Amy Otero

Dear Hiring Team My name is Amy Otero and I have a raw and authentic experience in working with populations with mental health and co-occurring disorders and with all learners and abilities inside the classroom. I hold a BS in Rehabilitation Services and a certificate in Veterans Services from California State University of Los Angeles, and I also hold a Master of Arts in Social Emotional Learning from National University. I have worked with various populations and various SESs and identities. I have a profound passion for helping all individuals and families who have been affected by social economic statuses and environmental effects of culture and generational traumas. I know first-hand what addiction does and I see it create homelessness and I know what PTSD can do as well if left untreated. My personal experience is has given me compassion, empathy, a culturally responsive lens, explicit and implicit bias awareness, social emotional awareness, leadership skills and a level of grit you cannot learn in a classroom. I took my experiences and made it an educational endeavor while being neurodiverse and earned my master's degree to help others and serve with intention and representation. As I come full circle in this brief yet important cover letter, I want to also highlight what it means to me to be effective, dependable, a leader and an advocate in any workplace and educational setting. I have years of experience in working as an employee and over the years I got to see and realize how much inclusion, representation, diversity, and equity are missing from the workplace and educational institutions we well. Although I know some matters may be implicit, it happens and that is also what has driven me to become an agent of change and a leader for accessible learning. It is not enough to just have posters up in the breakroom. There needs to be intentional leadership, culturally responsive leadership and teaching, culturally linguistic options for all learners and workers, and equity across all platforms near and far. As a first-generation college graduate, Latina, and queer neurodiverse woman, I want to break barriers, hold representation high and hold inclusion and equity at such a high standard in all workplace organizations and corporations I am given the opportunity to work in.

Ideal Workplace Values

-Workplace bias training -Transparency -Culturally Inclusive -Culturally Responsive -Culturally Linguistic -Diversity Driven, Equity driven, Inclusiveness Driven -Mental Health of employees a priority -Understanding the importance of family with their employees -Career growth opportunities -Wage Equity -Team building -Respect autonomy -Welcoming of employee feedback -Employee review/leadership review exchange -Grievance support -Creating safe spaces within the workplace -Accessible trainings and accessible career opportunities -Employee bonuses/rewards program