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<title>scott, Author at LearnServe International</title>
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<title>Why I planted crocus bulbs this past November</title>
<link>https://learn-serve.org/2025/01/21/why-i-planted-crocus-bulbs-this-past-november/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-i-planted-crocus-bulbs-this-past-november</link>
<comments>https://learn-serve.org/2025/01/21/why-i-planted-crocus-bulbs-this-past-november/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[scott]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jan 2025 16:25:34 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Staff]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://learn-serve.org/?p=16277</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Together, approaching and anticipating some of the coldest and darkest days of the year, we planted what we hope will bring splashes of brightness in the coming months.<br />
I see LearnServe’s work in much the same way.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://learn-serve.org/2025/01/21/why-i-planted-crocus-bulbs-this-past-november/">Why I planted crocus bulbs this past November</a> appeared first on <a href="https://learn-serve.org">LearnServe International</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p id="ember613">In early November – deep in questions about what the coming years might look like for my students, my own children, and others I care deeply about – I planted 6 crocus bulbs.</p>
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide"><div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container"><ul class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper"><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-16278" data-id="16278" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-1024x768.jpg" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-400x300.jpg 400w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-230x173.jpg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-350x263.jpg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/IMG_0468-2-480x360.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img decoding="async" width="819" height="1024" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-16279" data-id="16279" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-819x1024.png" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-819x1024.png 819w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-240x300.png 240w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-768x960.png 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-1000x1250.png 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-230x288.png 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-350x438.png 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2-480x600.png 480w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2025/01/2.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px" /></figure></li></ul><a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><a aria-label="Pause Slideshow" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause" role="button"></a><div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white"></div></div></div>
<p id="ember614">Three weeks later, amidst family health challenges, one of my sons and I planted another 30 daffodil bulbs just beneath the surface of the soil in a park by our house.</p>
<p id="ember615">Together, approaching and anticipating some of the coldest and darkest days of the year, we planted what we hope will bring splashes of brightness in the coming months.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p id="ember616">I see LearnServe’s work in much the same way.</p>
<p id="ember617">I’ve often joked with my wife <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahbeller/">Sarah Beller</a> (founder of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/realize-change/">Realize Change LLC</a>) that the moment I stop planting flowers she should be worried, because it means I’ve given up on the future. She agreed, and tipped me off to an <a href="https://brenebrown.com/podcast/sage-warrior-wake-to-oneness-practice-pleasure-choose-courage-become-victory/">interview</a> with academic and podcaster Brene Brown.</p>
<p id="ember619">Reflecting on the hopelessness she’s seen in younger generations, Brown shared that hope is not an abstract concept. Rather, hope is a combination of <em>goals</em>, <em>plans</em>, and <em>agency</em> – that you know what you want to accomplish, how you’ll accomplish it, and that you believe you can do it. She went on to add that agency is felt most acutely when you’re hands on with the work.</p>
<p id="ember620">This is core to what we do at LearnServe. Our LearnServe Fellows have spent the past five months thinking about the issues that “piss them off,” the injustices they feel someone has to address, and researching those topics inside and out. Last week they pitched those ideas at our Innovators’ Cafe. And starting this week they’ll dive deep into planning and action.</p>
<p id="ember621">This is a powerful process. We know that doing the work of creating social change – and feeling supported in doing the work – helps young people discover their own power as changemakers. And it helps them feel hopeful as they continue that work to make positive change in the world.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>“Through LearnServe’s guidance, my anger turned into passion and my passion turned into action.” ~ Noah Dyson, LearnServe Fellows facilitator, alumnus, and Founder, The Love Catalyst</p>
