While Change Consultant and Administrative Assistant Ciara Collins only joined Change Matrix (CM) a few months ago, she has quickly adapted to CM’s company culture, jumped into multiple projects like Expanding the Bench® (ETB) and The National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (NNED), and become an essential part of the team. She said she was drawn initially to CM because of its diverse array of projects centered around equity work, especially around behavioral health. 

“My oldest son has ADHD, and trying to find resources for him was really hard. And being in a community where not a lot of people have ADHD, it was hard to get answers and an understanding of what I was going through and what he was going through so that we could get help, not just for him but an understanding for the family and the trials and tribulations that we have dealt with,” Collins said. “So, when I heard CM Founding Partner Elizabeth Waetzig describing the NNED and similar projects [in my interview], I thought, ‘That’s super awesome. I wish I would have known about programs like this and who I could go and reach out to to get an understanding of my own situation.’”

She said that CM’s diversity of team members was another plus, too.

“I think when you’re in [most of] corporate America’s workplaces, it’s hard to get a solid understanding of diverse people who understand how you may be feeling and what’s going on in the world and in the community,” Ciara said. “Sometimes, they just leave [personal thoughts and feelings] at the door, and you feel scattered, even if you’re going through your own personal stuff. You don’t have a community.”

One feature of work life at CM that Ciara appreciates is CM’s Communities of Learning, Being, and Doing (LBDs). These are weekly 90-minute company-wide sessions where colleagues discuss project work, equity efforts, and sometimes even “edutainment” offerings in order to foster a stronger sense of teamwork — something especially necessary at CM, which is a fully virtual organization.

“When we started doing the LBDs, I thought that was super awesome because not only are we doing the work, but we’re coming in and having tough conversations that we all can relate to,” Ciara said. “You just get a better understanding of what you’re going through in your personal life as well as what’s going on in the world that, truthfully, contributes to your work life all around.”

What she also appreciates is CM’s deep focus on equity-based work. She said that part of what allows her to “bring her best self” into the work is knowing that she’s working with colleagues as whole people and not being treated as “just another number.”

“Equity lets you understand the values and the culture and the love for each other. I think that makes the company even better and it makes the people in the company even better,” she said. “In this company, I’m able to be around a lot of diverse people who don’t hold back their feelings and don’t hold back what they’re going through. That helps me not only in my work but also in my personal life, too.”

When asked what her skillset she thinks sets her apart from others and has helped her in her new position, Ciara emphasized her ability to take in and process new information rapidly while multitasking effectively. This has been especially helpful for her ETB work, which is one of her main project assignments.

“I like that with ETB you get multiple projects within the Initiative, like in the Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) Program, the Advancing Culturally-responsive and Equitable (ACE) Evaluation Network, and ETB’s fundraising and field-building and how they all mesh into one,” she said. “I like being able to learn all of those different aspects of it coming together for the whole of it, and I feel like I have a better understanding of ETB than any other of my projects.”

She added that knowing not only the importance of her role but how it is instrumental in moving forward the Initiative has been another reason she has settled into her position quickly and why she’s excited to grow with CM and learn more.

“I think that’s why I love being with CM,” Ciara said. “Because everybody does everything differently, but nobody holds back and you get all these different perspectives on how people work or how they bring their knowledge to you to work better.”