Staff Spotlight: Andrea Jaramillo

We know you're used to hearing from Active SGV online on a regular basis... From Facebook posts, IG stories and DMs, to the newsletter--we talk with y'all a lot! But did you know that the person behind all those photos and posts is our Communications Manager, Andrea Jaramillo?! She's been working with Active for a year (exactly a year + some change!), quietly behind the scenes to help share Active's message. So next time you get a message from us, chances are it's her! Get to know Andrea below. 

How did you get your start at Active SGV? 
I spent the last 10 years living abroad and around the US studying and working until 2018, when I moved back to the SGV. Previous to moving, I lived in Bogota, Colombia, working with indigenous communities/sustainable fashion and digital communications; I enjoyed working at a community level. I reconnected with my homegirl CarCarDiesel, (aka Carly Curiel) and she told me about ActiveSGV (even though I was working on other things at the time). Randomly, after nearly a year in LA, I was thinking of asking CarCar if her non-profit was hiring when I saw she had shared their post for the Comms Manager position. The perfect position for me to apply all my skills! The stars aligned I guess, cuz I applied, got the job and the rest is history! 

What do you like most about working at Active?
What I enjoy most about working at Active is the awesome team I get to work with every day. Everyone is so passionate and genuinely cares about creating more equitable and healthier communities. We have a lot of fun on the clock and off! I also love our office! Have you been? It’s a little green space oasis! 

What has been your favorite experience working here?
My favorite experience so far was at Noche de las Luminarias 2019 (our annual fundraising night), where I had a chance to see the impact Active has on our community first hand from folks around the SGV. It felt good to hear others speak so highly about the org and know that we all worked together to have an impact on our region. We also had a sweet little team afterparty, which was fun. 

If a friend was visiting the SGV from out of town, how would you spend the day?
If an out of town friend comes to visit, one of the first thing’s I do with them is take them on a beautiful morning hike in the San Gabriel Mountains and spoil them with beautiful views and fresh air. If they don’t like hiking for whatever reason, I’ll take them to the Rose Bowl for an early morning run around the track. Next, I would take them to lunch at my favorite local business, Fiore Cafe (they have the BEST bread and grow many ingredients from the garden on their patio). We might spend the afternoon at the Norton Simon Museum or Huntington Gardens. I’m all about the food in the SGV, so for dinner we’d hit up central SGV for noodles… Maybe Pho somewhere on Valley or my favorite   noodle spot: Noodle Harmony in Monterey Park. 

What are you reading, watching, listening to or diggin' these days?
When I'm not working, I'm usually cooking. During the early days of quarantine I baked A LOT of bread, so much of my reading and watching were cooking and bread videos. I also did a deep dive into learning about natural/biodynamic wines which is a super interesting sector of agriculture and farming. Now, my boyfriend is super into fermenting (pickles, tomatoes, chilis, lots of different things!) So I've been absorbing a lot of second-hand knowledge of that. 
Non-foodie reads and listens include: 
-The Wangs Vs The Word, a novel by Jade Chang 
-A playlist I created on Spotify called 'silk' (think neo-jazz and modern blues). 
-Esperanza, a poetry zine created by my cousin Brian Leon. 
-Currently taking a break from streaming TV/movies :) 

Follow Andrea on Instagram here and for recipes and yummy food content, check out Tastebuds Instagram and website!