Kaylee Vineyard, who attended Eastern New Mexico University from 2011-2013, recently became the campaign and outreach associate for the United Way of Eastern New Mexico. She is in charge of all social media, giving presentations to businesses to discuss what United Way does to help the community and overseeing the Women's Initiative Network (WIN).
WIN was created to empower women to become leaders in their communities. WIN provides United Way with a game-changer fund that helps families obtain IDs and birth certificates, pays utility bills and provides women with business attire through the Successful You Career Closet. WIN has network events in Clovis and Portales.
Kaylee encourages community members to get involved with WIN and volunteer for United Way.
She uses United Way's social media as a way to keep people informed on upcoming events and ways to help out. Stay up-to-date by following the United Way of Eastern New Mexico Facebook page.
Kaylee's advice to students interested in pursuing a similar career path focused on helping others is to "keep learning as much as you can. Working with social media, every day changes. How people want to receive information is always different. Think outside the box. Always be open to teach yourself new tricks. Talking is also the key in my field. Do not be scared to talk to new people and make connections."
The campaign and outreach associate's goal for her position is to "see United Way of Eastern New Mexico grow to help more families. I want to grow in my knowledge. I want to be more involved in the community through different community events."
Her favorite part of the job is getting to "help our community in such a big way. Even helping just one person is so rewarding."
Kaylee was born in Albuquerque, raised in Melrose and lives in Clovis, New Mexico. Her father is a mechanic at Impact in Clovis, her mother is a homemaker and her sister, Candice, rebuilds computers. Kaylee's boyfriend, Jerrick Smith, is a mechanic at R&B Toyota. She has three stepchildren: Riley Smith, 11, Khloe Smith, 8, and Leigha Smith, 4.
She chose to attend ENMU because it was "close enough to home to see my family but still be able to become my own person." Her work with the Vocational Rehabilitation Division, a program that helps people with disabilities succeed in college, inspired her to major in communication.
Kaylee called attending Eastern a "great experience. I meet so many wonderful friends and mentors that still help me to this day."
She advises students to "enjoy these years of college. You are finding yourself. It is okay to change your majors and not know what you want to do after you graduate. Most people do not. Just enjoy the ride and have fun.
Kaylee was involved in Chi Omega and Fushion Funk (belly dancing). She also worked on-campus in the library. She shared that working in the administration and graphic design offices showed her how to "balance work life and personal life. They also showed me how it was going to be when I went out to the real world."
Before working for United Way, Kaylee was a program director and DJ for 99.1 KCLV and a market specialist at MECA Therapies.
She shares that her nana is her hero: "She is the strongest woman I know. She inspires me every day to become the best person I can be. She is the most loving woman I have ever meet. She thinks of everyone has her own."
Kaylee's hobbies are hanging out with family and friends, watching Disney films ("Aladdin" is her favorite), redoing furniture and growing her YouTube channel.