</blockquote>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p id="ember623">It is a complicated world that today’s high school students are growing up in. It was well before the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, election, and yesterday’s inauguration – and that is likely to continue.</p>
<p id="ember624">It is especially complicated for young people who have no say as voters, but feel the consequences of those votes. For the young people who, like many of our students, feel like they live on the margins – outside what they perceive as mainstream American society, with little say in how others look at them, or how others treat them. For the young people who feel the fear, anxiety, and trauma of what is happening around them, but feel powerless to do anything about it.</p>
<p id="ember625">In moments like these, I am grateful for the LearnServe community, and the opportunity that we have, working together, to help our students make sense of – and find their place in – this complicated world.</p>
<p id="ember626">We aspire to build communities that are…</p>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Grounded in empathy and understanding, even across difference</li>
<li>Grounded in the complex realities of the present, while being guided by what is possible for the future</li>
<li>Grounded in a belief in the power of young people – and all people – to create positive social change</li>
<li>Grounded in the knowledge that everyone is worthy of love, respect, and being listened to, even when we disagree</li>
<li>Grounded in the understanding that we are strongest when we work together</li>
<li>Grounded in action</li>
</ul>
<p id="ember628">Communities like these remind me that when we come together – across race, class, nationality, politics, and more – we are stronger than those who seek to divide us.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p id="ember629">In each of the young people we are working with, we are planting the seeds of confidence, of hope, of agency, of resilience.</p>
<p id="ember630">And through each of them we are planting the seeds for a better future for all of the communities that they – and we – are part of.</p>
<p id="ember631">In the coming months I look forward to following, and sharing with you, what it looks like as these students and their ideas begin to flourish. (You can get a sneak preview through our <a href="https://learn-serve.org/blog">blog</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/learnserve/">instagram</a>.) And I’ll try and share pictures of our improvised garden as well!</p>
<p id="ember632">In the meantime, I will leave you with a question: <strong>How are </strong><strong><em>you</em></strong><strong> planting the seeds for a better future?</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://learn-serve.org/2025/01/21/why-i-planted-crocus-bulbs-this-past-november/">Why I planted crocus bulbs this past November</a> appeared first on <a href="https://learn-serve.org">LearnServe International</a>.</p>
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<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">16277</post-id> </item>
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<title>Lessons from Limón: Listening, Lending a Hand, Lifting up Leaders</title>
<link>https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders</link>
<comments>https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[scott]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:27:57 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[LearnServe Fellows]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://learn-serve.org/?p=16267</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Last week I had the opportunity to spend four days with the Dale Una Mano founder Orlando Carvajal Valdes, his leadership team, and their program participants. They walked me through the challenges that young people face in their community, and the ways that Dale Una Mano is helping them overcome those challenges through leadership and service.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/">Lessons from Limón: Listening, Lending a Hand, Lifting up Leaders</a> appeared first on <a href="https://learn-serve.org">LearnServe International</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p id="ember1933"><strong>By Scott Rechler</strong> | Director & CEO of LearnServe International</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" data-attachment-id="16268" data-permalink="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/post-a-2/" data-orig-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2.jpg" data-orig-size="1024,768" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Post A 2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-400x300.jpg" data-large-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2.jpg" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16268" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2.jpg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-400x300.jpg 400w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-230x173.jpg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-350x263.jpg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/Post-A-2-480x360.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
<p id="ember1933"><strong><em>Pero es que nos conocemos,</em>“</strong> lamented Jessica mid-way through our workshop last weekend. “It’s that we know them.”</p>
<p id="ember1934">Jessica went on the explain that several months ago, young people who she had grown up with – individuals who she and her husband have consistently tried to help with food and money as they are able – tried to break into their house. It wasn’t just the attempted robbery that worried her, amidst escalating crime in her neighborhood. It was that she and the individuals breaking into her house knew each other.</p>
