Meet Gabriela Romero: 826LA’s New Field Trips and Operations Coordinator
While attending the University of California, Riverside, Gabriela began her work with students at the Boys & Girls Club. Working exclusively with students TK-K, she found herself amazed at how smart, intuitive, and genuinely funny they were. That realization has fueled her to continue working with students, hoping to encourage them to grow. Returning to LA, she has worked with various after-school programs, teaching English to international newcomers/emergent bilinguals, leading sessions, and, most daunting, helping 40 children under 7 learn how to sing and dance. After that experience, she is ready for anything. Having been born and raised in Echo Park, Gabriela returns to 826LA to help with the organization that, during her youth, helped her endlessly.
Q: What brought you to 826LA, and what are you most excited to work on in your new role as Field Trips and Operations Coordinator?
A: Mainly, curiosity. I wanted to see if there were any opportunities available on the website, and there were :). I wasn’t looking for a change, but my mom says that we don’t often look for it (change); it simply arrives when we need it. I can’t wait to achieve a “flow-state,” to have a good handle on how the program is run, the technical/data side, and to interact with the students!
Q: Can you share a little about your background and what sparked your passion for education and youth storytelling?
A: I have been interested in education and especially youth storytelling through 826LA and my time here as a student. I think that without that influence in my life, I wouldn’t have been as interested, or I would have, but wouldn’t have realized it until much later in life.
Q: Do you have a favorite book, writer, or creative inspiration that shaped who you are today?
A: I’ve always enjoyed different mediums of storytelling and can’t pinpoint one specific thing that has ultimately shaped me into who I am. It’s not possible, I am an amalgamation of everything I’ve ever enjoyed. I can give a few examples, though, like Ghibli films and early 2010s manga. YA novels about children doomed to sacrifice everything to save the world, historical dramas, and books. Musicals that vary in quality and films that I can’t ever watch in English (It’s been cemented in my brain in Spanish, what do you mean Donkey isn’t Eugenio Derbez?).
Q: What are you looking forward to contributing to the 826LA community in the new year?
A: I can’t promise the world, but at the very least, I’d like to be helpful. I want to help as much as possible in the role I’m in and to develop into it with hopefully little to no hiccups.
Q: What’s one piece of advice or encouragement you’d share with the young authors at 826LA?
A: Trying is just the first step, and the second step, and the third step, and so on. You’ll bump into your idea of ‘perfect’ soon enough.
Welcome Gaby. We’re happy to have you join 826LA!
