Rwandans informally consider him an honorary citizen of their country where Dr. Boucar has been working in the past four years. All who know him consider him to be kind, unselfish, smart, and hard working, with a high level of motivation to attain the best results to improve the lives of his fellow human beings."

What is your current job with URC?
I provide technical assistance to Ministries of Health and local and regional organizations in Africa to establish health care quality assurance programs. Much of my time now is spent managing the Quality Assurance Project's technical assistance in Rwanda, where we have been working for several years now with the Ministry of Health to establish a Division for the Promotion of Quality Care and implement quality assurance systems in six districts and in the Central University Hospital of Kigali. We are also supporting the Ministry in running two national improvement collaboratives: one on HIV/AIDS and the other on malaria. The HIV/AIDS Collaborative involves 19 sites, which cover all of Rwanda's 11 provinces.

How did you get involved with quality assurance work in health?
It's a long story. In 1987, when I was the Medical Officer in charge of a rural district, shortly after I graduated from medical school, I was given training in the management of family planning programs by the Family Health and Demography Project, which was a project funded by USAID and managed by URC. Some of my team's achievements and results on the sensitive topic of family planning in a rural and Islamic environment pushed the Ministry of Health to ask me to come work for the Division of Family Planning in Niamey. I said, "No--I'm on my way to become a pediatrician. I want to continue in pediatrics. I'm not interested in public health!" So they said at the Ministry, "What if we give you a scholarship to study public health?" Well, that changed my mind. I accepted. I came to the U.S. in 1989 and in 1991 received my Master of Public Health degree at Tulane University. When I finished my studies, I asked Tulane to send me for a short practicum at URC. In July 1991, I came to URC and worked with David Nicholas. When I returned to Niger, I was appointed as the Regional Director of Health in Tahoua. By coincidence--good luck, I think--the USAID Mission chose Tahoua as the pilot region for a new health services quality assurance project. So I began to work very closely with the implementation of quality assurance.

How did you come to work for URC?
That's another long story. After my early contacts with URC through the Family Health and Demography Project and Tulane, I again came in contact with QAP staff in 1992 when I was sent to Washington by USAID for a short QA Awareness training at George Washington University. After I went back to Niger, I received a visit from Wayne Stinson, Dave Nicholas, Jim Heiby, and Theresa Hatzell, who were visiting Tahoua to develop a plan of assistance for the Tahoua Quality Assurance Project. I had known David Nicholas during my practicum and was glad to be able to work with him again. Then I heard that Lauri Winter would be coming as a QAP Resident Advisor in Tahoua. Lauri came to Tahoua at the beginning of 1993. She worked with my office, not as a separate project, but as my partner. We started the first QA awareness training activities and began planning the creation of QA committees and teams. Eight months after she arrived, I was again appointed to work at the central level of the Ministry of Health as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health. By then, I was so convinced of the value of the QA methodology that I promised Lauri that I would follow and support the Tahoua QA Project from Niamey. I remember that when Lauri came to the Ministry to speak with senior officials about what the project was doing in Tahoua, the former Secretary General had said to her, "We don't see the added value of your project. We don't see vehicles, new health facilities. We don't see any African experience in QA. What is this QA?" In my new position, I knew I needed to become the "wind" that spread the Tahoua experience to the rest of the Ministry of Health. For example, at the central level we were beginning to discuss the new concept (being supported by WHO and others) of the District Health Management Team (DHMT). In Tahoua, we had already been creating and operationalizing DHMTs through the institutionalization of quality assurance approaches in Tahoua's seven districts. That was the first experience with such a team in Niger. Finally, after three years as Secretary General, in 1996 I left the Ministry to become a full-time staff of QAP. But really I think I started at URC as unpaid staff in 1992, back in Tahoua!

What did you do in your first position with QAP?
At the beginning, I was the QA technical advisor only for Tahoua-for two years. In the beginning of 1999 when the Tahoua Project closed, I was appointed as QA Advisor for West and Francophone Africa.

Could you tell us a little about your family?
Yes, I am married and I have six kids, the last one being a boy.

We know how very busy you are with your work for QAP and URC in Niger, Rwanda, and Benin, but are there any fun activities or hobbies you enjoy in your limited free time?
I read news and books. I try to understand what is going on in this world. Very hard task, isn't it? Also, I watch TV. My favorite shows are news and documentaries.

What does your family think about your work?
My work changed me. I am more enthusiastic because I am out of the routine and heavy bureaucracy. You know when your initiatives are blocked by a system; you are depressed and care little about performance. Now I can create, discuss my ideas and apply them immediately. So you are another person, and that impacts on your private life. But I travel a lot. I used to travel a lot from Niamey to Tahoua, but then I started traveling for longer periods to other countries. At the beginning, it was very hard for the kids. But now they are used to it. On the other hand, by traveling, you get new ideas, new opportunities, new experiences and new friends.

