My experience both teaching and coordinating FITWELL programs for the past ten years makes me a great candidate for Staff Assembly VP of Wellness. I have intimate knowledge of what fitness and wellness programs have been the most successful and effective on campus over the years. I have specifically overseen the staff FitZone schedule (free FITWELL classes for staff), and have continuously acquired staff feedback on needs and preferences for these offerings and made changes to reflect those preferences. For example, as I became aware of back pain being the number one cause of employee absenteeism, I introduced Alexander Technique classes to our FitZones schedule. Now over 1,700 employees have attended our quarterly AT program reporting major health improvements as a result of participating. Furthermore, I have strong relationships with all of the UCLA affiliated organizations that have similar missions including Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI), UCLA Health, the Staff & Faculty Counseling Center, Res Life, the Bruin Resource Center (BRC), Student Health Education Programs (SHEP), and student organizations like the Student Welfare Commission (SWC), FITTED, Body Image Task Force and Active Minds. I currently serve as a member of the Resilience Task Force, Wellness on Campus Committee, and MoveWell Pod.

Serving as the VP of Wellness is a wonderful opportunity for me to step into greater levels of service and leadership at UCLA in the area of my expertise: wellness. The objectives of this position significantly overlap with my current role with FITWELL and the committees I am a part of. I am excited for the ways in which serving as the VP of Wellness will more greatly empower and enable me to evaluate, program and promote according to staff needs and preferences.

As Vice President, Wellness, my goals are:

My primary goal for this position is to serve as a uniting force and communication bridge between staff and the many campus wellness partners (HCI, UCLA Health, Recreation, Staff & Faculty Counseling, etc.) Within this goal, I aim to represent the many voices, perspectives and ideas of our UCLA staff members to ensure diverse and relevant wellness programming. As I become aware of positive changes, fresh ideas and new approaches that will better serve staff, I am up to the challenge and motivated to make those changes happen!