>> From WXXI News.

This is Connections filling in for Evan Dawson.

This is Julio Saenz.

On this hour of Connections who gets a seat at the table when decisions that shape our communities are made.

Many of those decisions happen in a place most of us rarely think about.

The boardrooms of nonprofit organizations, hundreds of nonprofits across the Rochester region receive millions of dollars in public funding and philanthropic support to serve our communities.

But for many decades, many of the people these organizations served had little or no representation on the boards responsible for setting their policies, priorities, and long term direction.

More than 40 years ago, Rochester leaders set out to change that, partnering with the United Way, they launched what was then known as the Hispanic Leadership Development Program, an initiative that became a national model for preparing underrepresented community members to serve on nonprofit boards.

Today, we're joined by Nydia Padilla, one of the founders of that pioneering program.

We'll also talk with Rodney Young, the longtime coordinator of the African American Leadership Development Program, and LaCerius Cross, who now leads the United Way's expanding leadership initiatives.

And Septima Scott, a graduate of the 2023 African American Leadership Development Program.

So this hour, we'll talk about how leadership development is creating more representation on these boards.

And we'll talk about why this is so important.

And so it's such a critical issue.

And as I said, many people never even understand what boards do or anything.

I got one couple quick stats to throw out and then we'll, we'll jump into the conversation.

First of all, 77 according to research by board source, 70% 77% of nonprofit board chairs identify as white, and 63% of board members overall identify as white, and that lack of diversity isn't limited to just color.

60% of board members are 55 and older.

To give you an idea, um, and so let's first talk about that for our listeners who may not be familiar with what boards do, um, can some of, can a few of you share what, what do boards do?

And why is that so important?

>> Can I give a context first?

Sure of why, how did the Latino leadership program develop?

Now you're talking the stats of today.

That was happening even in the 80s, the early 80s, it was probably even worse than that.

Um, at the time, the United Way had a planning committee that Nancy Padilla, who was the only Latina and person of color on this volunteer committee who requested that there be a human services study conducted.

She made that recommendation as a result of that major study, several recommendations.

One of them was regarding the issue of the, um, the pattern and the gaps of Latinos serving on boards of not for profit organization, but also staffing.

I was the associate planning director at the time, and convened a group of volunteers after I was sent to the United Way at the national level to observe the leadership development programs that they had for CEOs.

When I came back, Ted Moore was the CEO at the time.

I came back from Washington and I said to Ted, look, you need to give me the opportunity to create our own leadership program.

That program that they designed at the national level is for CEOs only.

We only have two CEOs that are Latinos in Rochester, so it's going to be a waste of time and resources.

Give me the opportunity to make this happen.

Regarding our own data.

And he said, make it happen.

And convened a group of volunteers.

Nancy Padilla, Juan Padilla, su casa.

May she rest in peace.

Father Tracy was part of that.

Um, Rudy Rivera, Lynn Barber, who was a training director at the United Way at the time.

And Gordon Fisk, who was the training director from Xerox.

And we convened a group of volunteers as a result of that task force, we came up with our principles and values and created the first at that time, Hispanic was more, you know, the popular way of identifying ourselves.

And we created the the program where, where we wanted to not only continue supporting non-for-profit organizations with identifying potential Latinos to serve on these boards, but also staffing, because that was also a major issue.

And that's how help started.

We were called the Hispanic Leadership Development Program.

And then I believe it changed to Latino Leadership Development Program.

Maybe 1015 years later.

So I just wanted to give some context.

It didn't happen because United Way said, hey, let's, you know, make this happen.

It was because we had a volunteer who happened to be Latina, Nancy Padilla, who's my sister.

I have to make sure that I emphasize that she was extensively involved with the United Way, you know, really advocated for this type of need.

>> Sure.

And what you just shared really talks to the lack of representation.

>> The lack of representation.

It's still happening today.

>> Absolutely.

Yes.

Yeah.

And these are recent statistics.

I can't imagine what they were like back.

>> You don't even want to know.

You don't want to know.

Yes.

>> And, um, and then that representation as you talked is important to have in the staffing and the leadership of the organization and in the boards, the boards are so important because they create the policies, policies, the states, the set, the strategy.

Um, what else, what else could you say?

The boards?

>> Uh, definitely they, they hired the CEO, they set the policy.

They composed the mission statement.

But also I want to dovetail on what was said about the start of these programs.

Uh, for 44 years, United way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes has supported these programs.

That's an outstanding record of support.

And we really need to appreciate this community driven by the United Way that has, uh, remained loyal to these programs and expanding these programs.