What is the funniest experience you have had while spreading quality assurance in health?
Once I went to see a friend at an insurance company in Niger. I told him, "I came to renew my insurance." So he asked me what were my address and my organization, and I told him I worked for the Quality Assurance Project. He said, "No, stop joking, I know you work in health-what is the name of your organization?" I told him again-the Quality Assurance Project. He would not believe me. The reason is, in French, "assurance" is the same word as "insurance." He thought I was playing a trick on him by saying I worked at the "Quality Insurance Project." When he read my business card, he said, "So you are not kidding. But how can you assure quality? How can you guarantee that quality will be there?" I just told him, "I know how to make it happen. Quality improvement in health works. I have seen it."

Employee Spotlight: Ford Hatamiya

As have many employees in the company, Ford Hatamiya began his 12-year employment with URC as a consultant. He attributes his length-of-service in large part to the collegial relationships and friendships he has with many project staff and with Ruth Marshall, URC's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Communications Team Project Director, who facilitated his participation as a "geographically remote" staff member. The quality that distinguishes URC staff, says Ford, is our efforts to walk the talk when it comes to honoring the culture of our service recipients: We strive to live up to our "professed ethic of cultural competence."

What is your current title and project affiliation?
I'm Senior Communications Specialist/Training Manager for CSAP's Too Smart To Start Underage Alcohol Use Prevention Initiative.

What is your history with URC?
Until last year when I transitioned to the Too Smart initiative, I was affiliated with one URC project: the CSAP Communications Team (CCT). In 1990, I served as a consultant trainer for CCT, delivering our social marketing curriculum. I joined the CCT staff in 1993 as Lead Trainer, working part-time out of my home office in California.

So, for 12 years I worked on a single project. I've enjoyed long collegial relationships and friendships with many project staff. I've always been proud of our work on the project and felt a real responsibility and accountability for its success. The consistency I've had with the project and its director, Ruth Marshall, has greased the skids for my participation as a geographically remote contributor.

How did you get involved with the company?
When CCT was initiated, the project staff went on a nationwide search for trainers. They ended up recruiting the co-executive directors of the San Francisco non-profit agency at which I was employed. Those two weren't available, but I was. I was really available. My bosses were
great advocates for me as a "green trainer with strong potential." You know the rest.

What work are you proudest of in your time on the CSAP Communications Team?
If I had to pinpoint one thing, I'd say it's our attempt to live up to our professed ethic of cultural competence. We honor the culture of our service recipients, attempt to understand it, and tailor our interventions to it. Our training audiences have included youth and adults, Pacific Islanders, urban dwellers, rural college students, and a range of community members. In each instance, we've considered how culture would impact our interventions.

What are some of the more unexpected circumstances you have had to deal with in delivering a training?
Every trainer has some nightmare stories to tell usually involving missing materials or travel headaches. I've had to hand draw a big set of overheads an hour before a presentation. I've traveled eight hours by jet and then four hours by car, only to have the training cancelled by an impending tropical storm, and then retracing the long path by car and jet. I've also had people tell me my English is "so good," which isn't funny considering I'm American-born.

Members of stereotype (l to r): Tony Jackson (a URC consultant), Ryan Chinn, Tony Hale, and Ford

Could you tell us about some of your interests outside of work?
Music is a big part of my non-work life. I'm an obsessive collector of CD's, particularly music produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis or Babyface. You want the remix? I've got it. I also enjoy performing with a few close friends in a vocal group called stereotype. You can find a single of ours on amazon.com. We don't ever plan on quitting our day jobs, and after hearing it, you might agree that we shouldn't. In any case, we are enjoying ourselves.

In addition to my sonic interests, I consume considerable amounts of literature and art, some more mainstream, some less. To give you a sense of the artists I enjoy, here's a short list of my inspirations: Maya Lin, Karim Rashid, Gene Meyer, J. Otto Seibold, Isamu Noguchi, Andy Goldsworthy, Allen Say, Paul Beatty, Keith Haring, Derrick Bell, Nick Hornby, Michael Moore, Zadie Smith, Haruki Murakami, and Bill Bryson. Go pick up a book containing any of their work! Or, better yet, email me and receive more spiel on why you should love them.

