NATASHA KALISKI

I am half-Iranian and half Serbo-Croatian and a single mother of a 4 year old boy, Marcus. I graduated from American University in Washington, DC with a Bachelor's in Justice and Minor in Spanish Language. I was formerly an intensive supervision Juvenile Probation Officer for 7 years in Washington, DC working with high-risk male youth facing felony charges in a program designed as an alternative to secure detention (UTURN). I returned to California after 13 years in 2016 when I had my son, due to no paid maternity leave and so I returned home to my family to help care for my son. I have extensive administrative/clerical experience, so I was hired at UCI as Administrative Assistant II/Executive Assistant in 2018 for various departments. I have worked in UCI Medical Center administrative offices, UCI Applied Innovation Department and Pediatric Genetics. My longest position at UCI was for the Mental Health Counseling Center. I received a promotion to Administrative Analyst for University Advancement. I was set to begin in March, but due to COVID-19, my position was put on hold. During my time working for UCI, I applied to a graduate program in School of Social Ecology for Master of Advanced Study in Criminology, Law and Society and was accepted in Fall 2019. I am trying to stay relevant in my field of law enforcement. I had barriers to starting probation officer positions (that aren't federal) in California because California requires its own CORE training and the state is currently developing a curriculum for "out of state" officers that may help getting into a position in the future. My passion is juvenile justice and I'm enrolled in my Master's program so that I can perhaps return to law enforcement as a federal probation officer or possibly work as a Court Operations supervisor in California.