Sherina Gonzalez was born in Long Island, New York. She lived between there and Niles, Michigan, for a while but made the move to the Midwest at the age of 8. She went on to graduate from Buchanan High School.
Gonzalez chose to get her associate’s degree in graphic design from Southwestern Michigan College. Her bachelor’s was obtained at Indiana University South Bend. She worked in the restaurant industry on the side while she was a student. After graduation, she began to work for a newspaper.
For 10 years, Gonzalez was at Leader Publications, a smaller publishing company in the Great Lakes State. She worked in various roles, starting humbly as an assistant and working her way up toward becoming a regional manager of sorts. A career in corporate America followed her departure from the publisher, and she had some stints doing marketing and sales.
A Rosie Place for Children, a non-profit serving 92 counties in Indiana by providing respite care, came into Gonzalez’s life relatively recently. Today, she’s its director of development, which means she strives to engage the surrounding community by organizing fundraisers and other events for stronger overall operations.
“I started in August of last year, and it was a serendipitous meeting that got things going. I met the owner and founder; we actually bumped into each other at a coffee shop downtown and just started talking,” she said. “At the time, I was looking for a more fulfilling way to use my skills and be a blessing, and that’s why I soon switched over from where I was.”
Raised in religious settings, Gonzalez has always sought out opportunities to help others. Over the years, she’s looked for more chances to volunteer, and she’s done so at homeless shelters and food pantries, among other places. She appreciates what her job has to offer her in that she’s now in a professional position to give back. Her current livelihood has been created out of her passion for living selflessly.
Gonzalez has been able to carry over the capabilities she has grown in her past vocations and apply them in all kinds of contexts. She’s discovered beauty in her foundation with the assistance of her artistic family and her more personal imaginative inclinations.
“We would do a lot of drawing, painting, dancing, and singing growing up,” she said. “When I went to school, I was focused on the art side of it all. As I’ve gotten into my position now, I’ve experienced this beautiful combination of all the elements I find to be my strengths, and most are rooted in that need to be highly creative.”
Gonzalez is in charge of her employer’s social media presence as well as plotting out the magnitude of the events she hopes to host. One of her recent ones attracted nearly 400 people to a venue in South Bend. The next huge happening is a golf outing coming up in May. In the fall, she’ll arrange the specifics for a charitable motorcycle ride.
With long-term goals of expanding far enough to have locations in every state, Gonzalez stays busy with her varying-in-nature tasks and duties, yet one thing remains constant: her steady understanding of why she does what she does.
“First and foremost, it’s about the children we serve and being able to connect with them that makes everything whole. I’ve found fulfillment and happiness, maintaining a sense of peace, in working to help them,” she said. “Making sure that everybody’s communicating so that all different personality types can be heard and seen grows the mission, too.”
Away from the demands of her occupation, Gonzalez busies herself with fitness-related activities, working out and completing races. She likes to read and listen to audiobooks, and she has a passion for seeing music performed live. She surrounds herself with friends and family, and the minutes she’s together with them are fun and refreshing.
Traveling has become quite the pastime for Gonzalez. She got to go to Egypt in October of 2024, and two years ago she spent 12 weeks in Italy. Within the next few months, she’ll be going to Greece.
“I don’t want to say it’s ever a matter of a work-life balance. It’s just about creating a life you love. That’s what I love about where I’m at. I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I’m doing the things I love, around people I care about, and filling my heart,” she said.
Gonzalez is a lover of South Bend. Even though she was brought up on the East Coast, she’s come to take great pride in what the Michiana area possesses for its residents. She’s seen that what makes this area shine goes unmatched in so many other places across the nation.
“I just really love the Michiana community. I love how awesome, kind, and cool the people are. It’s got a great central location; we’re 90 miles from Chicago. People here are nice, and you can laugh with them,” she said. “I’ve been proud of how it’s grown over the years, and there’s so much more diversity.”