Dana Center Role
Calista serves as the development associate for Literacy First, a program of the Center dedicated to ensuring that all students learn to read by the end of second grade, allowing them to realize their full potential. Her duties include: managing Literacy First's grants lifecycle, cultivating relationships with foundation and corporate partners, and coordinating site visits to showcase the impact of Literacy First.
Collaborating with leadership, Calista executes annual fundraising campaigns and builds and maintains donor relationships. She also oversees all gift processing and stewardship, ensuring donors receive proper acknowledgment and support.
Before Joining the Dana Center
As an intern at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, Calista assisted with database management and performed operational tasks to enhance library accessibility. During her undergraduate years at the University of Pennsylvania, she developed passions for service, education access for underserved communities, and mission-driven storytelling. Calista also served on the board of the Ivy League's only Latinx honor society, tutored public school students, and wrote for the student magazine. Originally from the Rio Grande Valley, Calista remains active in that South Texas community with the College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP), which offers near-peer guidance to first-generation high school students applying to college.
Education
- B.A., History and English, University of Pennsylvania