Parks recreation coordinator Victoria Castillo is April’s City Manager Leadership Award recipient

City Manager Cecilia Gallardo-Daly presented the City Manager Leadership Award for April to Recreation Coordinator Victoria Castillo.

“Victoria is beloved by her coworkers and city facility users for her kind personality and excellent customer service,” Gallardo-Daly said. “She makes everybody around her, especially her staff, feel like a VIP. She is the embodiment of what we want our city staff to strive for. I’m so glad she is part of our team, and it’s my honor to present her with this award.”

Castillo joined the City in September 2019 as a Community Services Leader at Lions Park and was quickly promoted to a Senior Community Services Leader for the ROCKS program.

She was soon promoted to the Recreation Specialist position at the Senior Center and then to her current position of Recreation Coordinator overseeing Facility rentals in July 2022.

She helped kick start the grand opening and remodel of the Norma Hertzog Community Center. She took full ownership of the facility and developed many of the policies and procedures for the building’s operations and hired and trained most of the Community Service Leaders for the facility team.

She continues to strive in her facility management role as she also oversees and manages the city’s teen program, which includes special events, seasonal camps, monthly excursions, and activities for the two after-school teen centers. Victoria trains all the Parks & Community Services Department’s commercial drivers and is always a team player for last minute projects and initiatives.

Castillo is a Cal State Long Beach graduate with a bachelor’s degree in health science.