The Hispanic Leadership Development Program, which became the Latino Leadership Development Program, was so successful, it rolled out in 1982 that by 1990, African Americans were saying, what about us?

We need representation.

Also, Mary Frances Winters, who was a consultant and author and activist in the community, went to Dr.

Fred Jefferson, who was on the United Way board of directors and said, what about a program for African Americans?

And Fred Jefferson contacted SC Calhoun McDavid, who was new to the region representing Eastman Kodak Company, and she became the first chair of an advisory board that put together the African American Leadership Development Program.

On the summer of 91, there was a conference called to get ideas about the establishment of the African American Leadership Development Program, and the records show that 103 invitations went out to individuals in the community, 67 of those individuals showed up for this conference, split up into interest areas, and began developing the African American version of the leadership development programs.

The problem is, everywhere I go, someone says I was a founder of the program, and they were part of that.

67 people.

And so we all called them all founding influences.

But there was a recognition early, as there is now, that you are either at the table.

>> Participating in giving your voice or you're left out of the process and decisions are made for you.

Those boards, especially the not for profit world, are with the decisions are made where the realities are created for our communities.

Critically important.

>> Fantastic.

Yeah, I agree 100%.

And to me, it was so clear when I moved back from college in Miami, back to Rochester, and I participated in the program.

And this this is in some, um, a conflict of interest.

You'd be hard pressed to find a Latino leader in this community that hasn't gone through this program.

Um, and, but it was so clear to me, as you just mentioned, that you have all these systems that are set to set up to support our communities.

And if the folks on those boards don't look, don't represent those communities, it just makes it a more challenging task.

And, and, um, one of my favorite quotes, uh, is many years ago, I heard a doctor, Antonia Novello, who was the surgeon general, um, she said to know, to serve the people, you must know the people.

>> Absolutely.

>> And that right after hearing that is when I came back from college, she actually spoke at my graduation.

I came back and I heard about, um, HLDP at the time and thought, well, you know, United Way is in the business of supporting nonprofits and serving people.

What's a great way to make sure that those services are relevant?

And it's to create these programs.

And so here we are.

In what year is it 2026?

And it's expanded beyond that licorice.

Can you tell us a little bit about how these programs have expanded?

>> Absolutely.

So I like to say the programs expanded in a couple of different ways.

First is just the focus.

So right now we're talking a lot about board and board leadership.

But even as Nydia mentioned about staffing, right?

We're thinking about what does upward momentum look like?

Even if you're in the corporate world or if you are in government.

So really trying to make sure we have accessibility and representation across all sectors.

So we really focus on the foundation, which is still board leadership this year.

We're for the third year in the world partnering with Saint John Fisher to really go through board leadership curriculum.

However, we expanded upon beyond just board leadership and focusing on building people across all sectors and across all identities.

So in addition to African American, which is 1992, I was a young pup then in addition to Latino leadership development, which is before my time, uh, we now have emerging leaders, which is for young professionals.

And we also have pride leaders, which is the LGBTQ+ community.

Um, so those really just allowing United Way to represent and show that, hey, we have a spot for everyone, no matter how you identify, because we know that you're, you're, you're, uh, your culture and your struggle may be different depending on where, where you are.

And even as you were mentioning the numbers, one of the things I thought of is it's not to me, it's not about the detail of the numbers, because numbers can sometimes not tell the complete story, but it's about the the difference between the board representation and the communities that we serve.

Right?

So if you have, I think you said 77% of board representatives not being, you know, identified as people of color.

But if they're serving a 70% of the community that are, then that causing the question of like, hey, how can we make sure we get the right voices at the table?

And I think that's what our focus is on, not only in board, but also when we think about CEOs, directors, uh, how do you actually make sure we prepare people for these opportunities?

So that way when they come, we can capitalize on them and we can have representation across all sectors.

>> Exactly.

And, um, one of the folks who has signed up to be a representative of the community, uh, Septimus, tell us a little bit about your experience going through the program.

>> Yeah.

Um, for me, it was wonderful.

It was really a brand new experience because, um, through going through the African American Leadership Development Program, what I learned was not just how to work within my sector, right?

It was just how to better myself as an individual overall.

And that was one of the things that I'm most thankful for in participating in this program.

Um, there was this one, uh, portion of the program where we had to take our, um, what is it?

The EQ exam.

>> Meink Myers-Briggs, that one.

>> Yeah.

Was it Myers-Briggs?

I think it may have been, but, um, you know, and I learned a lot about myself during that.

