Hi! My name is Elena Aguero, and I am the Development Coordinator for Our Community Birth Center. I came on board in January 2021, and I am so excited to join the momentum and help get us closer to the Birth Center’s doors opening. I have had the pleasure of getting to know volunteers and community supporters so far and am looking forward to meeting all of you someday.
I am originally from Sacramento, California (Go, Kings!), and I lived in that area until I moved to Eugene in 2010 to begin my schooling. I took a brief break and spent a year in San Jose, Costa Rica as an intern for a non-profit organization. It was an incredible experience in a country I can’t wait to visit again when the world opens up. After moving back to Eugene and gaining my Oregon residency, I attended the University of Oregon, where I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology, focusing on Non-Profit Management. Through these classes, I discovered my love for the social sector and knew I wanted a role in it. While in school, I worked at a craft store and then an advertising firm. These experiences allowed me to strengthen my administrative skills; however, I still longed to be a part of an organization that benefited the community I lived in. This passion led me into the next three years, where I was the Guest Relations and Operations Director for the Eugene Science Center.
During this time, I decided to add a little bit more to my plate. I joined the Eugene Active 20-30 club, a civil club for young professionals who volunteer and fundraise for local children’s charities. In the spring of 2020, I was elected as a Director on the Board of the Active 20-30 club, where I now help create projects and allocate grant money to support local non-profits. As if I needed something else to do in the spring of 2020, I enrolled in my Master’s of Business Administration program concentrating on Non-Profit Leadership. My new schedule of working, sitting on a board, and completing my graduate program has kept me busy. However, I have created a great routine of all three of these commitments while working from home. During my time in lock-down, I spent most of 2020 going on walks in my neighborhood, reading books (both for school and for fun), pretending to be a pet photographer using my two spoiled cats as models, and getting creative with my once neglected craft supplies and machines.
I am looking forward to this next year and feel both honored and excited to be a part of a great movement that brings equitable access to safe and client-centered birth care with wrap-around support. Although I don’t yet have children of my own, I am blessed with 10 nieces and nephews with all different birth stories of their own (my eldest niece is two inches taller than me, and my youngest nephew just turned two). Although this is my first time professionally in healthcare, I am excited to bring my experience in non-profit administration and my passion for a healthy community onto the Our Community Birth Center team and be a part of its generational community impact.
I can’t wait to get to know everyone better, from past birth center families, community supports, and those just starting their birth center journeys. Want to connect more? Swap crafting tips or favorite novels? Talk more about the Birth Center’s growth? I would love to meet more of the birth center community via email, phone, or over Zoom. (And can’t wait to meet in person at a local coffee shop, I love a good chai!)
Thank you for welcoming me, and I look forward to getting to know you all better.
Elena
