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THE PESA POST
The latest news, views and announcements from
Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action

September 22, 2022
GROWING PAINS
An organization can’t expand without top-notch support staff. Meet one of ours.
Aimee Ladd
Just as a small foot one day finds that its favorite shoe fits too tightly, or back-to-school legs discover that last year’s pants are coming up embarrassingly short, so too do expanding organizations sometimes find themselves experiencing growing pains. And that’s a good thing. After all, if you’re not expanding, you’re static or shrinking, neither of which apply to PESA of late!

In our case, when our then director of administration was given a new role at PESA, we knew we had to continue to have a dedicated director of administration position to manage the myriad new duties that crop up like so many inch marks on a teenager’s height chart: scheduling meetings between staff, clients, parents, and community members; organizing Teen Court sessions; coordinating payroll; onboarding interns and new hires; and much more.

The perfect person for that job: Aimee Ladd.

Ladd began her work with PESA in July 2021 as an administrative assistant. It was over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, and working from home had become the norm for many, so Ladd had to learn her new job without actually meeting her colleagues in person.

She was up to the challenge, having come to PESA from the Boys and Girls Club, where her job wrangling large groups of squirrely youngsters was the administrative equivalent of boot camp basic training. “I had to keep track of their attendance, clean up work stations, plan activities and keep an eye on students at all times for safety,” says Ladd. If that doesn’t prepare you for administering a non-profit, nothing does.

“Aimee is a team player, always willing to help wherever it’s needed,” says Cindy Henriquez, PESA’s Director of CAAP. “Administration deals with a lot of collaboration, and she is always ready to collaborate.”

Even when that calls for “collaborating” on issues not normally associated with administrative duties. Like the time a minor failed to show up for a scheduled Teen Court case, and Ladd jumped into action to help keep things on track. As it turned out, the minor had run away from home, so Ladd worked with the family to provide support and resources. Eventually, the minor returned, and Ladd was able to reschedule the case.

Going the extra mile in situations such as this is what earned Ladd a recent promotion to Director of Administration. “Being organized and flexible are two valuable skills to have in any work situation as well as on a personal level,”  she says.

We’re happy to have Ladd on the team, and she is in turn, happy to be a part of PESA. “Helping students and families that need it,” is what it’s all about, says Ladd. “I just really like that overall mission.”

If you’d like to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.