Leslie Arias Farewell Interview

Leslie Arias, BCS Compliance Manager

Leslie Arias, Compliance Manager for Bronx Community Solutions, left us to relocate to Miami on last week Friday. In the three years that she was here, Leslie made an indelible impression on the our staff members and on our organizational culture. A prime example of the lasting impact of her legacy is the support group she began for staff members who wanted a safe space to express how they're feeling and what they are going through. She will be truly missed and we wish her the best in all her future endeavors. 

I had the chance to sit with Leslie to conduct an interview with her to discuss her time at Bronx Community Solutions. Here are some of the things she and I were able to discuss: 

What I wanted to talk to you about was your experience here and what you’re going to be doing in Miami once you leave. So can you tell me about what you do here at Bronx Community Solutions now and how you were able to work up toward that role?

So currently I am a compliance specialist. I oversee most, if not all, most compliance matters as far as court dates and client reporting, anything that has to do with quality assurance and guaranteeing that we are providing the most effective service to the courts and to our clients. It’s a very ‘liaison like’ position where we work with other departments to ensure that things are running smoothly and that policies are in sync with each across department lines. I definitely enjoy my role as a compliance specialist. It’s been the perfect capstone, so to speak, to my time here. 

I came to Bronx Community Solutions as an intern for the intake department. I really just went head first into the work. I learned how to do DWI screenings and assessments. I’m also bilingual so I was able to use that skill to work with ADP groups. I did a 9-month internship with Bronx Community Solutions. It wasn’t for academic credit or anything. It was more for just the work experience because I hadn’t really had any professional experience before then, specifically within the criminal justice field. So, you can say that my internship here was the start of my professional career. I didn’t want to leave at first but it was an internship, I was at the end of my nine months and it was time to see what else was out there for me. So, I left for a few months and I came back in February 2016 when I was hired as an intake specialist. I was super excited about that because starting as an intake specialist felt more like a refresher course for me. I had already known most of the responsibilities of the job from my time as an intern even though a few things had changed. In a very short amount of time after I came back, I discovered that our former DWI Resource Coordinator was leaving at the time. They sort of took me under their wing and had me observe many things with the DWI initiative. I didn’t have a formal position with the DWI initiative but I was able work very closely with the DWI Resource Coordinator to assist in its implementation. The time I spent working with this project was considered to be an informal training for me because when this position become open I decided to apply. The DWI Resource Coordinator instead became split into two roles, one of them being the DWI Intake Manager. The role of Intake Manager was offered to me and it was something I decided to take on. I was doing administrative work for the DWI initiative as well as conducting intakes and working to mainstream the whole intake process in general.  I held this position for almost a year and then I began the transition into compliance. I was given an opportunity to apply for a new compliance manager position and I was immediately selected for the post. I really do feel that my position as a compliance manager has been the culmination of my experience here. Everything I’ve done from being an intern to intake specialist has come to fruition my current role. I’ve pushed myself to really becoming a master at working with our client databases like JCA and that’s really helped assist in my growth as a professional.

Wow that pretty awesome. So just to confirm, you’ve been with Bronx Community Solutions for three years now?

Yes, I have been here three years.

So, there should be some good and bad memories here and there for you huh?

Yeah, I guess you can put it like that.

So, I wanted to ask you what would be your most fond memory of Bronx Community Solutions as a whole?

I like the dynamic we have. It ironic because I was writing a paper on organizational culture. I think that Bronx Community Solutions has a culture where we are very family oriented. That has its strengths and weaknesses in a sense that we have lot of unity but it’s still a weakness in that we can fight as if we’re brothers and sisters. So, we do have that sort of camaraderie here. But I definitely enjoy the attention to detail that people have here. There’s this intimate sort of feeling working with the staff here and that is something that is difficult to find in a workplace. I enjoy the fact that people here check up on you, they ask about how you’re feeling and I feel that’s important you know. Its important for people to feel that they are welcomed and needed in an organization and I feel that Bronx Community Solutions has given that to me and I couldn’t be more appreciative. 

Now I don’t want to put you on the spot. But if you could choose one person from the staff here, who would you say has given you the most support while you were at Bronx Community Solutions?

Now that’s kind of hard because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings okay! But if I had to choose one person then it would have to be Lovis. She was the first person to hire me as an intern and then she hired me as a compliance manager. So, she’s been a part of my professional growth from beginning to end and I think that is pretty symbolic. She has supported me by challenging me to envision long term career goals for myself. I recently enrolled in graduate school and the guidance I received from Lovis played a big role in my decision to even consider graduate school. She helped me to see the reality things and would put my vision into context. She would always say “if you want to get here then you’re going to have to do such and such”. She was always pointing me in the right direction and that sort of support when even beyond my job responsibilities. She was able to support me in ways that were very important to me on a personal level. Her honesty and really guiding/shaping me along the way and just helping to cultivate my professional skills has really helped to make me into the person I am today. I think that was a huge part of my professional growth and Lovis deserves most of the credit for that.

Who made you laugh the most during your time here?

Oh man!! Where do I start because that’s a hard one! I would say Justin because he always had some random crazy thing to say. Between Justin and Willie, I’d say. They were part of the original intake crew and the things that would come out of their mouths would make me be like “ugh I just can’t deal with you right now”! But it was all in good fun.

So now you’re relocating to Miami. What do you hope to bring with you from your time here when you make your transition?

Definitely the work ethic that I’ve been able to develop since I’ve been here. The work ethic that we have here, the strive that we have are definitely qualities that I’d like to bring with me. We’re not a laid back kind of office. So, going to into a part of the country where it is much more laid back, I would like to bring that same level of assertiveness and that can-do mentality with me. Maybe it’s a New York attitude in general but it is definitely a Bronx Community Solutions attitude in particular. It’s nothing for us to be answering phone calls typing emails and working with a client all at the same time here. So, I want to make that sort of skills with me as I continue to do this work and transition into another state.

So here is the final question: What is it that you want to tell the people that you’re leaving behind at Bronx Community Solutions? Is there a final thought or shout out that you want to give to them?

Wow its hard and I’m going to try to do this without crying okay? I think, besides the gratitude I feel, this has been just such a roller coaster season for me in general and the staff here at has been more than what they think they are to me, if that makes sense. I’ve had colleagues that have become family to me, have become my closest friends and they definitely have made me feel wanted and supported. I cannot tell you how much that means to me. I will always remember this place. Anything that I say about Bronx Community Solutions will always be good and the people still here will always have my heart. There is a piece of my heart that will always stay here. I always felt that the work I did here was worthwhile. I had a lengthy commute to get here and there was never a day that went by where I thought to myself that the work we do wasn’t worth the effort it took to get here. So, I am extremely grateful, more than I can even express. My words really fall short in explaining how deeply connected I am to this project and to the staff here. So, I just wish everyone here at  the best. I always want to hear bigger and better things about Bronx Community Solutions and hopefully I can come back and visit sometimes that I will see this vibrant, robust workplace still serving the community. This place is one of a kind and I love all of the people that are still here.