You are URC's most western representative (further west than Jorge Hermida in Quito). What aspects of working on the West Coast do you think your colleagues here in Bethesda would enjoy the most?
I'm sure my colleagues' interests are diverse, so let me see if I can list some more universally attractive benefits: no blizzards; half the flight time to Hawaii; a distinctly different racial and ethnic mix than other parts in the states; a laid-back vibe; and a progressive, kooky political agenda. My reasons for working in the Bay Area are a bit more personal: proximity to my loved ones, nearness to the farm where I was reared, and a huge Asian American community that will not be denied!

San Francisco is beautiful, but it is not the sunshiny Mecca that is Los Angeles. Bring a jacket if you come to visit my turf. I'm sure that my colleagues could also list some other west coast problems, such as earthquakes.

The occasional 7:00 a.m. staff meetings are not a highlight to west coast life. But I can't complain. Sometimes I receive emails from Ruth Marshall that she sends at 10:00 p.m. in Bethesda.

When you aren't training on the road, what are the advantages of working at home?
A 40-foot commute from my bedroom to the office is a big plus. The lack of video phone technology means that I can have bed-head for the staff meetings.

What else do you want us to know?
All of my direct supervisors have been people of color who have taught me much and expected much of me. This tradition has held true at URC with Ruth Marshall and her predecessor Patricia Wright. Who else can make such a claim? Most people are probably searching their mental rolodexes for a single one.

No URC staff member has ever come to visit me at my satellite office. In lieu of a visit, I'm hoping that folks at URC will view my photo here, recognize me during my occasional Bethesda stays, and welcome me as one of the flock. But, I'll settle for not being questioned as an intruder.

Employee Spotlight: Louis Marino

Louis Marino, who directs the Center for Human Services (CHS) office in Bridgeton, NJ, served with the Federal Government before joining URC-CHS in 1999. Working at URC has allowed him to be part of the migrant community with whom he grew up. Louis is committed to seeing the children of migrant farmworkers live in a better society and go through fewer difficulties than their parents did. His work at URC-CHS gives him an opportunity to make that vision a reality.

Please describe your role on the CHS Projects
I manage, as Project Director, the Vocational and Rehabilitation Project for Migrant and Seasonal with Disabilities in New Jersey. This Project is designed to meet the vocational, educational, and employment needs of disabled migrant and seasonal migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families in the Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties of New Jersey. The project is conducted by CHS and is funded through the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration.

I also coordinate the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) in New Jersey. This program is part of a larger HEP Project that also operates in Pennsylvania and Delaware. HEP in New Jersey provides educational services to meet the needs of an educationally disadvantaged and ethnically diverse population of agricultural workers who migrate or perform seasonal work in Cumberland County, NJ. HEP provides migrant and seasonal farmworkers with an opportunity to earn their General Educational Development certificates and to seek new employment opportunities, further job training, and/or to prepare for postsecondary education.

How did you come to work for URC-CHS?
I started my career in 1988 as a Math Teacher for the HEP Project in Glassboro State College. During the summer of 1990, I coordinated the Project, first in connection with Glassboro State College, and then with Gloucester County College. In 1997, I had the good fortune to meet the new (at that time) HEP Project Director, Grogan Ullah. Grogan envisioned resources traditionally dedicated to New Jersey being much better utilized. Thanks to Grogan's efforts, HEP in New Jersey became a full time program that operates year round.

Grogan later included me in URC's proposal for the Migrant Farmworkers with Disabilities Program. When URC-CHS won the proposal, I interviewed with Chuck Pecarro, URC's President, and subsequently transitioned to a full-time Project Director position with URC's Center for Human Services.

What work do you feel proudest of during your tenure with the Project?
Three accomplishments in particular come to mind:

I feel proud to be a part of URC/CHS' Team. With the support and encouragement of my colleagues, we have been able to overcome obstacles that had appeared insurmountable. At one point, we prepared five proposals and delivered them on the same date, at the same time. Through effective teamwork and the relentless efforts of Neeraj Kak (URC's Director for Program Development) and Michael Gebremedhin (Program Development Associate) we were able to accomplish a task that had appeared impossible.

In addition, I feel honored to have brought the Mexican Educational System in the format of Plazas Comunitarias to the migrant community serviced by CHS. I'm confident that Plazas Comunitarias will open the doors for new and challenging programs, all of them to serve effectively the migrant community living in the U.S. Implementation of this program brings us closed to a goal that I have hoped for and envisioned: bridging the agenda and goals of URC-CHS' Domestic and International Groups.

Finally, I feel extremely proud to be part of the migrant community.

Who We Are

Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Paula Errigo

Employee Spotlight: Kim Ethier

Employee Spotlight: Jeannie Schultz

Employee Spotlight: Maina Boucar

Employee Spotlight: Ford Hatamiya

Employee Spotlight: Louis Marino