And then I applied those things that I learned to myself and how I conduct myself with other individuals, as well as how I do my work.

Um, you know, and then learning about more so Bores and currently being on several board positions and advisory board positions throughout the community.

What I've learned is that being a board member is really, it's a collective effort, right?

Because you look at staff, staff are like the lifeblood of the organization.

They are really what make things run.

And when you think about management and administration, you're thinking about like the vital organs of that organization to really help it function.

And board is kind of like the brain and the entire body in itself, where it's like it helps direct and guide that entire organization as a body and where it is that we go next.

And like the curious alluded to a little bit, if you are working within an area or a community where the people you're serving are predominantly people of color, are marginalized individuals, you want to make sure that you have the appropriate representation on that board.

Because if we're just making decisions for folks that we might not fully understand the culture or the needs of that environment, we're more than likely to make some mistakes on the way, which can be very costly for that entire organism.

So I've really, really enjoyed being part of LDP and just progressing through being a leader.

I guess you can say in this community, with the support of all the folks that are here today, actually.

So yeah, that's about it.

>> You know, one of the things I wanted to share, you just had me think about was during that time in the 80s, being the only Latina working at the United Way, I refused to become a token.

And I made that very clear the first day I was hired.

And I know it took close to three hours to convince him I am not here to work alone.

I don't plan to be a token.

We need to work together as a team.

Otherwise these are not going to work out the way they should.

We need to work together as a team, and I think that a lot of our folks, when they begin to serve on boards, sometimes they need to learn to separate the fact that you're there representing the community and not feel like you're this token that you should be able to advocate and do what you know needs to be done without feeling, you know, especially if you're the only one on the board.

And that could be very challenging for people to take that risk.

That's what I consider being a leader, that you're willing to take that risk, even if you're the only one on that board.

Is it easy?

Absolutely not.

And the same thing happens with a lot of our folks when it comes to staffing.

If you're the only one, it becomes a major, major challenge.

So for that, for me personally, I think it's great to have these leadership development programs.

The other thing I wanted to mention is we not only worked on trying to get folks to serve on the boards, but we also created projects for the Latinos that were serving as part of the LDP, where we created the first Latina to be hired with the justice system.

We created a middle school leadership development program, and we collaborated with the American Red cross.

Um, Stephen Ramirez, I'll never forget, he was working at Kodak at the time, and he was willing to be the chairperson of that committee.

So we did quite a few wonderful things to really push the agenda.

And you got to remember in those days, it was not easy.

It was it's pretty tough.

And looking at the numbers today, we got a long ways to go.

>> We do.

We're on the way.

Uh, both of you mentioned leadership and the actual parts of serving on a board.

And I know sometimes people, when I talk to folks about leadership, they think it's, you have to have this big personality and you have to be a certain type of person to be a leader when, you know, there's all types of leadership.

Uh, what would you guys say is for those of you, for those that may be listening and thinking, am I board material?

What, what does that mean?

And, and what, what skills do you really need to be on board?

>> I will say humility and service and being a servant.

Um, one thing that I've learned is that I naturally have a big personality, I think.

Right.

I'm not sure, but some people tell me that naturally have a big personality, but for me, and just going through a LDP and honestly, just from what I've been taught from my father growing up, is that if you're going to be a leader, you have to serve the people.

You cannot be somebody in a position of just giving dictation or direction to folks.

You have to actually understand the folks of the community that you're serving.

Because again, how else can you do it?

And in that case, you're really just doing it for yourself.

You're not doing it to truly be a leader.

So I think before getting into this role or getting into the programs, it's really important to say to yourself, like, why is it that I want to do this?

Is it just for self-interest?

Is it because I want to be able to truly support my community and to bring people together?

Because whether you're black, whether you're white, whether you're Hispanic, we all live on this planet together.

We all share this community.

We all we have neighbors that may not look like us, but might have similar values to us, right?

So understanding that like we need to always stay humble so we can learn and ingest new information, right?

And connect with people.

I believe that's true leadership.

>> Fantastic.

Rodney, from what would you add to that?

>> When you look at boards, it takes all kinds of personalities to fit within a board.

But one of the things you have to be is willing to work collaboratively.

Mhm.

And also to understand that most boards are comprised of a number of committees, governance committee, finance committee, PR, marketing committee, and different skill sets work best on different committees.

I want to see my accountants on the finance committee, my bankers on the finance committee.

I want to see my public relations people on the marketing committee.

I want to see those folks that know the details of, of, of going through a nomination process for an evaluation of board members on my governance committee.

