Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Bork.
Hi Sofia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Dahlonega, Georgia, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. My mom is an immigrant from Bogotá, Colombia and took my sister and me to the library weekly because she didn’t want us to struggle with reading like she did when she immigrated. Because of my mother, I became a voracious reader, fell in love with storytelling, learning about people, and later decided to major in English. During my years in college, a frequent question posed to me was: “What are you going to do with an English degree?” in college and I honestly didn’t know. I felt frustrated and was crying about it to my dad one day. I’ll never forget when my dad looked at me and said, “whenever somebody asks you that, you just tell them, ‘I’m going to do something amazing’. Years later, whenever I’m feeling tired or frustrated, I think of that memory and how beautiful and rewarding my life has been. There have certainly been struggles and failures, but my parents instilled a sense of grit and perseverance in me. Now as I look at my life, I’m thankful my parents encouraged me to pursue a liberal arts education and cultivated a love of literature and language within me because it taught me to pursue things I loved, even when people didn’t see what I did. Because of my education it’s made me a more empathetic person, I can identify themes and see patterns in places you wouldn’t traditionally see them, I’m able to understand others because great literature is created by compelling storytelling and we as humans cherish that. It’s one of the most ancient forms of communication and there are themes that unite us across the centuries. Everyone experiences happiness, heartbreak, success, failure and redemption at one point in their life; it is through story that we are united and able to authentically connect.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The hardest thing for me has been learning time management and how to set healthy boundaries. In my 20s, I pushed myself, but looking back realized I was working past my capacity, I’m extroverted and thrive with working with different groups and organizations but stretched myself thin. It happened slowly because there were so many projects and organizations that I was passionate about, but I wasn’t prioritizing time with my family.
Once the pandemic hit, it forced me to reflect on how I was spending my time. As a culture, we uplift being “busy” and going to multiple events/meetings, etc when in reality it isn’t helpful and doesn’t allow you to truly flourish. When you rest and intentionally build time to relax and disconnect into your day, you’ll see a change. It’s so important to make time to be with your family and loved ones because you always can go back and volunteer or serve in leadership roles, but you can’t replace time spent with your family. My sister always tells me this and I think of my nephew who I’m watching grow, he’s shown me how quickly time passes.
As I’ve become more established in my career, I’ve narrowed my focus on the number of organizations I’m involved with and commit only when I know I can authentically give of my talents. Succession planning is also key, I’m always thinking of who would be an excellent fit for an opportunity when one is presented to me and I don’t have capacity but know somebody who is ready to serve. We’re lucky to live in a city full of talented individuals who are passionate, have phenomenal ideas, and are ready to lead.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work for Truist as the Community Affairs Manager and Government Affairs Liaison for Georgia. In my role, I lead our grant-making from the local allocation of the Truist Foundation and the Trusteed Foundations in Greater Atlanta/Northern Georgia by meeting with community organizations to identify needs and driving collective impact between the region teams, community development/CRA, and philanthropy. Increasing teammate community engagement through volunteerism and Board service is another part of my role, as well as tracking Truist investments and collaborating with Marketing to communicate our impact story.
I majored in English, with a concentration in Writing and Publication, minored in Spanish, and never thought I’d be working in banking, but I’ve loved my career here at Truist and feel like I’ve landed my dream job. I’ve been volunteering in the Atlanta community for years and developed my civic leadership skills and board experience. Volunteering helped me realize how happy helping others made me feel and was an excellent way to use my natural talents. I knew I wanted to work with Truist because of the phenomenal work done in our community and felt that my values aligned with theirs. I feel uniquely positioned for this role as I’m leveraging my passion and energy for the community and blending it with an innovative and fresh perspective.
Prior to this job, I worked in a role that was completely unrelated to what I’m in now, however I continued to develop my civic engagement and community-building skills while volunteering. When I interviewed for my current role, I was able to speak to a diverse set of leadership roles that I’d held over the years and the relationships I had built across multiple communities as well. I volunteered with Mayor Andre Dickens’ mayoral campaign last year and was named as the Latinx Strategy and Outreach Director, this led to me serving on his Inauguration Committee and finally served on his Transition Team on the Neighborhood Empowerment Committee. This is why I’m a staunch advocate for volunteering, it helps others when you dedicate your talents, and you’re able to build your skill set as well.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
This is a fantastic question because I’m incredibly risk-averse, and I think the way I would define risk is in how I’ve jumped in and volunteered for different organizations. One of my favorite examples is the volunteerism I’ve done with the Jewish Community here in Atlanta. I met Julie Katz, who is the Associate Director of the American Jewish Committee office in Atlanta in fall of 2018. We became close friends, and when the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre happened later that year, I knew our Latino community needed to be present in intentional solidarity. I invited a few friends from an organization I was volunteering with at the time, HYPE (Hispanic Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs), to come to “Show up to Shabbat” at the Temple on Peachtree. I’m a practicing Catholic and had never been in a synagogue, but once I was immersed in the experience of attending a Shabbat service, I knew I had to do something to help, I just didn’t know what. It was a risk for me because I didn’t know if there was anything I could do since I’m not Jewish. I wanted to be respectful, and I’m so lucky to have made amazing friends along the way!
Fast forward a few years, and I’ve been a member of AJC Access Atlanta for a few years and we’ve had a four-year partnership with HYPE. The most rewarding part of this is watching the intentional friendships which have blossomed between our communities.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Sofia.m.bork
