Monserrat Fuente

I'm young, I'm 26, and I never pictured myself being where I'm standing right now. The job I have right now, I'm very blessed, I'm very grateful, but it is not something I had in my plans five years ago. I think that always gives me that clarity that no matter how much I plan, the universe and the world has plans for you, and sometimes you may plan all you want, but something else will happen. My everyday looks very different because I have my hands on everything in the nonprofit. Some days I'm focusing more on finance and invoicing and everything that needs to get done on that side, other days I'm completely focused on making sure the Indonesian ambassador has everything set up for the engagement we're hosting and we're connecting him and the delegation with other stakeholders here in the Valley that they would want to meet with and that could be beneficial for both of them. Other days I'm working on membership engagement and communications because my organization is a member-based organization. My job is all about pivoting and knowing how to prioritize things and how to quickly pivot to attend what's most urgent, but always still get everything else that needs to get done. I do see myself staying in international relations one way or another. Whether that means I'll go one day to the UN or other nonprofits that do international work, or I work abroad - I do have the itch to work abroad. Whatever takes me, I know my career will always be international, there'll always be an international component to it. I'll always have that duality to me between business and creativity, and I hope one day to be able to blend those together to a higher degree. But always international, always working hard, and always pushing for something more.