So there's a lot of different slots that require specific skills that fit different aspects of a board.

So if you come with an open heart and you have a passion for the mission of the organization, you know, a lot of times people sort of get bored happy and they join this board and that board and this board and that board, and they talk about all the boards that are on, but they don't have a sincere interest or passion for any of them.

And I prefer someone finding one board that they have a true interest and passion in and figure out how to work collaboratively to make that mission of that particular board come true.

Uh, it's magical when you have the, the coordination between the CEO and the board.

It's dynamic that it's hard to, uh, when it goes right, it goes really right.

And you can move the organization forward in a serious manner.

So make sure you're passionate.

And if you stick your finger, your toe in a board, you scope to a few meetings and it's not you be honest.

Back away.

You're slot is out there in a different direction.

Perhaps so collaboratively working your skill set, fitting with some of the committee assignments that boards have and, uh, just see it through and be passionate and give your best.

>> I would just like to add the values that you carry in the principles too, because understanding the mission, the commitment, the dedication, if you do decide to serve on that board, that it's also applicable to your values and your principles and really dealing with why you're there.

Because sometimes I see that, you know, the mission is one thing, but what is the action?

>> Oh., yeah.

What?

Let me just add one thing.

Boards are looking for people who contribute their resources.

Their skills, their talents, and their treasures.

So you really have to be willing to give financially and to get others to give financially to support, especially the not for profit organizations.

They need help financially.

And you have to be willing to open up to ways of bringing resources and giving resources.

Uh, on a regular basis to these organizations.

>> Gary is building on this idea of what a leader is and am I board material when, uh, since you manage all four of these programs now, what do you see as some of the areas where most, most folks come in and need help with?

>> Yeah, that's a great question.

Um, I think the number 1 or 1 of the top ones here would be learning how to use their voice.

Sometimes it might be confidence, sometimes it might be impostor syndrome or a combination of a different other.

And it's just really knowing your voice.

This is why we kind of have like a leadership self-awareness day where it's like, this is how you can actually identify who you are and what your values are, as Nadia mentioned.

And that becomes your anchor.

Um, so even this year, our theme for the year is being the lighthouse, which is to stand firm.

It's to shine bright and to guide your community.

And it's really all about first knowing who you are as a leader.

So that way you become the consistency or the certainty in the sea of uncertainty, right?

Especially now in 2026, there's a lot of uncertainty for many different reasons.

Political technology, you know, things of that nature.

And it's okay if I know who I am, if I know nothing else.

I always jokingly quote The Lion King and I say, just remember who you are.

You know nothing else.

You know that this is what I stand for.

Uh, this is what I'm going to do.

And then to Mr.

Rodney's point that allows you to know what boards make sense for you, what boards don't make sense for you.

Uh, it's kind of like sometimes you might just have to say no instead of being flattered that you're asked.

And also it allows you to be curious about the things that you.

Hey, this isn't me.

So now I need to ask questions.

Now I need to seek to understand.

And that allows you to, to not be the token as we talked about, right?

But also not be the expert for the whole community.

Like I'm an African American black man, but I don't speak for all black and people in African American.

So I need to still talk to people who look like me and sound like me.

So that way I could come back and be like, yeah, I thought this.

But here's another perspective within our own community.

So it's really about finding that voice, which starts with finding out who you are and making sure you can stand firm or ten toes down, as they say, in who you actually are.

>> On that note, it's time for a short break and we'll be right back.

>> I'm Megan Mack coming up in our second hour.

It's Connections Summer Sessions where we bring back popular episodes, all tied to a theme.

This week's theme is Climate and environment.

Tick bites are on the rise in our region, and in this special rebroadcast, our guests share what you need to know about ticks.

Lyme disease and how to prevent tick borne illnesses.

That's next.

As part of Connections Summer Sessions.

>> Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Cariola, center.

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>> Welcome back to Connections.

This is Julio Sainz filling in for Evan Dawson today.

And we are here talking about what boards of what boards of directors do for non-profits, why that's important, why that can shape systems this day and age.

We talk so much about, um, systematic, uh, impediments to, to advancement for communities and other things and systems change.

And, uh, there's a program here in Rochester where we tend to do innovative things that was founded here in 1982 and has become a national model for diversifying the boards of directors of organizations.

So we're here with our guest, continuing this conversation on, um, why it's important and what we're doing.

We've seen some progress over the last few decades, but there are still a lot of work to do.

Um, so coming back to our guests, I have a conversation or a question about the future.

So, um, what do you think the greatest leadership challenges are for the Rochester area in the future?

