Meet the Team: Rafael Henriquez

Our Meet the Team blog series gives you a glimpse into our team members' approach to working with our partners to achieve better results for communities. Today we’re getting to know Research Consultant Rafael Henriquez.  

What is your role at Engage R+D?

As a research consultant I get to help design and implement projects with clients. It’s about understanding needs and ideas, and then figuring out how to implement them, supporting touch points, and meeting expectations with clients and their community partners. I have a Masters in social work with a focus on strengthening organizations and communities. That direct case work prepared me for this role, helping both individuals and organizations achieve their goals. 

I have a deep appreciation for how organizations can work collectively to get where they want to go. I enjoy reflecting information back to people which likely comes from my social work background. I am not clinically trained, but what I learned in school is based on autonomy and self determination. Bringing that mindset into my work allows me to focus on what I’m hearing, making sure whomever I’m with knows they’ve been heard.

What experience do you bring to this work? 

My first job out of undergrad was with an advocacy team supporting young people with special needs. I facilitated after-school youth groups, coordinated meetings, planned activities, made sure there was food, and in general made sure everything was taken care of. I also took on evaluation work; it was a team that had a strong structure but also questions about the impact of the work they were doing. I was responsible for cleaning up information systems, writing reports, and running surveys. I found myself in an organizational development role in addition to serving clients directly. I liked that holistic understanding of what we were doing. 

I have also worked in adult literacy as an on-site coordinator for an evening ESL school where I also tracked metrics, managed the intake process, and organized data. I am familiar with being in both the facilitation role and building systems, which feels like a right fit with my academic background and for my role at Engage R+D.  

I got an award at one point at a previous job: a swiss army knife. I feel like it’s good to learn how to do a bit of everything. 

Can you share something that motivates you? 

One of my strengths is finding and developing connectedness between people, ideas, and projects. Finding those connections adds meaning for me. What motivates me is the opportunity to meet new people. Even in very small interactions with people, I learn a lot about myself and my community. When I am working with a group of people, learning who the individuals are and how they are together, motivates me to be attentive, focused, and to show up the best I can. I believe there is a story that fits every group and helps them get where they want to go. 

What do you love about your job? 

I really like the diversity of people I get to work with. In my hiring process, I got to meet so many people that it got me excited to work here. That’s meaningful because sometimes it's easier to stay in what is familiar, but diversity humbles me to always be in a learner stance, to be willing to consult with others who know more than me in the context we’re in. It also becomes more clear what other groups are missing, what experiences aren’t being spoken to. 

What are you exploring outside of work these days?

I have always been a lifelong learner. I still feel like I am learning lots of new things and want to focus on habits: things I am repeating on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis where I am put in a position to develop a skill, develop instincts, and confidence. I am trying to study music and recently got a piano. I just threw away my couch and put a piano in its place. I don’t have a teacher yet but am working on reading music, identifying different intervals on the piano, and learning to sight read. I try to practice for an hour at a time on the keys, building endurance and also giving me time to decompress.