By Allison L. Andersen, Content Designer
The Growing With Elevo series features mission-driven people from across our organization sharing their stories and growth experiences as they strive to make a positive impact for the students we serve every day. This month, Manuel Avina shares his heart and passion for kids as he grows from a part-time coach to a full-time Lead Training Manager.
A simple conversation with Manuel Avina leads to the clear understanding that openness and vulnerability are his superpowers. He has the rare ability to access his head and heart at the same time for the greater good of whomever is standing before him. He simply loves people and wants to help in any way he can.
As a full-time Lead Training Manager, Manuel has tremendous gratitude for the journey he has been on. He is the first person in his family to hold a full-time job that isn’t manual labor. “I went full time July 6, 2021. I remember the exact date. It’s a significant date because it was a huge step for me personally, and for my family. I come from an immigrant family. My dad’s a carpenter and my mom’s a seamstress. For me personally, it was my first salaried job. It felt like a huge step in my career and a huge step in the growth of my life and my family.”
In 2020, Manuel was studying psychology at California State, Los Angeles, when he decided to take a year off to gain field experience. “I was studying for my bachelor’s degree in psychology, and I knew that only getting my degree without any field experience wasn’t going to take me anywhere. A search on Indeed led me to a posting for Coaches with Elevo. What really caught my attention was the combination of mental health, mental well-being, and physical activity. It was the perfect combination of my interests. I wanted to work with kids, I wanted to get a degree in psychology and child development, and then actually become a child psychologist. I figured this would be the perfect transition or the perfect foundation for what I wanted to do.”
Manuel showed up to a field recruitment interview with about 50 other potential Coaches. Once he passed that first phase, he moved on to additional interviews and finally, a placement in a district as a Site Lead. “This was during the pandemic, but the district needed a limited capacity launch for students that really needed support. These were students with a lot of difficulties at home, students with behavior issues, such as ADHD, and students that didn’t know English.”
Manuel was able to see the effects he and the other staff were having on these kids, and there was data collected to support the strides being made. There was an increase in attendance, grades went up, and overall participation was growing.
But, there was a new surge in the virus with additional variants, so the program had to end early. “In general, these were angry kids, too cool to participate, they gave us sass and attitude once in a while, but they were good kids. When I had to make the announcement that the program was ending early, these kids – with their tough personas – cried. They had made connections with us and were sad to see the program ending early. It was so sad to see but it showed me that we had really had a lasting effect on these students.”
That experience solidified his desire to work with kids, but the work with Elevo during the pandemic was sparse, so he had to wait. At the time he was working two jobs; in addition to being a part-time Coach, he also worked for Nike. Then, in June 2021 everything seemed to come to a halt. He lost his job with Nike and all the coach positions were currently filled. He was without a job. He leaned into the coworker connections he had made from his coaching days to see if they knew of anything opening up with Elevo. Even if it was far away, he was willing to travel.
Finally, he heard from his previous manager that a full time Regional Manager position was just posted. “I applied for the position and didn’t hear anything for almost a month. Then, finally I got the notice that I got it. I just sort of cried when I saw that I got the job.”
Since that date, Manuel has grown from a Regional Manager, mostly working directly with Elevo staff, to a Training Manager, and now a Lead Training Manager. In this role, he is typically working with staff, mainly the Training Managers who train the coaches who work directly with the students, but he has the opportunity to occasionally be onsite which often leads to student interaction. “When I’m on-site, students just sort of gravitate toward me and I forget my role as an LTM for a moment, and I’m just there present with the kids. Sometimes, even after months away, when I go back to a school site, these same students recognize me and engage again.” At one point during a conversation with a co-worker on the field, a student approached Manuel and handed him a drawing he had done. It was Manuel.
In his position as Lead Training Manager, Manuel is currently involved in a new student mentor program that brings a more concentrated focus and targeted support to the kids that need it the most. In this program he is directly managing the student mentors. “Everything we do is in support of the students, as always. But the whole community here needs it. It’s a tough community. They need that support, they need that guidance, and ultimately, they just need that love.”
He’s excited about the early success they’ve seen in this difficult community and he’s looking forward to being able to offer more targeted programs, to help more kids, to bring that support, guidance and love to any and all who need it.