<p id="ember1935">Jessica realized that for some individuals living in vulnerable communities, generational trauma combined with the allure of money and belonging offered by local gangs, simply proved too hard to shake. Nevertheless, Jessica wondered, could she help other young people in similar circumstances chart a different future?</p>
<p id="ember1936">Along with with Jose Daniel Alvarado, Jessica Quesada is a lead facilitator with the nonprofit organization Dale Una Mano a Costa Rica. Both are alumni of Dale Una Mano’s youth development programs. Together they are leading the inaugural cohort of 25 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/learnserve/">LearnServe International</a> Fellows in Bataan, a town in Limón Province, Costa Rica, helping these young people grow as changemakers.</p>
<p id="ember1937">Last week I had the opportunity to spend four days with the Dale Una Mano founder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ocarvajal/">Orlando Carvajal Valdes</a>, his leadership team, and their program participants. They walked me through the challenges that young people face in their community, and the ways that Dale Una Mano is helping them overcome those challenges through leadership and service.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" data-attachment-id="16269" data-permalink="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/attachment/1734731102446/" data-orig-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446.jpg" data-orig-size="1333,1000" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1734731102446" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-400x300.jpg" data-large-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-1024x768.jpg" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16269" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-400x300.jpg 400w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-768x576.jpg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-230x173.jpg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-350x263.jpg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446-480x360.jpg 480w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731102446.jpg 1333w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>The neighborhood of Dale Una Mano a Costa Rica.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p id="ember1941">“<em>Es que no se ven así,</em>” reflected Ligia Alpizar of the United States Embassy in Costa Rica as Orlando and I shared a bit more about the young people we work with in Costa Rica and the U.S. “It’s that they don’t see themselves that way.” They don’t know what’s possible, what they’re capable of.</p>
<p id="ember1942">Orlando nodded in agreement.</p>
<p id="ember1943">Bataan is a town in the heart of Limón Province, 45 minutes by bumpy dirt road from Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. Surrounded by banana and pineapple plantations, the community was the center of the United Fruit Company’s complicated investments in the region, starting in the late 1800s. The region also includes some of Costa Rica’s largest indigenous and afro-descendent communities.</p>
<p id="ember1944">As he introduced me to the neighborhoods that Dale Una Mano serves, Orlando explained that the region recently went from being regarded as a region <em>en pobreza</em> (in poverty) to one seen as <em>vulnerable</em> due to growing incidences of drug addiction, gun violence, and gang activity. The reality young people are living in, he continued, makes it much harder for young people to imagine a different future for themselves.</p>
<p id="ember1945">Though it was my first time in Bataan, the conversation felt familiar. I remember my first walk through the Santa Ana neighborhood 15 years ago with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/domingo-alonso-68493429/">Domingo Alonso</a>, our longtime LearnServe partner in Paraguay. Santa Ana’s residents live in a floodplain on the periphery of Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital city, near the municipal landfill and with little formal urban infrastructure. Young people in Santa Ana are surrounded by a similar constellation of challenges and pressures – few economic opportunities, drugs and violence, untreated health and mental health challenges.</p>
<p id="ember1947">And it’s not so different from the conversations I’ve had with LearnServe students in Washington, DC over the years. Last fall I sat with two students as they described ducking from gunfire on their way to school, and how they personally knew classmates involved in the city’s spate of carjackings. Other students opened up about the trauma they faced a home, their difficulties in finding a job, the fights breaking out at their schools, and how hard it was to break any of those cycles.</p>
<p id="ember1948">In each community, the adults I spoke with shared how even the most motivated young people don’t necessarily know what opportunities exist beyond their own neighborhoods. Others don’t feel confident they could ever reach those opportunities, even if they tried. Others end up subsumed in the same social problems they hoped to overcome.</p>
