Since my last post several significant things related to trying to Make a Difference have occurred including: talking with and listening to Michelle Rhee, my group's first run in with intergroup conflict, and a meeting with a representative from HIPPY.
The long delay in posting is mostly a result of Michelle Rhee. I've spent more time thinking about her message than anything else in the last two weeks. I should have been posting my thoughts as I had them, but she gave me so much to think about that I still don't feel like I've sifted through it completely. Hopefully, a well-reasoned post will follow sometime soon.
Similarly, I think a post about how my group dealt with some team dynamics issues would be useful for any students who are reading, but I need a little more time than I have right now. {once again, homework gets in the way of learning. :-) }
Most recently, I had a meeting with a representative from HIPPY to talk about potential International Public Service Projects this summer. Several very promising possibilities in Israel, Australia and Canada. I'm looking forward to learning more about each of them. And I'll try to do a better job of keeping you posted.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Just Cool
I'm really trying to stay focused on the topic of Making a Difference and serving the public in these blog posts and I'm sure I could do that with this most recent experience. But really it's just cool.
Tonight, as part of the Clinton Public Speakers Series, I listened to Taylor Branch speak about his new book "The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President". That was cool because the book is about private interviews and conversations between Mr. Branch and President Clinton that no one has record of except, Mr. Branch and President Clinton.
Also in the audience listening was none other than Kevin Johnson (standing to my left), former NBA star and current Mayor of Sacramento. After Mr. Branch's speech I got to meet the guy who I spent hours watching and loving to hate because he was so good at slicing thru the San Antonio Spurs defense. He was cool enough to take a picture with me and my classmates Ivan(ley) and Mahmoud.
Awesome night!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Lance Armstrong was lucky
Until I can watch the video of the speech that I had the good fortune to see live a couple of days ago I won't be able to directly quote Doug Ulman, president and CEO of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. However, I'm pretty sure at one point in one of the best speeches I've ever heard Mr. Ulman said Lance Armstrong was lucky to get cancer. Ulman went on to say that cancer gave Lance a purpose into which his good intentions could be focused. Lance has used his celebrity to benefit millions through cancer research and awareness.
As powerful as those statements were, the part I really want to listen to again is what came next in the speech. If I remember correctly (which if you know me is a really big IF), he said there are plenty of other celebrities who likewise want to use their status to do good, but don't know which issue to focus on. They have a lot of passion and desire to make a difference, but aren't sure where to start.
That sentiment hit home for me for two reasons:
One, it's true for me. I'm here at the Clinton School trying to decide how to use my gifts and talents for the benefit of all and I have no clear idea how to do that. I, and several of my classmates, are searching aimlessly through thousands of potential NGOs and non-profits as we try to decide where to conduct our International Public Service Projects. Lacking a clear direction, almost all of the organizations look very worthy and somehow not quite right simultaneously.
Two, more significantly, I believe it's true for most, if not all other people. People would use their energy to benefit others if they could just find a starting point they deeply believed in. How to help others find that starting point is a question that continually nags at me.
While I continue to ponder it, I'd strongly recommend we both go back and take a look at the speech will be posted here within a week.
As powerful as those statements were, the part I really want to listen to again is what came next in the speech. If I remember correctly (which if you know me is a really big IF), he said there are plenty of other celebrities who likewise want to use their status to do good, but don't know which issue to focus on. They have a lot of passion and desire to make a difference, but aren't sure where to start.
That sentiment hit home for me for two reasons:
One, it's true for me. I'm here at the Clinton School trying to decide how to use my gifts and talents for the benefit of all and I have no clear idea how to do that. I, and several of my classmates, are searching aimlessly through thousands of potential NGOs and non-profits as we try to decide where to conduct our International Public Service Projects. Lacking a clear direction, almost all of the organizations look very worthy and somehow not quite right simultaneously.
Two, more significantly, I believe it's true for most, if not all other people. People would use their energy to benefit others if they could just find a starting point they deeply believed in. How to help others find that starting point is a question that continually nags at me.
While I continue to ponder it, I'd strongly recommend we both go back and take a look at the speech will be posted here within a week.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Universal Nudge
Classmate and friend Adam Moreland recently used the term 'universal nudge' during an assignment to describe...I hope I'm representing his concept well when I say...how we end up where we are when we're open to possibility.
