Staff Spotlight: Rebeca Riley
Today, we’d like to shine a special spotlight on Rebeca Riley, the Chief Operating Officer of three months. We are excited to welcome her to the team and see her take on the agency!
Outside of work, Rebeca enjoys family life—games all together, arts and crafts with her daughter, swimming, and especially playing with their dog. The three-year-old Labrador-German shepherd mix has tons of energy to keep up with, so her family goes on plenty of walks.
Recently, the vegetarian has tried her hand at baking as well, perhaps to make up for what she describes as “notoriously bad” cooking. Treating it like chemistry, it’s a fun hobby until it’s time to clean up.
Although she was born in Lima, Peru, Rebeca spent most of her childhood in Fort Wayne, IN—the city she would come back to serve in her adulthood. After graduating from Northside High School, she completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at IU Bloomington, with a minor in sociology. Rebeca received her M.S.Ed with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy before traveling to the University of Southern Indiana for her MBA in Healthcare Administration.
Before working for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the licensed marriage and family therapist worked with children, adults, and families across northeast Indiana, building various programs to serve the region. This January, BBBS took Rebeca on as the new Chief Operating Officer, confident in her ability to create connection and opportunity.
What drew you to Big Brother's as an agency?
Rebeca: I saw that Big Brothers Big Sisters was hiring, and I was really interested in working for a place where the mission matters, mission is a top priority.
The last time she applied for the COO position, Rebeca had actually been one of the top four applicants. During her interviews, she watched the leadership team interact, seeing the way they work and speak to each other. The interesting programs, helping children, and the inspiring success stories excited her. When another opportunity arose to apply for the role of COO, Rebeca recalled the passion with which her interviewers spoke and knew it was still the kind of place she’d love to work.
What are you most excited to learn in the coming months?
Rebeca: I really want to learn more about the Match Support team because I think that making sure there’s a connection between the Bigs and Littles is such a big part of it—making sure that it's a good match, that they feel like they have this good connection, that if it's not working out, we can step in and help.
I'm really drawn to that just because of working in mental health, doing therapy for so long, and it feels almost like family therapy. So, I'm just excited to see how it looks without that mental health lens.
So, what does the new COO have in store for the agency? Well, for now, Rebeca is focused on learning about the organization inside and out. Her first leadership role at a previous job taught Rebeca how to best approach a new position like this, something she learned the hard way. Rather than come in with a big vision, ready to make changes, Rebeca now prefers to take her time.
What is a lesson you’ve learned on the job?
Rebeca: You're the new person. Everybody else is established. They have the relationships. They know what works well. And so, one of the lessons I learned is it's important to learn from others first, and then, as you feel more confident and knowledgeable, you can give input and strategies for making things more efficient, but never come in and try to shake things up.
As part of the admin team, Rebeca oversees systems within BBBS, including the processes and management that enable staff and the agency to best serve youth in BBBS programs. Efficiency within the agency allows for more matches, more quality, and, overall, more youth helped within the community.
She is excited to be part of a system that connects young people to Bigs, wholeheartedly believing that mentorship does wonders for people’s sense of belonging and opportunity. In fact, the new COO has had her own mentorship experience.
Do you have your own mentor in your life, either personal or professional? What is the best piece of advice you received from them?
Rebeca: I had a professional mentor. His name is Bill Stephan. He was the person who first gave me an opportunity to be in leadership, and I learned so much about business from him. It inspired me to go get my MBA.
He always would say, ‘You're never in competition with other people, you're in competition with yourself.’ And from that, I took it to mean it's a waste of your time to compare yourself to other people. What you need to look at is ‘Where do I need to grow?’ And if you can see the next year, you've done better, and you've made these improvements, then you're successful. So, it really takes the competition and looking outside of yourself and comparing yourself out of it and goes back to ‘I want to focus on growing myself, and I don't need to compare myself.’
BBBS is excited to develop under Rebeca’s leadership and passion for serving others! She can be contacted at rebeca.riley@bbbsnei.org and (260) 204-3044.