<p id="ember1949">All of them were asking themselves: How do we help young people see a different future for themselves?</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" data-attachment-id="16270" data-permalink="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/image7/" data-orig-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7.jpeg" data-orig-size="2016,1512" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="image7" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-400x300.jpeg" data-large-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-1024x768.jpeg" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-1024x768.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-16270" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-400x300.jpeg 400w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-1000x750.jpeg 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-230x173.jpeg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-350x263.jpeg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7-480x360.jpeg 480w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/image7.jpeg 2016w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Jose Daniel facilitates a LearnServe Fellows session in Bataan, Costa Rica.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p id="ember1952">Of course this is just part of the story in each of these communities.</p>
<p id="ember1953">Jessica and Jose Daniel are themselves graduates of Dale Una Mano a Costa Rica. Dale Una Mano (literally “Lend a Hand”) is a community-based youth development nonprofit that helps young people grow as changemakers through volunteerism and leadership development. Founded in 2016 by Orlando Carvajal, the organization reaches 1,200 children and youth annually through their service projects, and has graduated 180 young leaders through their longer format programs. In November, with support from a United States Embassy grant and training and curriculum materials from the LearnServe team in DC, the Dale Una Mano team kicked off their first cohort of LearnServe Fellows in Bataan.</p>
<p id="ember1954">Jessica shared that when she first joined the organization, her family didn’t understand. Why, they wondered, was she spending so much time on volunteer projects and workshops — instead of school, work, or family responsibilities? And late at night and on weekends?</p>
<p id="ember1955">Over time, their take on her involvement changed: they saw the value of the experience; her parents encouraged her siblings and cousins to join her; they even helped cook food for program events.</p>
<p id="ember1956">As Jessica opened up about her own experiences during our workshop last weekend, others in the room began to share similar experiences. Hakinen recalled being a quiet and shy teenager who wanted to good in his community but wasn’t sure how – and who then found his voice through Dale Una Mano. He is currently studying industrial engineering and environmental engineering. Ashler described how he has gone out of his way to recruit friends to join Dale Una Mano, after having found a community that was at the same time professionally enriching, personally fulfilling, and fun. Ashler is working on a project to teach computer literacy to his peers.</p>
<p id="ember1957">In many ways the young people drawn to Dale Una Mano – like the young people drawn to LearnServe’s programs in Washington, DC or Domingo’s Centro Comunitario Cultural in Asuncion, Paraguay – are predisposed to leadership and service. But they often lack the family support or outlets at school to get more involved. Were it not for spaces like these, they might have sought out community and purpose in less constructive ways. Because of spaces like these, these young people have charted new paths for themselves – and for all those following in their footsteps, who look up to them as role models.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" data-attachment-id="16271" data-permalink="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/attachment/1734731686360/" data-orig-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360.jpg" data-orig-size="1333,1000" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1734731686360" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-400x300.jpg" data-large-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-1024x768.jpg" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16271" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-400x300.jpg 400w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-768x576.jpg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-230x173.jpg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-350x263.jpg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360-480x360.jpg 480w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/1734731686360.jpg 1333w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Orlando Carvajal, Founder of Dale Una Mano, in Bataan, Costa Rica.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p id="ember1960">I have spent most of my career surrounded by social entrepreneurs – through my work with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/ashoka/">Ashoka</a>, adjacent to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/halcyoninspires/">Halcyon</a>, and of course LearnServe’s community of changemakers. I am always amazed by their big, creative ideas for systemic change.</p>
<p id="ember1961">Recently I have been intrigued by the subset of social entrepreneurs like Orlando and Domingo who are both deeply connected to their communities and deeply committed to unlocking the leadership potential of others. Their scale (so far) may not be big, but their impact is deep – both through the lives they touch directly, and the ripple effect on their communities.</p>
<p id="ember1962">While I have struggled to find a word that captures this subset of social entrepreneurs (ideas welcome!) dedicated to youth empowerment, I have begun to see trends in what they have in common. These youth empowerment social entrepreneurs</p>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>believe in young people</strong>, even when those young people may not yet believe in themselves</li>
