Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tatiana Bustos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tatiana, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I have always wondered about my purpose and still continue to ask this question to date. I reflect on my purpose constantly to find strength and motivation to navigate my path. Several experiences helped me find my purpose that were painful, insightful, or inspired through my connections with others who saw my potential.
The most salient experience is the loss of my sister. Since I was 6, I grew up with my little sister, rocking her to sleep the moment she came home. When I was 17, my sister fell ill to a terminal cancer. I watched her undergo treatments over a span of 3 years before her passing. Throughout this time, I had just graduated high school and was starting college with an awarded scholarship, but couldn’t get myself to go to class to the point where I eventually quit. I had failed semesters, lost my scholarship, and no motivation to go back. Once she was placed in hospice, I witnessed her passing at bedside.
It took me years to grow from that and find a purpose. I felt guilt for not spending more time with her when she was ill. I thought about how lonely it must have been for her throughout those years and wanted to try volunteering with children after she passed. I volunteered as a tutor for children who were managed by the foster care system, driving to various communities to build their math and reading skills. I engaged with diverse groups of children exposed to multiple adversities that encouraged me to find other ways to better support them. I tailored my tutoring activities, making them interactive and responsive to their needs, and encouraged them to believe in their skills and capacities. In bridging those community connections and encouraging children to leverage their strengths, I began to find a purpose.
Another experience is when I witnessed the gaps between research and community needs. After going back to school to complete my bachelors, I eventually pursued a master of science in psychological methods and worked for a research center at a university. As an interventionist and field researcher, I delivered reading programs to kids in schools that were categorized at risk and kids who were English language learners. After 4 years with the project, I noticed gaps in the work and realized that the research, as it was designed, was not meeting the needs of children, and the resources that were provided would soon go away after the project ended. The children I worked closely with were experiencing fear, lack of resources, unfair treatment, among other challenges that were remiss in the project design. By witnessing these and other inequities, in combination with my own experiences, I found a purpose to pursue research that could transform structural conditions to equip communities that have been marginalized with capacities they need to thrive. Now with my doctorate in community psychology, I have dedicated my entire career to building community capacities, centering community needs, voices, and benefits to work towards longer term impact of programs and interventions.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a community psychologist, social scientist, and community engaged evaluator whose work focuses on building an empirical basis for community partnerships and engagement. My scholarship has contributed research on the barriers and facilitators to community partnerships in public health, community motivations to engage in research, women’s health and capacities to thrive through social connections, and participatory practices for shared decision-making with communities in project and program design.
Professionally, I am an applied researcher at a nonprofit research institute, where I lead and support projects focused on public health, systems transformation, and community engagement across different social issues. I am also an adjunct instructor, where I teach psychological research design to undergraduate students at a university that serves over 50% first generation students. As part of my role, I work collaboratively with students, community partners and community leaders to develop projects that embed cultural contexts and authenticity of relationships to ensure impact.
What excites me most about what I do is the opportunity to build the field to center communities and their lived expertise as a basis of knowledge. One of my recent projects reviewed the landscape of how engagement has been systematically examined in the field to develop a research agenda that can build a stronger empirical basis. My vision is to generate research that links with community practice to guide how engagement is designed and further examine the extent of its effectiveness for diverse groups, recognizing that engagement is not a one-fits-all approach.
Most recently, I published two book chapters that discuss the vital and complicated role of community engagement. One chapter, titled “ The Space Between: Ethnography, Evaluation, and Positionality” in Transformative, Comparative, and Intersectional Possibilities of Ethnography and Evaluation focuses on the importance of recognizing and mitigating biases inherent in our identities and social positions to navigate complicated power dynamics when researchers engage with communities. Another chapter, titled “Evaluation Engagement: Historical Perspectives and New Directions with Community-Based Participatory Research Principles” in Core Concepts in Evaluation: Classic Writings and Contemporary Commentary builds on my lived experiences in the field and focuses on how community-based participatory research principles in combination with reflexivity and attention to power can support engagement practice, although it is fraught with challenges that require ongoing reflections and negotiations with communities involved.
With many more to come!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Courage has been instrumental in navigating my journey. When I went back to school, I actually went back to a community college first. As I was wrapping up my requirements there to transfer to university, I had an advisor very explicitly tell me that I would not get anywhere with my transcripts. I remember running to the bathroom after my meeting with her and crying in the stall. I am now a successful and motivated research professional with a doctorate from one of the most prestigious training programs in community psychology, as well as an awarded author. I have been told many times over that I would not get anywhere with my ideas or dreams, and my advice is to always be bold in taking action, regardless of those who doubt your hidden potential.
My social networks were also impactful. At the beginning of my journey, I had very little support and, as a first generation college student, my family did not understand what I was doing or why. I leveraged my connections with others who believed in me more than I believed in myself. My most impactful career building experiences were from research assistantship opportunities that were provided to me through faculty of color, who were also women of color. Sometimes, it takes someone who shares a marginalized identity to be in that position of power to open doors for others. My advice to others is to lift others as you climb and take note of their potential.
Practicing gratitude is an ongoing skill that I continue to apply in my journey. Celebrating the successes of yourself and others is important, but I admit that this is challenging to maintain, particularly for those involved in health. For folks who want to develop this skill, I advise setting a mindful moment in the morning to write down what you are most grateful for and what you look forward to next to stay motivated in this line of work.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Dr. Waajida L. Small’s Our Leadership Journey: Shared Stories, Lessons, and Advice for Women of Color provided me with so many impactful nuggets of wisdom. In the book, Dr. Small showcases the stories of different women of color who have lessons and advice to share for other women in their journey to becoming strong leaders. I highly recommend it for women earlier on in their leadership development who face persistent structural and institutional barriers.
One quote that resonated with me throughout my journey: “Embrace your uniqueness… Approach every situation with a fresh pair of eyes, but do not change who you are”. I have learned to honor the gifts we bring as unique individuals with different lived experiences and to never assume our trajectories even if we are in the same room with the same letters behind our name. I also continue to reflect back on my roots and history as I grow as a leader to stay connected to the heart of why I do this work.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tebustos/
- Other: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dtAhw6kAAAAJ&hl=en
Image Credits
Kevin James Graham
Asya Spears
Anna Hidle
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
