As someone who gets a small thrill out of finding efficiencies, Cedeno especially appreciates how Sign automates the tedious task of sending reminders every two days until the person signs.
“We're able to do things so quickly because we're spending less time on the minutiae of little things we’ve done in the past with paper,” Cedeno explains. “It’s becoming a seamless process that allows us to focus on more important things: the offerings.”
These include out-of-school-time programs that give kids access to virtual and in-person classes where they learn theater, origami, silk painting, cooking, even dance.
“In July, one of our partners does what's called Jamathon,” says Cedeno. “It's like a dance festival. They'll have about 3,000 kids come out.”
As a former latchkey kid herself, Cedeno knows the value of those offerings because she remembers how it felt to have a lot of empty hours between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m.
“My parents are from Ecuador, so I had to teach myself reading and homework,” she recalls. “My dad, he tried, but there was that language barrier. And with only one working parent, there was low income. My mom worked all day at a factory.”
One day, when Paola was around 8 years old, her mom took her to get ballet lessons. “I have such a vivid memory of her saying, ‘Paola, I want so badly to put you in this class, but we can't afford it.’ And I understood, you know? I went home, put on the ballet music, and twirled around the house.”
Now, being able to provide those kinds of opportunities makes her work all the more gratifying.
“A lot of these kids may have parents who can’t help them with their homework or come from a home where their parents are struggling and can't put them in ballet—but they get that taste of cultural arts,” she says. “Some of these kids may find out they absolutely love science and become the next scientist to have a breakthrough. All those things have kept me here since 2005.”