>> I would say unity.

We need to come together regardless of color.

Um, we're, we're facing some challenging times, especially, you know, starting at the national level.

And for me personally, the unity is key.

If we can't come together, I think we're going to be in deeper trouble and never give up on hope.

>> Yeah.

I, I will piggyback on that and I will say to me, you mentioned national level, but also local level.

Uh, it comes with being okay with disagreeing, um, and making that, uh, healthy.

So we get back to where I can actually share a different perspective and then we can talk it out, we can have a conversation about it, whether that's within your own community or without.

Right.

So, uh, for people of color, we have disagreements, you know, of, you know, I always call it the Carlton Banks theory, right?

Like, you know, if I wanted, if I came out as a Republican, as a black person, that can be a big, you know, big conversation as an example.

And I just say it's, how do we have these conversations in a very healthy manner?

Uh, before we try to identify who's correct or who's not, how do we just say, let me understand more about what you're going.

And that will allow us to become more unified because we're not afraid to disagree.

But right now, I think as a culture or as a community, I think we are afraid to disagree.

So we run from those conversations.

And as a result, we then since we're running from these conversations, we then kind of segregate ourselves based off of our ideology or our culture.

>> I think it's, it's pretty awesome to kind of notice the theme in everything that everyone has said, right?

Like we haven't really gotten into the technicalities of or the more technical aspects of being on the board, right?

Like the different trainings, like the functional stuff.

We've really been focused on the humanity of it all, which I think that speaks a lot about the current state that our entire community is in.

The entire country is in.

Right.

And I think that's exactly where we need to be right now, is focusing on the humanity of it all.

I think a lot of times folks get lost in the sauce of, of, you know, who believes what, what's your identity, what's your, your, your, your, your whatever it might be, right?

We, we create these different types of barriers for each other, right?

Which humans do, right.

We do that.

But at the same time, we also need to be cognizant that we're all one human family and focusing on that aspect.

And again, focusing on things like our values, our belief structures, whatever those things might be.

But bringing it back to the fact that it doesn't really matter what that person is, they're still a human being and we have to treat them that way.

We have to treat them accordingly.

We can be upset that their perspective might be different than ours.

We might not agree with it, right?

But we still need to treat them with that respect and dignity that God says that we need to treat each other with.

Sorry, I'm bringing it a little bit into God here, but that's all of the things that we have to consider, especially in leadership, because you're not always going to lead people that look like you.

You're not always going to lead people that have the same values and belief structures as you, but you're still going to be in a position of leadership.

And as a leader, you know, going back to being a servant, going back to being humble and utilizing humility, we need to understand that those things, you know, they exist.

But what's the bigger picture here?

The bigger picture here is that we're all humans.

We all want to kiss our kids at night.

We all want to have food in the fridge.

We all want to have a roof over our head.

I mean, some people actually like being transient, but we all want to feel safe no matter where we are.

So how do we create that safety so that people have the baseline structure of what they need in order to really thrive within their environment?

So as a leader and being in a board, we have to make sure that when we're making decisions, when we're speaking on what, what, what is our current financial situation for this organization, we need to get our recruitment up.

We need to focus on diversity or diversifying the organization.

People always take diversity into a race thing, right?

They don't think about diversity of thought.

The fact that having people with different perspectives in a room can sometimes garner better solutions, or at least more solutions.

And these are the things that I think are extremely important.

And I just love that, like, we've really focused on the humanity of it all here today.

>> That's.

>> Yeah, I think, I think one of the challenges, even among leaders, even among organizations and programs like we're discussing is the leaders don't know each other.

Even with the four programs we're talking about, there's not enough opportunities for those people who step up to leadership positions to get to know one another.

So I think that's one of the things that could enhance these programs is to find ways for the leaders, among the leaders to get to know one another, and also, there's a need to identify sort of universal issues that people could work on.

For example, we all want an education system that works for everybody.

We all want decent health care, and we all want, uh, income opportunities.

We all want to be wealthy, but we certainly want enough wealth to, to live what we think of as our own, uh, American dream.

So I think connecting the leaders more effectively in a community like Rochester and identifying issues.

I just mentioned three, uh, health care, education and wealth, but identifying issues that could be universal pursuable and achievable in an experiment of a Rochester region and.

>> Actually, that made me think of something.

And I come back to you because you're the current, uh, manager of these different programs, the current director of these different programs.

And I, it's great to have you because you have your finger on the pulse of the classes that are coming through, the folks that have participated in these programs in the last few years.

What issues do you find they're most passionate about?

