Leadership

Hannah Page, Hope Ritter, and Sreeja Vepa

"Good leaders must first become good servants."

― Robert K. Greenleaf

What is leadership?

Leadership relies on the collaborative partnership between individuals that share similar values in order to invoke a beneficial change in their community.

We cannot define leadership simply by the position held by a single individual and their own actions; leadership depends on collaboration and is rooted in a group's desire to positively bring about social change.

How did we approach leadership during our time in Dallas, TX?

During our trip, we served with four community partners: Aids Interfaith Network, North Texas Food Bank, Crossroads Community Services, and Divine Kinship.

We have read and learned in class that the social change model of leadership development relies on the "seven C's" referring to the core values leaders should share. Here are just a few take aways we learned while on the trip:

Change

Understand that change is a process aiming to improve current circumstances.

We served with Divine Kinship, an non-profit organization that elicit social change through urban gardening. The garden is centered in a food desert. The leaders at Divine Kinship described what made this area of Dallas a food desert, so in order to transform this "food desert" into a

Before

Divine Kinship Urban Garden

After

Consciousness of Self

This requires an self-awareness of one's personal beliefs, constant self-reflection, mindfulness, and introspection all leading to an enhanced leadership experience.

Every evening we participated in a group reflection describing how our service that day impacted us. Individuals in our group were surprised about the amount of food that needed to be thrown away according to the food bank standards even though most of us would consider it "ok" to eat. Some services challenged us to reflect on beliefs and view things from a new perspective. When we went to Crossroads Community Services, I believe a lot of us took a moment to acknowledge some things that we normally take for granted like shoes, clothing, and accessibility to food.

Collaboration

Leadership relies on collaboration. Collaboration highlights the strength and diversity in a group and their efforts to contribute to social change process.

We were able to collaborate with four different community partners and learn the way they did things and contribute in order improve social issues like homelessness, public health, and food insecurity. Over the week, we also improved our ASB group dynamic. We learned how work efficiently while still putting forth our best effort. We began to communicate and generate creative solutions to issues. We worked together at Divine Kinship and learning how to move large tree stumps out of a future garden. Another example, working in an assembly line at North Texas Food Bank learning that we move faster if we work together.

Crossroads Community Services

Sorting donated clothes, soon to be put out on shelves for individuals to come take.

Commitment

Through out our immersion trip, we noticed that the one thing that really stood out no matter where we went was commitment. Each organization was committed to service. For example, in our experience at Divine Kinship we learned that those who were running the volunteer service were spending countless hours developing a garden for the sole purpose of helping those who cannot afford organic food options have access to organic options. In our time volunteering with AIN, our group was stunned at the dedication each member of the organization had towards improving the quality of others' lives.

However, what really stood out in those involved with organizations such as North Texas Food Bank, AIN (Aids Interfaith Network), and is their continual want to learn, adapt, and improve in all areas of their field. Their amazing commitment led them to reach out to volunteers and more to spread awareness of the reasons they chose to commit themselves to their respective interests. Their passion towards their interests spiked a passion within everyone in the Dallas team to get more involved with service and commit themselves to being a spokesperson for those who can't speak for themselves.

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