Symantec’s Volunteer of the Quarter initiative highlights and rewards those employees who dedicate their time and talents to those in need. We have a long and proud history of encouraging our employees to volunteer. While the driving force of our efforts is largely altruistic, there is even more to volunteering than giving back to our communities. Volunteering makes our company a better place to work, so employees are helping both Symantec and the organizations they volunteer for.
This quarter, in conjunction with National Hispanic Heritage Month, we recognize Rebecca Lemoge, Finance Director, Business Processes Team, and her work to enhance educational and economic causes in her local community. Her Take 5 volunteer contributions include work with two nonprofits organizations: Puente and Pescadero Education Foundation.
I live in Pescadero, California, a rural area of the San Mateo County South Coast, The majority of the community—more than 80 percent by some counts—are first-generation non-English speaking, low income, greenhouse and farm workers. The middle and high school dropout rates are high and attending college is rarely a consideration. My husband and I, along with our two young children, intend to live in this community for the rest of our lives so it has always been important for us to do what we can to support the region’s education and economic prosperity.
My volunteer activities span a wide range, all designed to share with my community the value of higher education, as well as technology and finance-based careers. Working with Symantec, the Pescadero Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the educational experience of our children, and Puente, the region’s only community resource center, I help to create new opportunities for our students and community.
Starting with HOLA
In 2011, I was first introduced to Symantec’s Hispanic Outreach and Leadership Affinity (HOLA) group, and immediately envisioned ways to involve our Pescadero schools, starting with Symantec’s annual Hispanic Heritage Day celebration in Mountain View. That year, I served as the coordinator for Pescadero High School, allowing students to participate in this event for the first time. The students met with Symantec executives, employee mentors who shared their experiences and advice, and participated in a cybercrime demo and toured the data center. This event was so successful, I continued to bring high school students back in subsequent years and separately coordinated data center tours for middle school math camp students, exposing these rural students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
While the Hispanic Heritage Day celebrations and data center tours brought students to Symantec, through other activities, we bring Symantec to them. Thanks to Eileen Brewer, Director, Security Appliance Team, I’ve hosted the Symantec Server Hands-On Workshop during the Pescadero Elementary School Science and Family Night the past three years. In addition to hearing about STEM careers, the Server Workshop provides students and their parents an opportunity to open up a real server, learn about its components, pull the components out, and put them back in.
This early exposure to Symantec has opened the eyes of many Pescadero students, however I also wanted to provide a deeper experience for college students so I partnered with Symantec HR and my managers to create a paid, part time, three-month “South Coast” internship for recent Pescadero High School graduates who are currently attending college. The interns commute with me from Pescadero and spend one day a week shadowing me in the office. In addition to learning by observation, they each are given an Excel-based financial analysis project to work on while in the office.
One of my most memorable experiences was working with my first intern, who had no idea what a corporate office was, or what a Finance or Data Business Intelligence employee did. By the end of the internship, not only was she exposed to new opportunities, she became quite an Excel whiz as well.
This is what it’s all about. I volunteer because I am passionate about exposing the families and children in my community to the opportunities that are just over the hill from them in Silicon Valley. Puente and the school district do a good job, but I like to reinforce the importance of completing high school and going to college. Being able to bring the kids to Symantec for HOLA events and internships shows them that companies are definitely interested in having them as future employees.
Beyond technology: Art in Action
In addition to providing activities where students can learn about technology, I have a passion for the arts.
I started volunteering through the Pescadero Education Foundation as an Art in Action docent at Pescadero Elementary School in 2012 when my son was in kindergarten and extended my commitment to support my daughter’s class as well. The program includes 12 two-hour classroom art lessons over the course of the school year, each requiring two to three hours of preparation. It’s a deep commitment, but one that is extremely rewarding.
During my Art in Action lessons I also reinforce the importance of education. Recently, the third graders were being tested for the first time and a group came to tell me how difficult the testing was for them. I responded by encouraging them to take both school and testing seriously so they could go to college. I also lightened the mood by telling them I had an ulterior motive: I love to travel and want to attend their college graduations.
Opportunities to grow and contribute
Nearly a third of the people of San Mateo’s South Coast depend on Puente’s wide array of community programs. Puente both advocates for our communities and leverages resources that foster economic prosperity and security.
I’ve supported Puente for many years, and in early 2013 I became a member of Puente’s Finance Committee. I leverage my day-job experiences by building financial statement analyses and forecasting models. Each quarter, the Finance Committee reviews their financial statements and makes any needed updates to the budget before board meetings.
I take deep pride in these volunteer experiences and while I know that I am contributing to my community, I am also growing both personally and professionally. My work with Puente has also allowed me to gain significant 501(c)(3) expertise, especially as it relates to nonprofit accounting and fundraising.
Beyond my own contributions, I love watching my family and coworkers Take 5 by getting involved. My husband is a stay-at-home Dad and volunteers to do facilities work for the school district and is often working at Pescadero Elementary. He also is a volunteer coach to our kids’ ASYO soccer teams every fall and spring season. My Symantec colleagues have been wonderful about volunteering to be mentors for the HOLA student events, including Miguel Jimenez, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Symantec, who has gone above and beyond to help out every time I’ve asked. The students are always impressed by him, and love learning that his father, Francisco Jiménez, is a famous Mexican author they’ve read in school.
I would encourage others to get involved in volunteering and Take 5—you never know exactly what your impact is, but every once in a while you do get a glimpse and it’s absolutely amazing.
Rebecca Lemoge is Symantec's Finance Director, Business Processes Team