We've talked about how important it is to have a passion for what you choose to volunteer for.

What are you hearing from them?

>> Yeah, that's actually a great question.

And I have a specific, you know, issues such as violence, um, or, you know, different types of violence, whether it be domestic or gun violence.

Um, but also especially for language access is a big one.

Um, that's a common passion issue.

And to Mr.

Rodney's point, because your question kind of, um, naturally took me to where I was going here about working together here is I love when I see just people work on the come together to work on common issues, right?

So language access, for example, I've seen, uh, our alumni and our Ldpe community work with the deaf community, work with the immigrant and refugee community to get different types of language.

So it's not just Spanish that they're going after, right?

It's, hey, we have people who are looking for American Sign Language, people who are looking to speak, uh, you know, French and other languages and just seeing them work together has seen so much more progress than just trying to just tackle.

Let me just, you know, focus on the thing that only impacts me.

So to Mr.

Rodney's point, you know, working together is, is really going to be very valuable for us going forward and, and tackling those common issues that we all are passionate about.

Uh, and so those are, those are some of the bigger issues, language access, violence, but also things like food, food access, as well as health.

And what we do in our programs.

And we're doing it again this year.

Uh, Mr.

Rodney started this way before my time here.

Uh, is allowing the participants to research different nonprofits and different organizations in the community that are tackling a lot of these big issues.

So that way they can, one, be aware of it, get more exposure to it, but also start, hey, how do I, how do I volunteer?

How do I actually be a part of this work?

Uh, because one of the things that I've noticed in our community and a lot of others have noticed is we might have somebody on the east side doing the same thing as somebody in the west side, right?

Because they just started it like, hey, I saw an issue and I just started it.

And that's good that we want to have that initiative.

But part of that initiative could be what's already out there.

What's the work that's already being done, and how can I help expand that so that we're not working in silos, but we're working together, which is what the point of our projects for our participants are.

So they can see these are all the organizations tackling language access.

How do we make sure we can bring them together?

These are the organizations tackling tackling food access.

How do we make sure we bring them together and so forth.

So it's really about bringing that collaborative spirit to tackle these important issues.

>> And for listeners who are wondering, well, how can I get involved in this?

Or maybe you are a owner of a business or you run an organization, you think, well, I'd like to send some of my employees to this program.

How do people get involved?

How do they register what?

>> Yes, so they can apply in our United Way website, which is United Way Grok fl.org.

And click on our leadership development, and they can apply for any of our four programs, which again, our Latino, African American emerging leaders and pride.

And we have the best rate in the in the whole county, actually and beyond.

At $600, you get six full day of training.

We have dynamic speakers, uh, who some of which have already been publicly announced and some of which are coming.

I know this one guy who's pretty cool.

His name is Julio Saenz.

I don't know.

>> If.

>> Um, but he's coming in, uh, to, to bring and speak on different topics, right?

So we bring community leaders, people who are serving in government, people who are serving on boards, people are serving in high director, VP level organizations to come and start talking about the difficult conversations.

What does it look like to how do you have difficult conversations at work?

How do you manage conflict?

How do you manage crises?

Like all these things?

Um, and you'll be able to learn some practical skill sets, not just theories and ideas, but it's like, hey, okay, what's, how do we actually apply this in a real life scenario?

So that way when you leave there that day, you have tools to continue to develop yourself as leaders, develop the people around you and make an impact.

So that's how you can get involved, and that's why you want to get involved.

In addition to having great speakers like Julio or Mr.

Rodney's coming to as well.

So, uh, you know, we have a great community as well because you're going to learn a lot from the, the participants that are going to go through the experience with you.

And the final point I'll mention here is we are bringing at Saint John Fisher.

Um, we have our, we have our cross collaboration day.

So we bring our Latino leadership development program and our African American leadership development program.

They go through that experience together.

And then our pride and our emerging leaders go through that experience together as well.

And we're continue to evolve and look for ways to have the programs keep their, uh, you know, psychologically safe environments while opening up opportunity to collaborate with each other.

>> Okay, just a point of clarification, I want to know if I still qualify, what's the age range for the emerging leader program?

>> Um, so the age range is 21 to 40 is our target.

Uh, however, we don't have a hard stop.

Um, because, you know, it's really more young professionals.

So for example, I know a couple of years ago, maybe it was last year, I had a mom who was like 46, but she went back to the because her kids just graduated.

So she's back in the workplace, right?

So she's a young professional, you know, from a professional standpoint, because she was out of the workforce as a mom for like 15 years.

