Spring 2015                                                                                   Volume 7, Issue 1

I hate to pick favorites, but spring may just be the best part of the Advancing Leadership year. Why? Because this is the time when our learners put their wheels to the road with community projects they've been developing for months.

The 2015 AL, ALY 1.0 and 2.0 teams have built great relationships, insights and skills. The work they are pouring into their projects reflects real passion for the people who will benefit from their efforts.

Lawrence Garrett3 Do you know someone who has that kind of passion and the potential to take it higher? Spring is also the time to apply for AL and ALY 2015-16 programs!

Read on for more about current and future AL leaders. 

Best wishes,

Lawrence Garrett
Executive Director
Spring Forward: Applications Open for 2015-16 Programs

If you're an AL or ALY alumni, you know that true leadership is a shared experience. Together, we move forward to create positive change in our personal, professional and civic communities.

 

This spring, you have the opportunity to help someone else take a step forward by joining the AL Nation: it's time to apply for Advancing Leadership.

 

If you have friends, coworkers, fellow volunteers or students, or neighbors who are ready to benefit from leadership development that addresses the whole person, tell them about AL and the impact it has had on your life. Then, offer to be a reference and encourage them to apply.

 

Program information, application links and contact information is all on our website.  You can also forward this newsletter, and they can click on the buttons to go straight to the apps.

 

Enable emerging leaders in our community. Share your AL story and encourage others to apply!

ALY Promotes Positivity Between Teens & Cops
ALY '15 with FWPD Bomb Squad
ALY '15 with a suited up FWPD bomb squad officer.

 

The ALY '15 team is thrilled with the success of their project with the Federal Way Police Department. So are the police. Co Op with the Cops was the first of what the FWPD hope will become an annual event, inviting the community, especially teenagers, to spend an afternoon getting to know local cops.

 

Police Chief Andy Hwang, AL '00 said, "As a police department we are constantly looking for ways to build a positive relationship with the youth in our community.  We are extremely glad the ALY youth selected us as for their project this year, allowing us to promote a positive message of understanding and partnership with our youth, which sometimes can be a challenge for us."

 

Over 100 youth, children and adults dropped by Grace Church on February 21st to eat pizza, play games and have honest conversations with police officers. People who arrived not sure what to expect were soon joining cops to play basketball and Wii Just Dance. ALY premiered two videos they produced to spotlight the lighter side of the force: a squad car lipsync of Uptown Funk and a spoof of 21 Jump Street. The show was followed by a local version of the Amazing Race, where teams rushed from station to station, completing tasks like fingerprinting and walking a line wearing 'beer goggles'. The event wrapped up with a community Q & A with Chief Hwang and several police officers.

You can follow the FWPD on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Britnee Bali: Servant Leadership in College
Britnee Bali, ALY '09

Britnee Bali, ALY '09, is one young woman who is maxing out her "third eight." Not only is she a full-time student studying political science and English at the University of Washington, but she is also entering her fourth year as an Ignite intern and her second as both the Academics Chair and Project F.A.M.I.L.Y. Director with the Filipino American Student Association on campus. Wow!


 

We had a Q&A with Britnee to learn more about her servant leader roles at Ignite and FASA.

 

AL: Britnee, Ignite is a fantastic peer mentoring and leadership development program used in many FWPS high schools. Tell us what you do as an intern.

 

Britnee:  I work on logistics and curriculum for summer camps, and the lessons that the mentors teach the mentees several times throughout the year. I deal with staff advisors in each school in creating their calendars for the year. I teach high school student leads and make sure they understand their jobs teaching the rest of the student mentors what they have to do in and out of the classroom. 

AL: It sounds like you are a mentor to the mentors. How about your work with UW's Filipino American Student Association (FASA)?

Britnee: I am the Academics Chair for that organization. My job is to maintain working relationships with club members and school resources that will help them in their academic careers (school counseling, academic planning, career planning, etc.) and to be available to them whenever they need advice in terms of their academia. I also keep the other officers on track academically by providing quarterly checkups in the middle of the quarter. This way I know that each officer is staying on track academically and not prioritizing our club events over their academics. This option is also available for the members.


Another part of my job as Academics Chair is to manage our high school retention and outreach program: Project F.A.M.I.L.Y. , which stands for Filipino Americans Mentoring and Instilling Leadership in Youth. We assist high school and middle school students in broadening their knowledge of Filipino culture and education. We are an outreach and retention program that focuses on developing student's ability to critically think, analyze, and write on various issues that surround various communities - not only Filipino - and prepare students for multiple transitions in academia and life. 

Each of these students receives a college mentor to help them through the year. As a group, we have workshops that cater to education, culture, and leadership, and activities such as our annual summer retreat. We provide students with community service opportunities and social events as well.

 

AL: Britnee, you have taken your ALY training and built on it in amazing ways. Thanks for your commitment to younger students - you're impacting lots of lives for good.


 

Partners Lead Programs Forward
Jerry Korum at the AL golf tournament

Korum for KidsWhen Jerry Korum agreed to be an event sponsor for an Advancing Leadership golf tournament in 2010, we had no idea of the long term impact he would have on our organization - especially our youth.

 

Mr. Korum and his family, in addition to owning and operating Korum Automotive Group, also administer the Korum for Kids Foundation, which they established "to promote and improve the health, welfare, and future of young people throughout the community." Through this foundation, he began providing fiscal partnership with Advancing Leadership Youth in 2010.

 

Even more important to us, however, has been the hands-on leadership Mr. Korum has offered our youth over the past five years.  He has become a favorite guest speaker at both ALY 1.0 and 2.0 programs, inspiring students with his own leadership journey and encouraging them to strive for success.  Every year he has become increasingly involved, sought after as a mentor and now a regular at opening and closing retreats.

