Meet TNP’s newest additions: Ricardo Gonzalez & Nidhi Soni
The Nora Project team has grown! Earlier this fall, we excitedly welcomed Ricardo Gonzalez and Nidhi Soni to team TNP. Both had been friends of the organization for years and now, we finally get to bring their expertise and passion for inclusion to TNP! Today, we invite you to officially meet them too.
Ricardo joins as our operations director with more than 25 years of corporate experience in IT, HR, project management and client services. Nidhi, our operations coordinator, is finishing her degree in astronomy and is working toward becoming a public speaker, sharing her personal story and perspective on life as an adult with cerebral palsy through her blog/vlog, Shakable but Unbreakable.
The two connected via Zoom to talk about their paths to TNP, their roles within the organization and what they’re most excited about going forward. Here’s an inside look at their conversation.
Following their chat, we asked each to answer a few questions to share more about themselves.
What was your favorite part of interviewing one another?
Ric: I just like talking to Nidhi, in general. She has such a great disposition and is such a nice person! Her positivity rubs off on you pretty quickly.
Nidhi: I loved being able to talk about my goals at TNP and how I want to help kids see that it does turn out to be okay.
What did you learn from each other?
Ric: Nidhi and I are at very different points in our careers. Nidhi is still young and really just getting started on what I hope is a long and fruitful career journey. I'm older and farther along in my journey, and my needs and goals are likely very different. However, we are also the same in a lot of ways. We are both new to TNP, we are both still beginners in the nonprofit sector, and we both have a lot to learn about our jobs, this organization, and the work we're meant to do while we're here. I think we learned that there is almost always someone else in your situation, depending on how you choose to frame that situation!
Nidhi: From Ric I learned that everything happens for a reason. I learned to stop questioning everything I have done in the past or am doing right now because I do have a path and one day I will know what that path is.
What’s your favorite part of your role with TNP?
Ric: TNP is a small organization, and, as such, we can easily draw a line of sight from the work we do as individuals to the impact that it has on the teachers and students we serve. And beyond. We regularly hear stories of impact that come from our teachers either self-reflecting or recounting student behavior they observe both as a direct result of our programs. We also hear stories about how our programs touch individual students outside the classroom, their parents, and even their families. When you work for a large organization, it's easy to lose that line of sight or never come into contact with the people you serve. The best part about working for TNP is knowing that what you do matters to the mission and being able to see that fact for yourself on an almost daily basis.
Nidhi: I love my job but above everything, I love that I work with such amazing and understanding people. I love that when I have something to say, it’s heard, and it is respected. I am respected! I am so very excited to see my future with TNP.
What are your passions or interests outside of TNP?
Ric: I love listening to music, listening to podcasts, and reading. I think all are intensely personal ways to experience things going on in the larger world. It's a way to participate in the culture in my own, unique way.
Nidhi: I am very passionate about public speaking and my speaker’s name is “unbreakable.” I believe that for 35 years, my life has been developing a story that is funny at times and really hard other times. My disability has given me a lot of emotional pain. It has also taught me valuable lessons that make me who I am today. I wish to share my story. I know I can’t reach the whole world but if I can make a difference in a handful of people, that would make me very happy.
What’s one other thing you want people to know about you?
Ric: I try my best to take nothing for granted. I appreciate everything I've been through over the years, good and bad, that have gotten me to this point in time, to this very day. My greatest desire is to share my experience with other people and help nudge them along their own paths. Few things give me more peace and satisfaction than knowing I've contributed positively to someone else's life. I'm here to serve!
Nidhi: I love astronomy! I am also working towards becoming an astronomer. We say the world is huge and it is. However, compared to how big the universe is, we are tiny dots in it! I also love to write. It’s a stress reliever for me because I don’t always know how to express how I feel so I write it down. Sometimes, that’s how I come up with speech topics.