Roots and Routes

Roots and Routes

JESSICA QUINTANILLA

Operations Manager, NDD

Jessica started at the NDD in an administrative position after graduating from Rutgers. She gradually learned more about the operational side and eventually rose to her current position, where she manages a crew of over 100 ambassadors, as well as team leaders. Her time at the NDD has seen tremendous growth; when she first started 11 years ago the NDD had only 15 ambassadors! Jessica has also been a part of the recent expansion into the southern sector.

Learning what it takes to expand and
how to prepare for an expansion from
an operations standpoint has been an enjoyable experience for her. However, there was a degree of uncertainty: the landscape in the new sector was much more residential than the legacy sector. This meant there were questions about what those stakeholders would need and require, what their expectations might be, and whether the NDD could meet them.

“If there is a will, there is a way. You just have to make it your goal and work towards it.”

“We had to be mindful that the people in the southern sector might not know who these folks in black and yellow are as they clean and work in their neighborhood,” Jessica notes. “But it has gone well!

Within five months we have added safety, hospitality, and horticulture departments to the new sector. It has been a fun ride; people appreciate what we do. You can see a major difference between day one to what it looks like now.”

Jessica likes working with the ambassadors. “They are a fun crew!” she says. “They always have ideas. They are invested in the program, so they bring their suggestions to my attention and I like to be able to implement them when we can.”

As someone responsible for filling the open positions, she tries her best to promote from within. “The NDD is really a place where you can grow.” As the first person from her family to graduate from college and ascend to a managerial role, she knows exactly how meaningful it is to receive opportunities for growth and achievement.

Jessica recently visited El Salvador, the country of her parents’ birth. Visiting there as an adult and having the ability to understand the political and social climate that her family came from had a major impact on her. She was amazed by the positive transformation the country had undergone and enjoyed learning about the history of the local native tribes. The experience sparked a passion for travel, and she looks forward to exploring many other parts of the world.

FUN FACT ABOUT JESSICA:

In 2016, she was named one of the 100 People of Newark for her work as an operations supervisor on the Gateways to Newark: Portraits mural.