Kaitlin's Staff reflection
- By Kaitlin Alger
- May 11, 2025
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1. What is/was your role and what do/did your responsibilities entail?
I am a part of the Vancouver Regional Educational Services Launch team and a Youth Advisor with the Volunteer Success Program. I love working at YRES and especially appreciate the opportunities to join with multiple teams and to have a mulit-facited role.
As a part of the Vancouver Region Educational Services team, I connect with local partners like libraries and other organizations in an attempt to establish partnerships that will support our programs. I also seek to share information about our organization and programs through reaching out to schools and different cultural festivals. I am also working to support the creation and initial running of our local programming.
As a youth advisor, I work directly with young volunteers to find volunteering opportunities that fit their goals, needs and interests. I also assist them throughout the process of volunteering with anything they may need. Additionally, some of my work is to create training materials and other programming to support our volunteers.
2. How has working at YRES contributed to your professional growth and development?
I have grown professionally in multiple ways while working with YRES. In my earliest days with YRES, I gained a lot through practice and familiarity with a number of programs that were either relatively or completely new to me. I am now increasingly confident with business lead and task managers like Monday.com. Additionally, I have gained a great deal of confidence and experience reaching out to organizations, libraries and schools to share new programs and establish partnerships.
The youth of youth advisor is likely the most relevant to my longer term career goals. Long-term, I hope to move into the field of counselling and I find that I can learn something about communication in every interaction I have with a new person. I am also able to work directly with youth to establish goals, paths to reach those goals and to overcome obstacles, all of which are very transferable to the world of counselling.
3. What do you appreciate most about the company culture?
As someone who really appreciates flexibility, I find the YRES company culture fits me perfectly. The possibility to work remotely has allowed me to continue my adventurous lifestyle while fulfilling all of my job requirements. Additionally, I have found the company culture to be extremely collaborative, which I think is especially unique for an organization that has so much virtual work. I appreciate being able to hear from and partner with coworkers, and YRES makes that possible from anywhere.