So we kind of like, look at it.

So, you know, case by case, because we do want to have a place for everyone.

So it's not a hard like, you know, no matter what, stop.

Um, but our target and our market is 21 to 40.

>> Okay, great.

>> That's great.

>> So you just made it.

>> And as far as, uh, and the, the, the third audience that could be here listening to the show or watching the show and thinking this could be of use to me are folks that are running nonprofit organizations or maybe already serve on a board somewhere.

You'd like to know, how do I tap into this program to get some potential candidates?

So can you guys tell us a little bit about that?

>> Yes, I can, so, um, same thing, same thing, right?

So if you reach out to us at United Way, typically speaking, if you already are running a board and you're looking for board members, um, we will promote that for you.

So we will promote that to the graduates of our programs.

So typically I ask for like, hey, who do you, you know, what's the process that you have?

So some people have interview processes, some people have just application process.

Uh, and then we do have a newsletter.

We also have what I call just, um, um, where I just send out communication blast, uh, of just these updates of here's a board that's available to you.

Um, and then sometimes we have people who are looking for specific identities because of that diversity, right?

So they're like, hey, I would love to have a woman of color because we have a board of, you know, nine men already.

Right?

And, and I want to know, uh, you know, if you can share this opportunity with women, woman of color.

And that's what we would do.

We would target it based off of the need and the ask.

Uh, we've had some great success stories of folks who have started boards with, with some of our alumni folks who have, our alumni have joined and made great impacts here.

Uh, and it's really, you know, the point of the training, right?

So part of it is to prepare people for the board.

And sometimes people have the aha moment right now isn't a good time for me for a board because they learned what a board does.

And they're like, I don't know if I really want to do that, but it allows them to know, okay, I can actually still volunteer with the organization.

Maybe I'll be part of a steering committee, which is a little less commitment than being part of the board.

So it gives you all these opportunities.

And if you are interested in that for your organization, you can just email us at leadership Development at United Way.

Grok.org.

And we can definitely partner and help you and support you in that way.

>> Great.

Thank you.

Yeah.

>> I found that if you could be as specific as possible about what you're looking for in a board member, we can usually find that person within our organization.

The major organization, uh, a few years ago was looking for a CPA to help them with their audit.

Well, we happen to have some CPAs, and we were able to identify one who was available to serve on that board and helped them through that process.

Uh, so the programs have over 2000 graduates and many have remained in this region, and they've moved up within their organization and their skill levels are high and they're still out here looking for opportunities to serve.

So as specific as you can be, we can probably find someone to add to your candidate pool.

Of course, we want you to vet, uh, all of the people that may come through this process like you've had anybody else because you're looking for the ideal candidate.

And we don't get upset if you do not choose the candidate or candidates we send to you, because we know that you're working to do the best for your organization.

And so are we.

>> Excellent.

Thank you.

Rodney.

Um, one question, do you have all been through this program?

I know some of you are very involved on different boards and different organizations.

As you reflect on each of your own leadership journey, what gives you the most hope about this next generation of leaders?

>> I would say.

Self awareness, your sense of identity.

Again, I go back to values and principles where you really coming from?

What do you believe in also?

Um, commitment and dedication, you know, don't, don't do it.

Do it just for the sake of, you know, impressing it.

You put this on your resume, but really be committed to create the change that you want to see happen and be ready for challenges.

It's not going to be easy.

You know, things don't happen.

You know, the way you want doesn't mean that you just give up.

Um, what I'm finding is that instant gratification is not the way to go.

Some of our young people, if they don't see change right away, then they're ready to give up.

I would hope that they would stay committed and, and, um, experience the opportunity to give back.

And if not serving on the board, then maybe on a steering committee or advisory capacity.

But for me, commitment and dedication is key.

>> I have so much hope as I look at, uh, the young folks that I come in contact with, there are a lot of problems.

There are a lot of issues.

There are a lot of potential stumbling blocks.

But when you think about the fact that, uh, that much, uh, of quoted statistic about African American women being some of the most educated folks in our country as a group, we have a lot of people who really believe in themselves.

They are grounded in faith.

They believe in one another, and they want better things for themselves and their families and their neighbors.

And they're willing to put in the time and effort to make that happen.

They need some, uh, information as to where to go and who to talk to and what kind of process to go to the next level.

Like these board training programs, this, uh, they need to be advertised more.

This is one of the best kept secrets in this whole community as far as the availability 44 years serving thousands of folks and a lot of people are hearing about this for the first time.

