It’s a collaborative environment. If you need help, you can knock on a door and somebody is going to be there, whether they are on your site or on the other side of the world. You always have places where you can reach out for help.
Lara started her career consulting with the Federal Government over time she moved into program management. As a Senior Program Manager, Lara continues to support the Federal Government as a leader in the project management office for her customer.
Bringing new perspectives wherever our work takes us. My team owns it.
I support the project management office (PMO) for a program with the Department of State. We have a team on a project in another country so there is a lot of coordination between the team there and our team here. I wear a lot of hats for the PMO - working on financials, contracts, program reviews, and helping the team apply an agile methodology to help us do our work better.
Making a tangible impact on people’s lives.
One of the biggest impacts I’ve had on the organization was during Hurricane Irma and Maria, which struck Florida and a number of islands. The hurricanes also hit Puerto Rico and that’s where I’m from. My family was impacted so it was really personal.
They needed someone who could speak Spanish so they called to ask if I’d help with a FEMA program. I jumped right in to help stand up the PMO. In a matter of weeks we had mobilized a team of 15,000 people across the country to help manage the intake of individual needs in the affected areas. We were able to be a small part of helping people rebuild their lives in a moment of real need.
A leader in her community.
I helped establish the Employee Resource Group (ERG) for the hispanic and latino community. The Hispano Latinx Association (HOLA) group helps create an inclusive community internally and also engage with organizations in the outside community.
One of our goals is to partner with other GDIT ERGs. This past year, we attended the Hispanic LGBTQ award ceremony in Washington, DC in collaboration with our Pride ERG. The event was an opportunity to recognize hispanics in the LGBTQ community who are working to create change. It was really great to attend with the members of another ERG so we could talk about our different initiatives and find ways to support each other. It gave us a chance to get to know each other and talk about the things we want to do to continue improving where we work. Events like this are just one reason why I love being part of this group.