Yleana Torres has a long history with Children’s Aid.

The Washington Heights native attended I.S. 218, a Children’s Aid community school, and worked as an assistant facilitator at our summer camps as a teenager.

In 2021, we welcomed Yleana back to the organization as our IT liaison. She works as the link between our employees and the IT department to ensure all of our technology needs are met.

With dozens of sites and more than 1,000 employees, our IT department is always busy. It’s Yleana’s job to help troubleshoot issues with laptops, tablets, cell phones, and other technology. She also connects staff to other technicians with different expertise.

Yleana didn’t always dream of working in IT. She graduated with a degree in marketing from York College in Queens. After securing a job at Microsoft as a product advisor, she learned more about technology and how different devices work. Last year, she decided to switch companies.

“Honestly, I was just looking for new work opportunities,” she said. “It turns out that one of my old schoolmates from I.S. 218 worked for human resources here.”

Yleana began her job at Children’s Aid in October 2021 and has gained a reputation for her positive energy.

“Technology can be very frustrating. When the users come in, I ease them in and get them help and they leave with a happy face,” she said. “If you think about IT, technicians are not usually known to be very friendly. When you come in and see me you’re like, ‘Wait, you work for IT? Are you sure?’ I guess that’s what I bring to the table.”

Yleana’s favorite part of being an IT Liaison at Children’s Aid is the people she meets. She gets to interact with social workers, teachers, nurses, and so much more. And she gets to use her skills to make their lives easier.

“Getting to meet all the users and getting to know what their job is here at Children’s Aid [is my favorite part of the job],” she said. “I know how important their jobs are and how they’re trying to help our community members. Any time a user does come here, they say, ‘I’m so glad that you’re here.’ They have seen a difference [in support]. Just me picking up the phone and emailing someone back is helpful.”