For the past three years, OWD has been funded to hire AmeriCorps VISTA staff to work with and support the mission of the Boston Saves, City Academy, and Tuition Free Community College. AmeriCorps VISTA programs. AmeriCorps VISTA provides opportunities for Americans 18 years or older from a diverse range of backgrounds to dedicate a year of full-time service with a sponsor organization to create or expand programs designed to empower individuals and communities in overcoming poverty. This year, we are lucky to have three Vista staff who joined us in August. They are James Sullivan, Aaron Park, and Lois Vincent. Please see their biographies below:
Aaron Park is the Data and Evaluation VISTA at the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development. Aaron is from Los Angeles and attended the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated in 2022 with a degree in Economics. His current responsibilities include increasing the overall evaluative capacity of OWD’s new and developing programs, focusing on refining existing and creating new data collection tools and processes, improving qualitative and quantitative data collection practices and data quality, assisting with tracking participants’ progress throughout program and post program completion, and creating feedback loops that will facilitate a cycle of community input and responsive program improvement.
Loïs Vincent is a public health and social justice advocate. She graduated from UMass Boston with a B.S. in Biology in 2020. After completing a year of service at Boys Hope Girls Hope with Notre Dame, she stayed in New Orleans to attend Tulane University for her MPH degree and served as a Data VISTA at the Orleans Public Defenders office. While on a current gap year, she is currently the External Partnerships VISTA for the Office of Financial Empowerment in Boston. Loïs believes in addressing social determinants of health whether they be housing, access to food, or financial literacy. In her free time, Loïs can be found traveling, working on poetry, or getting reacquainted with Boston.
James Sullivan is our Outreach and Recruitment VISTA, and he is a Massachusetts native who recently graduated from Emerson College, where he studied Political Communication and Creative Writing. James hopes to apply his passion for written communication and visual design to Boston Save’s mission, communicating our programs and resources to the families who can make the best use of them.