Check Out Ana Maria Perez Paulino’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Maria Perez Paulino.

Hi Ana Maria, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Dominican Born, New York raised and now LA-based, you could say journey has had a number a few interesting turns along the way. Like many immigrants I grew up speaking one language at home and another “out there” both figurative and literally. However, looking back, as a product of two spaces (and a third in adulthood) I’m thankful to how my parents embedded in my siblings and I the feeling of belonging to both. No matter the latitude/longitude I found myself in, I would always be Dominican, no matter the zip code or even state I would also be a New Yorker. Certainly no easy feat and If pressed for details I might not be able to tell you how they did it or replicate it, but it’s a feeling that survives to this day. It’s this grounding early on and the feeling that who I was was anchored so deep that likely gave me the permission and freedom to explore and to leave yet another nest and move to LA immediate after college.

Now in my 30s, I would love to say that the move to LA was a thoughtful and well-researched one, but in truth it was a spur of the moment decision. I was graduating that semester and knew I wanted to help others. To begin that work I had chosen to do a year of service under Americorps specifically with the nonprofit City Year. It seemed a very straightforward decision as they had a site in NYC and I wanted to work in a major city. But don’t you know it ‘L’ comes before N in the alphabet and as I scrolling down to select NYC, the City of Los Angeles popped up first. My 21 or so self in this very key moment mumbled something like “Huh that might be interesting” and so I moved 2 months later.

I must have a guardian angel (or something) cross-referencing my decisions because sure enough, I fell in love with LA even though I had no driver’s license and the train system was definitely not what my New York Self was used to. I still loved it and loved the work. Finding a roommate that was an LA Native and also going to join City Year certainly helped matters, at the very least I knew she had passed a background check to work with children so that’s something I thought. We ended up the best of friends and sharing an apt for 10 years.

Fast forward to completing two years with City Year (I was only supposed to stay for one) I was not ready to leave LA, and so I found A Place Called Home, Again I thought, let’s give it two years, I’m currently on way to my 11th anniversary there. Again, I fell in love with the work, working with youth and families in South LA, I just could not imagine leaving. Maybe my guardian angel or (travel gnome) might inspire to make another turn, but for now this is home.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t really think of it in terms of smooth or not. I’m sure there have been potholes along the day, but so long as it’s moving forward I’ve been happy. Being the traveler the wanderer the one who lives away and from their family has its challenges, and honestly moments of doubt, but it also gave me so much to discover about myself. Overall like any life many a paths not taken, but what has been most important to me is that they were always my choices.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m currently a Sr. Director, my role is to make sure systems and processed are aligned, basically make sure all the wheels are turning efficiently. Generally, I’m known for my love of logistics, each activity, event, or day-to-day process is a question to answer… How many business in particular a nonprofit operates is a big puzzle and I just have a lot of fun figuring it out, having ah ha moments where I can say this is how we can resolve this, those moments are the best part of my job.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of the last Christmases I spent in the Dominican Republic as a child, either the last one or close to before moving to the U.S certainly the one that stayed with me most. I remember my aunts, uncles and cousins all gathered at my grandparent’s house on Christmas eve, everyone had paired off into groups to make a special dish for which we would all vote on the favorite. I remember helping my uncle and one of my cousins with our dish “Pastelitos” some countries might call them empanadas. The feeling of joy, a bit of chaos and laughter has always stayed with me and become a cherished memory. The fact that the ballot results were contested and some 20+ years later is still subject to debate within the family is neither here nor there, but my gosh that was a fun time. ………………………. Though if really pressed my sister and cousin’s amazing fruit punch should’ve won, I said what I said yall.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.apch.org