<li>are <strong>from the community</strong> they are working in, and at the same time have the ability to see their community – and its assets and opportunities – in a way that others don’t</li>
<li><strong>devote all of their discretionary time</strong> – especially evenings and weekends, when young people are more free – and resources to this work</li>
<li><strong>mobilize every available opportunity</strong> for their young people, often transcending resource scarcity, and with a consistency or programming rarely offered by external institutions</li>
<li>are <strong>weavers of community</strong> with – at the risk of mixing metaphors – the magnetic personality that brings people together in deep, meaningful ways</li>
<li><strong>invest in growing leadership</strong> from within their organizations</li>
</ul>
<p id="ember1964">In spite of other personal and professional commitments, these individuals are singularly dedicated to ensuring that every young person has an adult in their life who “gets” them and who they can lean on, as well as a physically and emotionally safe community of peers, to support them in reaching their full potential.</p>
<p id="ember1965">I have met enough changemakers to know that individuals like Orlando and Domingo – and organizations like Dale Una Mano and the Centro Comunitario Cultural – are more common than we may think (though not always visible.) But they are far from ubiquitous in every community.</p>
<p id="ember1966">My conversations with Orlando last week left me wondering: How do we nurture organizations like these in a way that is sustainable? How can we connect these leaders and their teams to each other to share ideas, resources, and opportunities to grow? How do we support them in growing their next generation of leadership? And how do we lay the groundwork for there to be more Orlandos and Domingos in the world?</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" data-attachment-id="16273" data-permalink="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-2/" data-orig-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-scaled.jpg" data-orig-size="2560,1440" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1734063906","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d (1)" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-533x300.jpg" data-large-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-1024x576.jpg" src="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16273" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-533x300.jpg 533w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-230x129.jpg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-350x197.jpg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2024/12/dfdf4552-9747-4985-8624-60255533d92d-1-1-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
<p id="ember1969">I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I am proud that LearnServe is part of the conversation.</p>
<p id="ember1970">Building on our 20 years of experience empowering young changemakers, we are expanding partnerships with community-based organizations committed to grassroots leadership development.</p>
<p id="ember1971">(In this article I have focused on our collaboration with Dale Una Mano in Costa Rica and the Centro Comunitario Cultural in Paraguay. I encourage you to check out the <a href="https://learn-serve.org/blog">LearnServe Blog</a> to learn more about our work with another LearnServe partner, the Njira Skills Youth Training Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, and its director <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/japhet-chulu-500434101/">japhet Chulu</a>.)</p>
<p id="ember1973">We are excited to bring to each partnership LearnServe’s unique approach to social entrepreneurship education. We are also excited to bring to each partnership a degree of humility – the recognition that every local context is different, that our approach grown in the U.S. is not the only approach, and that each facilitator brings a wealth of innovation and expertise. We are in the early stages of growing a community of youth development professionals who can share best practices, curriculum adaptations, and new approaches to inspiring young people across continents.</p>
<p id="ember1974">And through their work, we hope to grow a new generation of locally-grounded, globally-connected young leaders committed to driving positive social change in their own communities – and far beyond.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://learn-serve.org/2024/12/23/lessons-from-limon-listening-lending-a-hand-lifting-up-leaders/">Lessons from Limón: Listening, Lending a Hand, Lifting up Leaders</a> appeared first on <a href="https://learn-serve.org">LearnServe International</a>.</p>
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<title>Trust Youth</title>
<link>https://learn-serve.org/2019/10/31/trust-youth/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trust-youth</link>
<comments>https://learn-serve.org/2019/10/31/trust-youth/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[scott]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 31 Oct 2019 14:25:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[LearnServe Fellows]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Staff]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://learn-serve.org/?p=12556</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>October 2019 In their passion and conviction – pitching proposals to shape our region’s energy and environmental policy – they reminded me of 16-year-old climate […]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://learn-serve.org/2019/10/31/trust-youth/">Trust Youth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://learn-serve.org">LearnServe International</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p><em>October 2019</em></p>
