Sylvia feels energized by our mission and inspired to make an impact
Always inspired by non-profit work that supports economic security, Sylvia started volunteering at DFSA in February 2023. It’s what initially connected her passion to our mission — helping others “not just survive, but thrive. All people, but especially women!” At the time, she didn’t know that the work we did went ‘beyond the dress’ and immediately joined as a volunteer career coach where she mentored clients directly and helped them perfect resumes, tailor cover letters, search for jobs, and provide guidance on every step of their career journey.
Sylvia shares, “I love, love, love our clients, our staff and the feeling of care and support when you walk in the door. My favorite memory was when my first client messaged me that she got the job we had done several mock interviews for.”
Over the course of the last year, Sylvia has seen and been a part of the tremendous impact that takes place thanks to our willing and devoted volunteers. Sylvia comments that “we ALL can use career advice or support no matter where we are and it was so cool to see it come full circle for the first time.”
With almost 25 years of experience in many areas of Human Resources, Sylvia is just one of more than 300 volunteers who devote their time to our mission and the women we serve. Sylvia has worked mostly in partnering and is skilled in complex problem solving on the human side through coaching, learning and development.
She's been on a ‘rabbatical’ for 18 months (not retired or sabbatical, just figuring out what is next!) as part of her own career path. During this time, she’s been working to start a consulting business while spending a ton of time with nature, her nieces, three rescue hounds and an incredibly awesome, supportive husband.
Most recently, she’s served as an HR liaison during the onboarding process of our six new staff members. Our biggest team yet, might we add! When asked what inspired her to offer these services pro bono to DFSA, Sylvia replied, “It’s been truly impactful!!! After working closely with the staff on various smaller projects to improve the coaching/mentoring programs and volunteer training initiatives, I reached out to Executive Director Mia Johns to let her know that I had experience with on boarding and integrating teams. It seemed like a great opportunity to donate some time doing the work I find really energizing.”
Sylvia has been helping do just that for several months now and can vouch that this new team is amazing and more than ready to make sure we expand our services to support even more women in the Central Texas community over the coming years.