Profile: Wayne Ysaguirre

What does success mean to you?
Success means that I am fulfilled in my personal and professional life. That my relationships with my family and friends are such that both they and I contribute in meaningful ways to the wellbeing of each other and that we make time for this to occur. It also means that Associated and I are able to be of use to the children and families. That their lives are enhanced by the children’s enrollment in our program and the children’s ability to lead successful lives is made more possible by their involvement with us.

What motivates you to do your best work?
The faces of the children and the conversations with our parents motivate me. When I look into the faces of our children I see human beings who enjoy life and learning. Knowing that in their interaction with us, we are able to foster that enjoyment of life and learning. Not simply for the future but because today is the most important day in their life. When tomorrow arrives it will become the most important day and it is our job to help make it so. I also see their potential, the potential to become their best self for themselves and for others, others who know them and love them but the broader other, community. Helping them develop the foundation for future self awareness, self expression, self love and success as they define it motivates me.

What attracted you to your current position?
The desire to maximize my usefulness to our children, their families and our community and the early care and education field at large drives my ambition. Also, it is this particular organization that attracts me. Associated is an organization with the need to be excellent for our children and families, its built into our DNA. I see it in the cooks, the teachers, the cleaning staff, the accountants, the administrative staff, the managers and the board.

What was a defining moment in your life?
The day I really understood that my work in early care and education for low income children is equally about parents as it is about children. I had been helping a working parent who lived in one of Boston’s public housing developments navigate the system for accessing and keeping subsidized child care and housing. She had recently gotten off public assistance, gotten a job and received a slight wage increase. With that increase her child care fee went up as did her housing cost to a level she could not afford. Her small success in work made unaffordable her family’s life in Boston. I tried to help her and my efforts were insufficient. I told her I did all I could. She looked me in the eye and said “that’s not enough”. In her proud and defiant stance I saw for the first time the strength in her to demand what she needed for her two boys. She humbled me that day, she challenged me and she made me realize that my duty was greater than I originally understood. She made me a partner in her life and the lives of her two sons that day. To this day she remains one of my heroes. In her I saw the best parent and I learned that it was necessary for me to understand and help parents meet their broader needs in order to help children meet their current and future potential.

What book are you currently reading?
Biography of Benjamin Franklin

What is the book you go back to the most?

Issac Asimov’s “The Foundation Trilogy” and Frank Herbert’s “Dune”. I wish I was more of an intellectual reader but that is not the case; I want to be entertained. I am also however very curious about how smart science fiction writers envision the human condition when they look into the future. They have to explain why we are still around and how we structure and govern ourselves in order to have survived. In particular I am curious about their notions of democracy and governing systems. How does a political/governing institution manage democracy when the governed grows so large as to have limited interaction with its governing body and decision makers. And how can that society ensure effectiveness in meeting its population’s needs.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Honestly, I have none. I feel guilt over actions or inaction as it relates to my family, friends and work responsibilities but not towards engagement in pleasures, it is simply not my nature. I love a banana boat with lots of nuts and bits of fruit, guilt free.

Are you a morning or night person?
I am a morning person. I wake up at about 5:30 every morning and am immediately awake. When my wife wakes up, she is not a morning person, I am ready to talk about the nature of the universe, her opinions on the national response to the economy, relations with foreign nations and the like. Drives her nuts.

If a spaceship landed outside your office right now, would you get in it and where would you ask it to take you?
One invitation and I am in. I love meeting people from Thailand and France, imagine someone from a truly different world. As for where I would like to go, their planet of origin, near the black hole in the center of the universe and the future.

Are you a cat person or a dog person?
I like dogs and am neutral to cats. I like playing and wrestling with dogs.

What is your greatest personal challenge when connecting with new donors?
Shutting up, I talk too much and can miss what they have to say, who they are and why they want to share their resources with others.

Would you rather be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond?
I would rather be a medium fish in a medium size pond. I am not drawn to say working on the national level; I enjoy being closer to the people I serve. However, it is in my nature to want to have greater impact and I see my impact as only truly effective if it is somewhat broader than is possible in a small pond. Also, I believe I have a vision that is valuable and that vision requires I have some degree of influence in order to make it real, hence I need to be more than a small fish.

If you won the Megamillions jackpot tomorrow how would you spend it?
First I would ensure my mother has a really comfortable life that my money can buy and the same for my wife and daughter and siblings. Then I would start a foundation that focused on the integration of services and supports for children and families in Boston.

What’s the worst job you ever had? What’s the best?
The worst is the job where I had to stand outside of public places in Boston and Newton, stop pedestrians and ask them to fill out market survey questionnaires.

My most enjoyable job was as a program assistant at Associated’s Ruggles Child Care Center years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed working and interacting with parents everyday. I enjoyed the collaborative work with the teachers, cooks, social works, volunteers and interns which were an aspect of that job. I love my current job but I am replenished by my interactions with the kids and sometimes I go too long without that, which leaves me tired as opposed to motivated and energized. That’s easy to fix however, I go to visit the kids.

What motivates you?
The promise of a life full with rewards for each and every one of our children. If I can help these children to imagine what that life is and help them develop the awareness, the desire and the skills to reach for that life, what more can I ask for.

What scares you?
That not enough of us are capable of loving other people’s children.

What’s your favorite beverage?
Rum and Coke with a twist of lime.

What would be your first question to space aliens?
Why are you here?

What was the greatest barrier you’ve ever had to break through?
Self doubt. It’s not that self doubt is paralyzing but rather it prevents you from being bold and creative.

What is your greatest personal accomplishment?
I have friends who love me, and family who love being with me.

What is your passion outside of work?
Scuba Diving, being in the ocean and being in the quiet beauty of nature.

Are little white lies a necessary aspect of getting along with others?
Sure, especially those that come in the form of holding your tongue. All of us need to be propped up at times or not torn down depending on the situation.

Is your glass half-full or half-empty and why?
I am a half-full person, it is in my nature. I find I am happier that way. Sometimes it is considered naiveté by others.

If you had a time machine what time period would you go to and why?
The Renaissance Period. In particular I would love to have seen Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo do their thing and talk with Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. That time was such a movement forward in the arts and science, a vibrant and exciting time of discovery and questioning.

Can you swim?
Yes, I love being in the ocean.

If you were a god what would you do to the world?
Leave it alone. I lack the imagination to understand, how a godlike intervention in the world would be of any real lasting good. Society and the individual human role in it are far too complex for me to understand the impact pulling on one thread would have on the rest of the social fabric. In spite of all the bad we are capable of and the harm we do to each other and our world/environment, in the end it is the humans that must own the world we inhabit. Basically as a god I am sure I would mess things up if I tried to improve things. Sort of like bringing democracy to Iraq. Too complicated.

Married? Single? Looking?
Married. My wife’s name is Jennifer Bennet. She runs an organization called the Family Van that provides free preventative health services. My world works only with her at its center.

What’s your favorite color?
No one favorite but I love bright colors. My shirts, ties and socks are filled with purple, bright orange, red, bright blues and greens, etc. Bright is my favorite color.

Who’s the coolest person you know?
My brother Angel. He is a passionate person. He eats up life. He loves (as in really loves) art, plays, performances, books, ideas, entertaining, certain people, family, life in general.

What can you say about your organization that would convince someone to donate?
An investment in Associated’s work is a positive investment in each individual child. That child’s life has greater meaning to him or her as a result of time spent with us. Your gift is an endowment, an endowment for generations as these children become successful students, successful adults, successful parents and pass that success to their children and grandchildren. Come meet them and see for yourself.