Gisele Efon

Hello again, Gisele!

Gisele served in MCN’s 2014-15 cohort with Nexus Community Partners. In Gisele’s last spotlight, she had just graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Master of Social Work.

She has since completed internships with both the Minnesota Asset Building Coalition and Progressive Individual Resources, worked part-time at Catholic Charities as a Client Advocate, worked as a Family Advocate for Simpson Housing Services, and worked as a Senior Social Worker at Hennepin County.

Wow, that’s a lot! From internships to part-time advocacy work, all the way to a full-time social worker, what inspired her to keep making the next step toward social work?

She credits her time as a VISTA as being integral to her career. She explains that “my VISTA experience was the gateway which exposed me to my career as a social worker.” Her time with Nexus taught her about public health and its relationship to intercultural communication. She also reflects on how her experiences as a VISTA played a role in her studies. She says, “I was able to learn about the core concepts of social work as a VISTA and apply them to my studies at my master’s program.”

When asked what she loved about her job at Hennepin County, the first thing that came to mind is her opportunity to assist those in the community. She says, “I was able to support individuals from a different perspective. I worked with other master’s level social workers who have many years of social work experiences. Every day I was able to learn different ways on how to handle crisis from them.”

She greatly enjoys the work that she’s doing and plans to continue building her career in social work to gain her LGSW license.

Gisele, thank you for your service, dedication, and continued support of the community!