Employee Spotlight:
Erin Cella

Erin Cella is a Creatis employee working on assignment at Optum as the Renew Active Program Manager — a role she's held for two years. Erin is also an active volunteer and a coalition member of It's About Time, a Twin Cities-based organization focused on bridging the racial achievement gap by connecting diverse candidates to employers. Read this Q/A with Erin.

What's your role at Optum?

I'm a Program Manager on Optum's Renew Active program, within their Medicare and Retirement services. Renew Active is a program for seniors on Medicare who have UnitedHealthcare insurance, encouraging fitness through free gym memberships and personalized fitness plans. I help manage fitness partnerships.

How has COVID-19 affected your work?

Well, as we all know, the fitness industry has been super affected by COVID. We had to pivot [Renew Active] to focus on things like virtual fitness visits and group Zoom workouts for our members. I'm also able to work for Optum remotely, and have recently relocated to Miami, Florida! Creatis and Optum were both open to the idea, and so great during the moving process. 

How did It's About Time get started? 

I was approached by my former colleague, Charlie Hackerson (Global Sales Chief at Site Improve) in the summer of 2020. Charlie had an idea to create a group that actively fought racism by getting more Black and minority people involved in business here in the Twin Cities. The ideas was to do that by connecting candidates of color with employers and business leaders — to just help people make meaningful connections. A small group of coalition members has been meeting virtually every two weeks since August to bring It's About Time to life. Like we say, "It's just about time" to have a more diverse workforce. The coalition members are a mix of Black and white people. We're all volunteers. 

What kind of events do you host & how does the process work? 

We work to build a pool of candidates, who will apply and get an orientation to get prepped for our Career Fair. We then reach out to potential employers who would be interested in meeting these candidates. So far we've done one virtual Career Fair in February 2021 that featured a keynote speaker who educated [all attendees] on bias and prejudice in the workplace. After the speaker, we did what's like professional "speed dating" — we break out into Zoom rooms, where candidates meet individually with business reps or hiring managers from different companies so they can learn about the company, ask questions, talk about their skills and explore job opportunities. We hope to do another Career Fair this spring!

What is your role with the organization? 

[All coalition members] do a little bit of everything. My primary role is supporting and working with candidates. That means contacting potential candidates, then onboarding and preparing candidates to meet with employers at the career fairs. I also do social media promotion. It's About Time is not a placement firm, though, we're clear about that with candidates. I help prepare and answer questions for our candidates and then let them take ownership of next steps in terms of applying for work or making further connections.

What kind of support are you looking for right now?

 We're always looking to connect with potential candidates and employers. People can contact us through our website here. 

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