New staff, new opportunities! Meet Victoria and Sam!
CANDO Staff photo by Fernando Nuñez
We asked our two new staff people a few questions to help introduce them to the neighborhood...
Sam
What is your role at CANDO?
I’m the new Community Organizer. I’m working a lot right now with our Board Chair, Alex Griffin, on the Housing Task Force. We’re holding a Rent Affordability Forum on July 18th to hear from the community what direction we should take to help keep rent affordable in Central. And we’ll working on reviving previous programs and creating new programs for homeowners as well.
Why did you want to work at CANDO?
Most recently, I had an office job while also doing community organizing work in my spare time. I’ve done community organizing work for a long time, in the fight against police brutality, as a union organizer and a student organizer and I was drawn to CANDO’s work because it seemed innovative and really focused on community involvement.
What are you looking forward to?
I see us re-emerging as a more visible presence in the neighborhood. I think that part of hiring for these two new positions was the CANDO Board guiding us to hold more events and to connect more strongly with individuals in the neighborhood. With our new capacity we’ll be able to tackle real issues that people are facing that aren’t being addressed in other ways.
Victoria
What is your role at CANDO?
I’m CANDO’s Administrator. I take care of all of the “business” details from accounting, payroll and human resources to monitoring our contracts with the City of Minneapolis. The idea is that if that work is with one person, it will allow our organizing team to focus on outreach and engagement. So far I’ve been setting up a new payroll service and bank account, assisting with an audit, and taking over accounting from the contracted accountant.
Why did you want to work at CANDO?
First and foremost, I’ve been a Central resident for 17 years. I love and am deeply invested in my neighborhood. I’m also the Executive Director of the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC) which is a community-based arts organization just a few doors down from CANDO’s office. I’m one of the founding members of CAFAC and up until a couple of years ago, I volunteered my time with that organization while working full-time as the Continuing Education Program Director at MCTC. I'm excited to follow up that career by now wearing these two hats right in the neighborhood.
What are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to this new organizational structure that we’re setting up. Specifically, working on ways to be more responsive and build more connections and trust with our community members.