 

The 2016 ALY 2.0 class will have the privilege of participating in a brand new program day at Korum Automotive, where they will interact with regional leaders personally invited by Mr. Korum.

 

Umpqua Bank

Marty Markey, AL '10 and a VP at Umpqua Bank, with ALY

Advancing Leadership's financial partnership with Umpqua also began in 2010, but our ties go back to the founding of our organization. Jim Storvick, an Umpqua Senior VP of Commercial Banking, is an AL founder and currently serves on our board of directors. He recognized the alignment between our mission and that of Umpqua Bank's Charitable Foundation, and introductions were made.

 

Since then, Umpqua has stepped up to support us in multiple ways. They have provided funding for both our ALY 1.0 and 2.0 programs, as well as table sponsorship at Evening with the Stars to allow ALY families to attend.  They have provided in-kind support by providing their ice cream truck manned by Umpqua staff to refresh volunteers at team projects. Umpqua has also sent several employees through the AL adult program.

 

Umpqua's Community Giving Program is focused on youth education and economic opportunity, which has allowed them to match their goals with ours in wonderfully productive ways.

 

We cannot thank our partners enough for the active roles they play in not just supporting but truly advancing our programming. Together we make an incredible leadership community.

 

Personal Growth Inspires Student to Action
AmazingnessOfLife crew. Kevin is bottom right

Kevin Villalobos-Gomez is in his second year of Advancing Leadership Youth, but he isn't waiting to finish the program to put his leadership skills to good use.

 

That's because he's already found his passion: launching a youth-run organization to tackle the problem of teen suicide. "The passion really started in ALY, Day One," Kevin explains. "It was a completely different experience to anything before. Being able to meet and hear the stories from great leaders themselves, it was just out-of-this-world! The impact was so much that during the month of April, the last month of ALY, I decided to start a nonprofit for suicide prevention: AmazingnessOfLife."

 

Kevin has been working with fellow students at Truman High School, along with teachers and staff at the Boys and Girls Club EX3 Teen Center to get organized and go through the application process to establish a nonprofit organization. It's not easy work, but he is motivated to see it through and get his program up and running. Personal experience gives him a unique perspective on the realities of suicide.

 

"I became interested in suicide prevention because of my personal experience when I was young, long before ALY. I was about 13 at the time. I fell into a deep depression that almost led me to suicide, but the support from my peers gave me the courage to continue."

 

Kevin and his team hope to have some parts of their program active in the next few months. Although he credits his ALY experience as a big inspiration, we celebrate the courage and compassion Kevin is bringing to the AmazingnessOfLife effort.

 

"Participating in ALY allows you to really see what you truly want to do...The reflecting, the hours, the leaders, and most of all the support that ALY provided to allow you to dream and accomplish it, it all factored in."

Thanks BECU!
Lindsy, Lawrence & Teri at BECU
A special shout out to Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) Federal Way Crossings, and Manager Lindsy Johansen-Butters, AL '14 for presenting Advancing Leadership with a check for $1000 to support our programs. We greatly appreciate the partnership of both Lindsy and the BECU team!
Opening Doors for Others Leads to the Key
Teri with the Federal Way Mayor, City Council and key


 
On March 3rd, outgoing AL Executive Director Teri Hickel was honored by Mayor Jim Ferrell and the Federal Way City Council for her decades of professional and volunteer contributions to the community. As part of this recognition, Mayor Ferrell awarded her with the symbolic 'key to the city'.


 
"Through Advancing Leadership, Teri has helped to shape a stronger Federal Way, supporting residents in developing leadership skills and encouraging new people to get involved at all levels of the community," Mayor Jim Ferrell told a packed house, including many AL and ALY alumni, attended the ceremony and reception. Many attendees had personal stories of how Teri opened doors for them to develop their passions and skills and find opportunities to do meaningful work in Federal Way and beyond.

 

If you missed this event, there will still be an opportunity to honor Teri's legacy to Advancing Leadership. Watch your inbox for information about our own celebration at the end of our program year! 

In This Issue
Links
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Alumni News
Jennifer Youngblood, AL '11
 is now Program Manager at Communities in Schools Federal Way. She is also expecting her first baby!



Eloise

Laura

Eloise Serrano, ALY '13 , and  Laura Taitano, ALY '14 , have been awarded   Act Six Leadership scholarships . The scholarships provide leadership training and support before and during college, as well as full scholarships. 

Eloise will attend Gonzaga University and Laura will attend Pacific Lutheran University.


Lucas Agnew, ALY '10, is now Executive Director for Millennials for Jeb PAC.



Margery Godfrey, AL '13, and her husband were recently featured in the Federal Way Mirror for their amazing relationship journey.


Amye

Kieran

Amye Bronson-Doherty, AL '06 and Kieran Bronson-Doherty, ALY '08, have started a podcast and blog about events and activities in Federal Way: Federal Way To Do List 
Alumni Feedback
"ALY gives emerging leaders a toolbox to utilize in whatever community they find themselves a part of - tools to lead and empower people and communities, tools to communicate effectively, tools to transform individual passions into purpose...ALY starts a chain reaction that lends itself to positive impacts wherever it ends up."  
ALY '14
Alumni Feedback
"AL in five words: learning and leading with unity."  
Trise Moore
AL '04
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Advancing Leadership | 253-529-7440 | lawrence@advancingleadership.org | http://www.advancingleadership.org  PO Box 3317, Federal Way, WA 98063