Catalina Gonsales
Thornton,CO
Summary
I am an experienced and focused leader with a passion for creating sustainable communities. My specialties include new program development to increase mission-driven impact, program management, cultivation of community partnerships, public relations, public speaking, outreach, and event coordination. Proactive Senior Manager successful at overseeing HIPPY Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters Program functions with 5 Family Advocates Coordinators to achieve demanding goals. Successful at creating cohesive, results-oriented teams by setting clear policies and vision.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Manager, United for Families
Mile High United Way
12.2019 - Current
- Establish and strengthen relationships with Early childhood program partners and participating families
- Led, supervised, and managed 5 program coordinators
- Work collaboratively with United for Families and United Neighborhoods to establish and Early Childhood Ambassadors program, an effort initiative to keep interested parents and caregivers informed of Early Childhood initiatives, provide opportunities for input on various programing aspects, encourage recruitment in participation in programs, and provide support to effectively advocate on behalf of young children
- Identify opportunities for greater collaboration between key nonprofit and government partners to serve families more effectively with young children
- Support Mile High United Way’s evaluation and learning team in data collection, synthesis, and communication/translation of results back to program partners and families, as appropriate
- Assess the needs of families engaged in early childhood programing and provide warm hand-off connections to community resources
- Participate in specialized training specifically to support the unique childcare needs of parents of young children
- Utilize and recommend improvements to the 2-1-1 portal for tracking referrals issued through this imbedded community navigation approach and connections with community members
- Support the dissemination of tools and resources of tools and resources that promote school readiness for children birth to age 5, such as literacy kits and subscriptions to Bright By Text
HIPPY Program Manager
Focus Points Family Resource
09.2011 - 10.2018
- Coordinate the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) for Spanish speaking families in Northeast Denver
- Supervise and support 10 part-time HIPPY home educators
- Complete midyear and end of the year evaluations
- Provide weekly reflective supervision as well as support the home visitors to identify and make progress toward professional and personal goals
- Plan, develop and implement orientation and pre-service training for all HIPPY staff including HIPPY Corps members
- Maintain personal files and enter time into online system
- Complete file background checks on each member and ensure that they are eligible to serve as a HIPPYCorps member
- Complete reports as required by organization, state office, HIPPY USA, and funding sources
- Enter and maintain current data in VisitTracker and Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) and OnCorps database systems
- Actively participate in the development and management of the HIPPY program budget
- Recruit and retain families in the HIPPY program
- Plan, organize and conduct monthly group meetings for over 100 participants
- Collaborate with other organizations to provide services to our families
- Maintain HIPPY Program fidelity
- Support home visitors to ensure the completion of enrollment forms and parent surveys for each family
- Train and support home visitors in the evaluations as stated in our state evaluation plan including Brackens, pre and post parent surveys, Colorado Family Support Assessment 2.0, PICCOLO, and all other required paperwork
- Help plan and actively participate in all sponsored HIPPY activities (e.g
- Field trips, graduations, awards ceremonies, etc.)
- Actively participate in AmeriCorps service days
- Responsible for reporting and fidelity to several funding sources including AmeriCorps, Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visitation (MIECHV), and several foundation grants.
HIPPYCorps member
Focus Points Family Resource Center
09.2008 - 10.2011
- Recruit, enroll and retain families with children 3-5 years old into the HIPPY Program
- Participate in weekly role play for HIPPY curriculum Year 1, Year 2
- Attend and participate in other staff development activities
- Complete weekly home visits with 18 families for 30 weeks
- Complete paper forms and enter time reports onto OnCorps database system
- Complete enrollment forms and parent surveys with each family
- Administer all evaluations as stated in our state evaluation plan including Brackens, pre and post parent surveys, Colorado Family Support Assessment 2.0, PICCOLO, and all other required paperwork
- Help plan and actively participate in all sponsored HIPPY activities (e.g
- Field trips, graduations, awards ceremonies, etc.)
- Actively participate in AmeriCorps service days.
HIPPYCorps Associate
Parent Possible
09.2019
- Support HIPPY program sites across the state that utilize AmeriCorps members as home visitors for parents in the local community
- Develop in-depth knowledge of HIPPY and AmeriCorps programing, including program issues and challenges facing individuals’ sites, key resources available to sites, and clear understanding of site quality and progress toward stated objectives
- Provide individualized guidance and coaching to Colorado HIPPYCorps sites
- Generate correspondence and response to HIPPYCorps sites and Serve Colorado related to policies, procedures, progress reports, and other general inquiries
- Oversee aspects of AmeriCorps national service compliance including the annual member enrollment process, member onboarding, and monitoring of site and member progress
- Support sites in member onboarding including the application process, background checks and file set-up and maintenance
- Assist HIPPYCorps sites to identify program objectives and performance measures, assess progress towards those objectives and measures, and make necessary adjustments so the identified level of progress is met
- Maintain records, appropriate reports, plans of action, and recommendations that indicate HIPPYCorps sites objectives and continues improvement of program quality
- Actively monitor sites remotely and with on-site visits to ensure compliance with all federal and state regulations and effectively prevent, detect and if necessary, resolve, areas of non-compliance
- Monitor member information contained in and entered CNCS e-Grants and OnCorps tracking systems
- Empower and mobilize HIPPYCorps alums to continue to engage with their local communities and to pursue academic and professional opportunities in the Early Childhood field
- Engage and support HIPPPYCorps members to ensure a successful service year.
Education
B.A. Early Childhood Education - Early Childhood
University of Northern Colorado
05.2021
Associate Degree- Early Childhood Education - Early Childhood
Community College of Denver
05.2014
Skills
- Problem solving and decision-making
- communication and conflict management to strategic thinking
- plan strategies to achieve organization goals
- ensure employees execute tasks and make changes when needed
Skills Training Accomplishments
- Languages: English and Spanish
- Leadership and team management
- Public speaking and presentation skills
- Trained Familias Extraordinarias Facilitator
- Trained in Love and Logic
- Trained in Motivational Interviewing
- Trained in Reflective Supervision
- Trained in Abriendo Puertas Curriculum
- Knowledgeable about several database systems
- Experienced in managing budgets.
- Experienced in strength-based approach.
- Maintained Accreditation status from HIPPY USA for 8 years.
References
- Molly Yost, 303-319-8552
- Cynthia Gallegos, 720-350-5072
Languages
Spanish
Professional
English
Professional
Timeline
Senior Manager, United for Families
Mile High United Way
12.2019 - Current
HIPPYCorps Associate
Parent Possible
09.2019
HIPPY Program Manager
Focus Points Family Resource
09.2011 - 10.2018
HIPPYCorps member
Focus Points Family Resource Center
09.2008 - 10.2011
B.A. Early Childhood Education - Early Childhood
University of Northern Colorado
Associate Degree- Early Childhood Education - Early Childhood
Community College of Denver
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