Get To Know VALOR Secretary Thomas Velasquez
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The County has 10 great Employee Resource Groups (ERG). They are each led by a respective board who all demonstrate commitment and stewardship of its members to the various sectors of our community.
Get to know VALOR ERG Secretary Thomas Velasquez, a paralegal with County Counsel.
Q: How long have you worked for the County and what departments have you worked for?
A: I am going on 20 years with the County. I’ve worked 16 yrs. at the District Attorney in various positions and coming up on 4 years with County Counsel.
Q: What do you do in your role/what are your job responsibilities?
A: I am a paralegal; my job is to represent the County in litigation by managing cases as they move through the justice system from beginning to end. I work with clients to gather evidence, strategize on our litigation strategy, and bring cases to trial. I also work on designing and delivering trainings, and working with subject matter experts that provide training to our office.
Q: What’s your workplace superpower?
A: My superpower is that I am super flexible and it comes from my time spent in the military. I can work on projects individually or work collaboratively with a team. I am very process and procedure driven, yet I can be flexible and change priorities at a moment’s notice. If I was a superhero, I would be Mr. Fantastic.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself outside of work.
A: I am heavily into health and fitness. I love to CrossFit, ride my Peloton, and run. To exercise my mind, I like to read both fiction and non-fiction novels. I am also a huge computer gamer and I love reading stories and watching videos from my favorite fantasy universes such as Marvel, Star Wars and DC Comics with my family and friends.
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about helping others improve, by providing training opportunities in a professional setting. I am passionate about leadership and providing leadership coaching to emerging leaders. I am also passionate about health and wellness.
Q. What is the best advice you’ve received from a mentor?
A: Always believe in yourself and your abilities.
Q: What are some resources that you find useful and recommend to others?
A: I regularly watch presentations from TED. I find the material thought provoking and I am usually led to some good books to read. I also would recommend checking out self-paced classes from Mindvalley. If there is a topic anyone is interested in learning about, Mindvalley may have a course on it. Plus, LinkedIn Learning has a ton of great courses. I’ve taken many of them myself.
Q: Tell us about your ERG.
A: VALOR is an ERG to provide networking opportunities for county employees who are veterans, or people connected to veterans either through family and/or friends, however anyone can join our ERG.
Q: Why are ERGs important?
A: ERGs are important as they provide a space to connect to other County employees that share similar interests. On top of the networking opportunities, ERGs also provide County employees access to training, and career growth opportunities.
Q: What is your ERG looking forward to this year?
A: We are looking forward to engaging with members and connecting with new members at in-person events.
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