One of the most meaningful learning experiences in my life has come through supporting my aging parents. My dad has advanced Parkinson’s disease, and my mom, who was his primary caregiver, unexpectedly passed away this past year. Supporting them require me to step into an informal but sustained leadership role within a complex network of public, private, and nonprofit systems. I coordinate medical care, communicate across multiple organizations, navigate insurance and social services, and often serve as both advocate and decision-maker. While deeply personal, this work demands many of the same competencies expected of leaders in public service settings.

Through these responsibilities, I have engaged in systems thinking, identifying gaps and inefficiencies across institutions that may function individually yet remain fragmented collectively. The experience has continually shown me how organizational design and policy decisions impact vulnerable populations in intimate and often unseen ways. 

Emotionally, the responsibility has been profound. Grief and leadership have often existed side by side, teaching me that effective leadership does not require emotional detachment. Instead, it requires reflection, self-regulation, and the ability to translate care into ethical action.

Many decisions have required balancing autonomy, safety, and dignity while honoring the voices of those most affected. I came to understand ethical leadership not simply as adherence to abstract principles, but as a daily practice of listening, shared decision-making, compassion, and accountability. These lessons closely mirror the values of public service leadership emphasized within O’Neill and central to nonprofit leadership more broadly.