But I'm so optimistic about the strength and values and courage people have to do the right things to move in the right directions and to cooperate with one another under the guise of a board or community, an organization, a neighborhood, a religious organization, or just do it yourself.

>> Yeah, I would, um, I would echo similar sentiments as the two of them.

Um, I think I'm optimistic from a boldness standpoint.

I do think we have a generation for whatever the reason, uh, that feel empowered from a standpoint to speak specifically.

Uh, so speak when they feel like they're not being represented, speak when they feel like they're not emotionally, uh, safe or psychologically safe.

And I think that is very, very positive.

I think there was a time where, you know, we just didn't always, it was just status quo.

We, we knew there was a problem, but maybe we just took it.

But so I think the fact that people are bold enough to speak up is very, very important.

And I also think the fact that people are willing to work together or come in, come into partnership and agreement with others that are like minded is also very, very important.

And I am interested, and I'm hopeful that we will continue to expand upon that.

So that way, we will continue to embrace people who disagree with us in a healthy way as well.

And I always share, uh, I've been sharing this for the last few months is we have a understanding that, you know, sometimes when things aren't feeling safe, we kind of conflate safety with comfort, uh, meaning that, you know, I would never tell anybody to stay in a place that feels unsafe or that is unsafe, but I will tell them to stay in a place that's uncomfortable because that's How growth happens, right?

Whether you're working out, whether you're going through medical procedure, none of those things are comfortable, but those things are where we grow the most.

So I would encourage our younger generation to continue to speak up, continue to be bold, and then when it feels uncomfortable, continue to stand in it.

So that way we can get to the right.

>> And yeah, I'll echo similar sentiments as the rest of the wonderful folks here have already stated.

And just to go a little further with what the curious just stated, as well as something that my wife and I always say to each other, right?

Like, babe just dug it out, you know, that's one of the main, you know, that's really like a, our focus, you know, because like, this is just absurd.

You're going to get uncomfortable.

I mean, I get uncomfortable all the time in these spaces, but at the same time, I also know that I'm growing because of that discomfort.

And that discomfort has led me to be the leader that I am today.

To be able to be in these spaces and still speak up and say, you know, this thing doesn't sound right.

Whether it be something that, uh, maybe I'm not as used to or something that I'm more aligned with in both spaces.

I'm like, ah, but have we considered how that affects others?

Have we thought about, you know, how we're, we're, we're, we're, we're delivering this message and what that outcome can be for the folks that we serve.

You know, I've been in a lot of places where I'm very passionate about the disabled population.

And that's primarily the space that I'm working.

Right.

So for me, it's, it's not just being a behavioral specialist or being a manager or whatever that position is.

It's more so, okay, how are we serving those folks?

Are we actually doing the things that they specifically need?

Because if they weren't there, we wouldn't have a job, you know?

So when you're in these spaces, sometimes it becomes like a sounding box where we all want to hear each other talk.

We talk about leadership, we talk about, you know, management, we talk about psychology or social science, whatever it is.

We talk about the different disabilities, but we don't stop to talk about the folks.

What is their experience like?

Is it is there a is there an unnecessary barrier that we can address to make services easier for people to get?

Is there a aspect of a their disability that we can help bring attention to, even to the institutions, to further research to help develop better interventions for.

Is there a way that the organization can operate in a way that makes more sense, right.

Without with being fiscally conservative, like, is there a way we can save money while still making sure we're delivering our services effectively?

These are the things that we have to do, being in these spaces.

And for me, like Lucas just said, you know, and like Rodney even taught us during our I believe Rodney was we were Rodney's last class.

And I would say he put the battery pack in our backs, you know, to say, hey, go out there.

It's not going to be easy.

It's going to be challenging, but take that challenge head on.

Prepare yourself, understand what it is that you're studying.

Understand what it is that you're doing.

Give it your best effort all the time.

And, and I think that's what's going to be needed for this next generation as well, from emerging leaders to LDP, I believe that all of us need to we need to get out of just our silos.

Right.

I know you've heard this terminology used a lot lately, but it's so true.

You need to get out of our silos and we need to get together so that we can come together and develop a plan moving forward for our community.

>> Fantastic.

>> Thank you all for joining us today.

I think this has been a very eye opening conversation for a lot of folks.

Uh, as I said, this is an area of, uh, policy and direction for our community.

A lot of folks don't even know exists.

And that there's all these folks here in Rochester working to make it more representative and more diverse.

On behalf of all of us here at WXXI, I want to thank our guests.

I want to thank all our listeners, and hopefully we helped make a new connection for you today.

Thank you.

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