Team Talk: Meet Annabel!

Welcome to Team Talk, our new series where we will be taking some time to chat with the incredible people that help make Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin such a special and important place for the youth in our community. For our inaugural post, we could think of no one more deserving to highlight than Annabel, one of our longtime Program Directors. A Program Director is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a Club location and Annabel brings her light to our Club at JX Wilson Elementary.

Let’s get to know Annabel!

1) How long have you been on the team at Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin?
10 years here, 18 years for Boys & Girls Clubs overall.

2) Describe your job in one sentence.
To create a safe place, physically and emotionally, so all our Members have at least one place where they can be themselves and grow into the person they are meant to be.

3) What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love the unpredictable element Members bring to this job every day.  I can plan, prep, and organize but when the Members arrive, all of that can go out the window. I also love that I get to laugh a lot in this job.

4) What do you like to do when you're not working?
When I’m not working, I love to curl up with a good book, work in my garden or travel. I love the National Parks. My favorite park so far is Zion, and Bryce Canyon is a close second. Santa Fe was another city I loved exploring; the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum was a real highlight.

5) What’s a fun fact about you many people may not know?
In college, I was a Drama Major and performed in shows including Hello Dolly, The Nutcracker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Wind in the Willows.

6) What's your favorite thing about living in Sonoma County?
It’s hard to pick one thing, but if I had to choose, it would be the people.  I wouldn’t be where I am now without all the amazing people I have met along the way and stuck by me through thick and thin.