This has been a week full of possibility. Or, as one of the Clinton School staff described it, 'opportunity overload'. On Wednesday alone we met Neil Guiliano, politician and gay rights activist, Wenda Weeks Moore, of the Kellog Foundation, and Matt Flannery, co-founder and CEO of Kiva.
The night before meeting all of these people my group and I were in Pine Bluff officially starting our project with them. It's taking my brain a while to sift through all of these experiences to see what gold is left behind.
From all of these experiences, here's what stands out:
1. I loved co-facilitating our conversation with TOPPS staff and board members. I have a clearer understanding of their organization now. I think there's more facilitation in my future.
2. I have a better understanding of politics, but don't really think it's something I'd like to pursue. I'm trying to remain open about the intersection of facilitation and politics.
3. The work of Foundations, like Kellog, is fascinating. I'd like to know more about the details of how Foundations choose who they disperse grants to.
4. Kiva is just plain cool. Despite really enjoying talking with and listening to Matt Flannery and thinking very highly of the organization, I'm not sure I want to pursue working with them for my International Public Service Project. Something about money just bugs me.
Add in to the mix that today I'll be listening to John Read, president and CEO of Outward Bound.
Plenty of possibilities...start nudging, universe.
This has been a week full of possibility. Or, as one of the Clinton School staff described it, 'opportunity overload'. On Wednesday alone we met Neil Guiliano, politician and gay rights activist, Wenda Weeks Moore, of the Kellog Foundation, and Matt Flannery, co-founder and CEO of Kiva.
The night before meeting all of these people my group and I were in Pine Bluff officially starting our project with them. It's taking my brain a while to sift through all of these experiences to see what gold is left behind.
From all of these experiences, here's what stands out:
1. I loved co-facilitating our conversation with TOPPS staff and board members. I have a clearer understanding of their organization now. I think there's more facilitation in my future.
2. I have a better understanding of politics, but don't really think it's something I'd like to pursue. I'm trying to remain open about the intersection of facilitation and politics.
3. The work of Foundations, like Kellog, is fascinating. I'd like to know more about the details of how Foundations choose who they disperse grants to.
4. Kiva is just plain cool. Despite really enjoying talking with and listening to Matt Flannery and thinking very highly of the organization, I'm not sure I want to pursue working with them for my International Public Service Project. Something about money just bugs me.
Add in to the mix that today I'll be listening to John Read, president and CEO of Outward Bound.
Plenty of possibilities...start nudging, universe.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
With a mid-term and a group presentation and the beginning of my group's project and a book review and an all-weekend leadership retreat for the national IMPACT conference all happening within the next 5 days, it's a little difficult to remember how long ago I met Dr. Hanmin Liu of the Wildflowers Institute. He spent the better part of last week in the role of the visiting scholar at the Clinton School. I first met him on Tuesday or Wednesday at a dinner that I considered skipping out on because of the abovementioned workload. I'm glad I didn't.
Unlike the other speakers and scholars who have visited the school, whom I mostly listened to as they spoke, I had the good fortune of listening to and speaking with Dr. Liu multiple times: first at the dinner, then in conversation with our class, then again at his presentation for the Little Rock community. Each time we spoke he caused a shift in how I view communities. His ideas were new enough that I had to give them careful thought to begin to grasp them, but true enough that I intuitively felt like I knew what he was talking about.
Even if my path doesn't cross his again, I'll consider him a mentor. Which makes me think differently both about being mentored and mentoring. It can be done in a long relationship that develops over time, like the type promoted by Big Brothers/Big Sisters or in a few thought-filled conversations.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Early Challenges
I'm still not quite used to the blog format. I realized a few days ago that I was treating the blog like a weekly television show. By that I mean I thought each post should be a self-contained entry in which I presented some aspect of my experience and then gave some pithy lesson I learned as closure to both the experience and the entry. I was, and still am, struggling with the early stages of trying to make a difference and I know now that if I wait until I have closure on those struggles it may be months before I post. So, at the risk of sounding whiny, here's what I've been wrestling with...
