Monique enjoys reaching out to others. She has used her love of public speaking at school functions, pep rallies, and work-related meetings and workshops, where she customizes her delivery to whichever group she is addressing. She reaches out to others in her church group, too, by participating in the youth drama team.
With this group, she has performed many skits addressing different types of difficult situations. To back up her love of the stage, she has taken several college drama classes. On the practical side, Monique has polished her technical skills, too. She has 7 years experience using Microsoft office, powerpoint, and office skills.
She enjoys creating powerpoint presentations for school and work that help her reach out to diverse audiences. As a church volunteer, Monique works in the children’s department, the hospitality department and the church’s youth group. She is a full time member and employee for the Bayac/Ocasa AmeriCorps program and, through this program, was placed at First Place for Youth, where she works for the independent living skills program and serves on the Youth Advisory Board.
In this capacity, Monique serves current and former foster youth by providing the skills and necessary to ensure youth a successful transition out of foster care. Monique was also named youth ambassador for the John Burton Foundation, where she helps give presentations promoting AB12 and post-secondary education.
Her ability to speak from the unique perspective of a former foster youth is particularly valuable during these presentations. Monique hopes that her love and abilities to reach out to friends, youth and foster youth, and fellow workers will help her achieve her career goals. She would love to impact the California foster care system specifically through case management changes and policy changes.
