Mona Magno has been on the Youth on Record team since 2017, when they joined YOR as a fellow and also as a Teaching Artist and FEMpowered Program Lead. This summer, they stepped into the role of Youth Success Manager! 

Catch up with Mona Magno, Youth Success Manager! 

Q: Hi Mona! What’s bringing you joy lately? 

A: “Lately, dancing has been bringing me so much joy. Not only just personal movement, but also partner dance has been really exciting to dive into right now.”

Q: How has your work with Youth on Record changed your life? 

A: “Youth on Record has been a huge part of my life since 2017. I think the biggest blessing is that it has given me such a meaningful opportunity to offer my skills of excellence to the community in a way where I can see the impact of my actions and my work. I’ve already known that I have this incredible offering in the way I show up in community work and leadership and YOR has given me such profound ways to plug into the community and to make an impact. I have the skill of being able to look at things from a big picture view and with that have the skill of being able to navigate moment to moment with ease–a lot of people experience leaders, producers, or directors as control freaks and I definitely want how we show up in our work to be rooted in quality but I also know that there’s a craft in art to creating a container for folks to show up in their excellence. I love working with people and finding out how to best serve them so they are held enough to do a job that they feel good about–with this new position I’m excited to show up for our team in that way.” 

Q: What’s your go-to dessert? 

A: “Whew, my go-to-dessert? Do I ever eat dessert? For some reason key lime pie is coming up in my head but I haven’t had key lime pie in a long time. Mochis, too. Or the macaron cookies at Whole Foods.” 

Q: What advice do you have for young creatives? 

A: “Seek out mentorship, if there’s someone you admire in the community or in your city, hit them up and see if they have time to give you some guidance. Also, specialize–pursue the things that light you up and inspire you and focus your energy on them so that you are the best person for the job when given the opportunity.”

Q: Anything else you want to tell us?

A: “I’m so stoked about this new advancement in the organization. I have had so many visions for the way we could excel our programming and I’m now in a position to really create some momentum for the organization and I think it’s in everyone’s best interest for this promotion to have happened!