Known for its beautiful scenery, Spanish history and the International Balloon Fiesta, Albuquerque is home to our fourth development center and nearly 200 of our colleagues. Regional Colleague Director Margret Bailey shares what makes ABQ so special.
Always learning
The culture in our Albuquerque Development Center is “a crucible for leaders of all varieties,” and personal accountability combined with the Sparq focus on teamwork, collaboration, and collegiality produce an ownership approach to everything, “which is fantastic if you want a center full of smart, confident trust-but-questioners,” says Margret. In ABQ, everyone is encouraged to be themselves wholeheartedly, whether that’s by drawing comics, 3D modeling and printing, or sharing your passion for neurolinguistic programming. All of our colleagues truly enjoy learning from each other, which facilitated the creation of the Maker Space, where colleagues lead workshops including acrylic painting and tie-dying. Principal Consultant Mark Winchell even taught the center how to build a functional camp stove from aluminum cans!
Trick or treat
Without a doubt, the most popular center holiday is Halloween (in fact, it sometimes involves a month of activities!) Horror movie lunch trivia, costume contests, and pumpkin decorating rounded out last year’s spooky season celebrations. ABQ also loves a little healthy competition, especially against colleagues in other centers, and had a great showing in the firmwide lip sync competition this year.
Caring about the community
Community engagement is important to everyone in ABQ, especially when it promotes STEM education. CodeClubs.org is a non-profit organization founded by a former Albuquerque colleague, which partners with Girls Who Code and local schools to bring coding classes to kids ages 11-18. Senior Consultant Bresdin O’Malley is now the Executive Director of the organization, and the entire center loves to get involved either through teaching or spreading the word at local events. Margret shares, “The scale to which our colleagues devote themselves to these activities is impressive. I’m very proud of our center’s involvement with the community.”
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