Staff Spotlight: Suki

This month, the Youth Bureau is proud to celebrate a major staff milestone. As of February 25, Suki Tabor has been working for the YB for 20 years! Suki started out as a member of the Youth Employment Service staff and spent 13 years helping teens develop their work skills. In 2015, Suki was given the opportunity to move into her current position, Deputy Director, which allows her to support many of the Youth Development programs, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ithaca and Tompkins County, College Discovery Program, Youth Employment Service, Paul Schreurs Memorial Program, and Outings. 
Growing up as the oldest of four children and whose parents were involved in education, Suki feels as though she was destined to work with kids or programs that serve kids. Prior to coming to the YB, she was a school teacher and has always been passionate about the enrichment of young lives. 
As you can imagine, Suki has seen some amazing stories of how the Youth Bureau has made a difference in the lives of youth in Ithaca and Tompkins County.  Once, the YES team had a teen participant that had very little support. The teen was walking more than a mile to work in slippers because she didn't have shoes that fit. Youth Bureau staff quickly worked to  get shoes and a bus pass for the teen so she could get to work each day. Years later, Suki bumped into that teen at a local park and was happy to hear that she was thriving and credited the YB for helping her.
Suki knows the  importance of being connected to and feeling supported within a community. “The joy and growth that participants experience in our programs is something so powerful and meaningful,” she said. She loves being able to watch young people develop passions and build new friendships. Suki is dedicated to continuing to provide quality YB programs at little or no cost to the community. 
Please join us in congratulating Suki on 20 years! We appreciate all she does!