A quick recap of the situation: My two teammates and I are working with an afterschool organization called TOPPS in the city of Pine Bluff. Pine Bluff is an hour from Little Rock. Our schedule allows us to travel there one day each week for a maximum of 4-5 hours. All three of us got hooked on TOPPS after our first meeting with them. The small staff is dedicated to doing good works. Like many non-profits, TOPPS is struggling financially. They have both immediate and long-term financial needs. Because they operate primarily on grants, which have many stipulations about how money can be spent, they offer a wide variety of programs which meet the conditions of the grants they've won. Offering so many programs has led to both immediate and long-term focus needs. The staff realizes they're stretched too thin.
Enter three Clinton School students in the early stages of their service-learning education. Full of enthusiasm, but not much expertise. Also full of the philosophy "Help others help themselves." Similar to the "Teach a man to fish" philosophy. Most, if not all, of our early education here at the Clinton School has emphasized the importance of generating solutions to a community's problems by developing the strengths and assets that exist within the community through thoughtful conversation. Actions that result from the conversation should have long-term intentions. We are taught to avoid riding in on our horses, dispensing advice or money, and then riding away. The Clinton School is about sustainable development, not temporary relief. I'm sold on that idea.
Which leads to my frustrations of the past week: I don't know how to have the level of conversation necessary to get the ball rolling when our time at TOPPS is so limited. I don't know how to feel like anything except an outsider to the Pine Bluff and TOPPS community.
Two things have eased, but not alleviated, my frustration recently.
The first is one of my teammates who has a different perspective on the same situation. Latonya's glass is definitely half-full. She sees our relationship with TOPPS as a gift both for us and them and she doesn't mind that it's going to take a while to unwrap the gift. She has faith.
The second is a report written by students from the Clinton School who worked in Pine Bluff two years ago. The report details their 7-month experience working on a similar project in the same city. The early stages of their project were also frustrating for similar reasons and yet, by the end, they'd made significant contributions to the city. Reading about their struggles and strategies for dealing with them gave me hope. And also inspired me to keep posting on this blog despite not having answers. There is value in struggling together.
A quick recap of the situation: My two teammates and I are working with an afterschool organization called TOPPS in the city of Pine Bluff. Pine Bluff is an hour from Little Rock. Our schedule allows us to travel there one day each week for a maximum of 4-5 hours. All three of us got hooked on TOPPS after our first meeting with them. The small staff is dedicated to doing good works. Like many non-profits, TOPPS is struggling financially. They have both immediate and long-term financial needs. Because they operate primarily on grants, which have many stipulations about how money can be spent, they offer a wide variety of programs which meet the conditions of the grants they've won. Offering so many programs has led to both immediate and long-term focus needs. The staff realizes they're stretched too thin.
Enter three Clinton School students in the early stages of their service-learning education. Full of enthusiasm, but not much expertise. Also full of the philosophy "Help others help themselves." Similar to the "Teach a man to fish" philosophy. Most, if not all, of our early education here at the Clinton School has emphasized the importance of generating solutions to a community's problems by developing the strengths and assets that exist within the community through thoughtful conversation. Actions that result from the conversation should have long-term intentions. We are taught to avoid riding in on our horses, dispensing advice or money, and then riding away. The Clinton School is about sustainable development, not temporary relief. I'm sold on that idea.
Which leads to my frustrations of the past week: I don't know how to have the level of conversation necessary to get the ball rolling when our time at TOPPS is so limited. I don't know how to feel like anything except an outsider to the Pine Bluff and TOPPS community.
Two things have eased, but not alleviated, my frustration recently.
The first is one of my teammates who has a different perspective on the same situation. Latonya's glass is definitely half-full. She sees our relationship with TOPPS as a gift both for us and them and she doesn't mind that it's going to take a while to unwrap the gift. She has faith.
The second is a report written by students from the Clinton School who worked in Pine Bluff two years ago. The report details their 7-month experience working on a similar project in the same city. The early stages of their project were also frustrating for similar reasons and yet, by the end, they'd made significant contributions to the city. Reading about their struggles and strategies for dealing with them gave me hope. And also inspired me to keep posting on this blog despite not having answers. There is value in struggling together.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
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