genesis Marie R. Buendia

Genesis Marie is a Filipino Floridian, graduating from Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University. She received a degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, a concentration in Cultural Anthropology, and a certificate in Caribbean and Latin American Studies. During that time, she volunteered 862 hours at El Sol, Jupiter’s Neighborhood Resource Center as an ESL teacher, an adult Spanish literacy program intern, and an administrative assistant. Shortly after graduating, she moved to Illinois to become an AmeriCorps VISTA with The Immigration Project as their Volunteer Coordinator from 2017 to 2019.
From 2019 to 2021, Genesis Marie attended graduate school at Illinois State University as part of their Applied Community and Economic Development (ACED) Program. While working towards a Masters in Anthropology, she took socio-political classes on Latino Studies, learned different approaches to non-profit administration, and studied other aspects of community development through an academically-intensive first year. For her second year, she completed a professional practice with the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, building the foundation of their Dementia-Friendly Community (DFC) initiative.
From 2019 to 2021, Genesis Marie attended graduate school at Illinois State University as part of their Applied Community and Economic Development (ACED) Program. While working towards a Masters in Anthropology, she took socio-political classes on Latino Studies, learned different approaches to non-profit administration, and studied other aspects of community development through an academically-intensive first year. For her second year, she completed a professional practice with the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, building the foundation of their Dementia-Friendly Community (DFC) initiative.
In July 2021, Genesis Marie returned to The Immigration Project as their Office Manager. As a former immigrant and prior client herself, she hopes to support the staff through her experience and education in administrative work so that her coworkers can focus on legal and social service cases.