You could say that Wendoly Abrego’s passion for working with communities was somehow in her blood.  Wendoly can remember sitting with her father and hearing him tell stories of how he travelled his home country, El Salvador, teaching families in rural villages how to farm. She marveled at the kindness of the individuals her father met while on these missions and she felt so proud of him.  In her current role as Programs Director for the non-profit organization Creciendo Unidos/Growing Together, Wendoly follows in her father’s footsteps working to help strengthen, unify and support healthy family relationships. In the last two years, she was involved in managing the implementation of the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative programs and its supporting components; ESL, Computer Classes, Micro-Enterprise/Job Development, Finance etc. In her position, Wendoly works in conjunction with the ED to develop program strategies and plans for the growth and sustainability of the organization. She also aids in providing supervision, training and support for staff to effectively implement programs and ensure program objectives are met for completing required reporting.

Wendoly earned her Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2007.  She believes her educational background and prior work experience as Program Manager for Phoenix Revitalization Corporation were instrumental in informing the community work she is currently involved in.  As an architecture major she learned to think outside the box, to be creative and to think critically and systematically about problems and situations in order to find the best possible solution. Her prior work experience in community development and the revitalization of an area taught her to navigate different political, socio-economic and cultural arenas and it is those same skills that she now utilizes when establishing and maintaining relationships with partners and collaborators that can support her organization’s mission. With seven years’ experience in community development and non-profit management Wendoly has acquired the ability to look at things from a wide lens but simultaneously focus on the details.