<p>In their passion and conviction – pitching proposals to shape our region’s energy and environmental policy – they reminded me of 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thundberg. Days after Greta took the stage at the United Nations, our newest cohort of LearnServe Fellows had retreated to the woods near Poolesville, MD for a weekend of team-building, personal introspection, and a crash course in social entrepreneurship. This marked the start of their year-long growth as civic leaders and social entrepreneurs.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2560" height="1920" data-attachment-id="12635" data-permalink="https://learn-serve.org/2019/10/31/trust-youth/img_1696/" data-orig-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-scaled.jpeg" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 8","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1569764796","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"32","shutter_speed":"0.033333333333333","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_1696" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-400x300.jpeg" data-large-file="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-1024x768.jpeg" src="https://i0.wp.com/learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768" alt="" class="wp-image-12635" srcset="https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-400x300.jpeg 400w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-830x623.jpeg 830w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-230x173.jpeg 230w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-350x263.jpeg 350w, https://learn-serve.org/assets/2019/11/IMG_1696-480x360.jpeg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>
<p>The weekend began with a mock town hall. Representing diverse stakeholder groups, our
students’ testimonies before the “Mayor” and “City Council” touched on climate
change, asthma, energy prices, and economic growth. Together, they imagined the city and world
they hope to live in.</p>
<p>While this introductory activity was hypothetical, the
social ventures our LearnServe Fellows create are not. Three years ago, Russell Corbin was sitting
in similar seats as he began his tenure as a LearnServe Fellow. Then a sophomore at Richard Montgomery High
School in Montgomery County, Maryland, Russell launched “Green Yellow Busses
for MCPS” a campaign to promote “alternate fuel transport in the system that
most affects our next generations: schools.”
He went on to serve as the environmental affairs coordinator for the
Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, where he advocated
for electric school buses at the local and state level.</p>
<p>Last month, Russell – now in his first year at Pomona
College – reached out with two exciting updates. Plug In America recognized him with their
2019 Student Award, national recognition for his electric vehicle
advocacy. More importantly, he shared,
the Maryland state government approved funding for MCPS to purchase its first
electric school bus.</p>
<p>As Greta Thundberg issued her pointed call for climate
action, many of the adults in the room – and listening in from across the globe
– seemed to wake up to the power of young people to create change. I, too, am in awe of the movement she has
sparked. But I am not surprised. Her urgency, focus, and conviction remind me
of Russell and of each of the hundreds of LearnServe students I have had the
privilege of working with over the past 12 years.</p>
<p>Greta’s remarks and the wide-ranging response she received –
from the enthusiastic applause to the “haters” critiquing her on social and
mainstream media – also reminded me that such vocal youth leadership does not
happen accidentally.</p>
<p>In one breath, our LearnServe students gathered for their
kickoff retreat channeled the vision and voice of Greta. They offered compelling clean energy policy
proposals; drew on personal experience with discrimination to imagine a world
in which systemic racism no longer exists; and spoke out against the gun
violence which has instilled fear in them and their communities. They know the change that needs to happen –
and have begun to see themselves as the changemakers that will shape their
vision into reality.</p>
<p>In a second, more vulnerable breath, however, the
conversation is different. One student
questioned her own self-confidence, her fears that everyone around her was more
prepared, more polished, more effective.
A second questioned her own ability to speak out, worrying how other,
louder voices might shut her out. They
know that change needs to happen – but wonder if they will be good enough at
making it happen.</p>
<p>The power of young people to create change is real. But it is also precarious. There is a very fine line between “youth
taking action” and “youth inaction.”
While the students themselves are in the driver’s seat, we as adults
play an important role. It is that
important role that my colleagues and I keep front of mind as we begin our work
with this new cohort of LearnServe Fellows.</p>
<p>Here are some of the observations I have gleaned from more
than a decade of inspiring, challenging, and coaching young changemakers:</p>
<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>Trust
Youth.</strong> We have the opportunity to be
our students’ greatest cheerleaders, sounding boards, and shoulders to cry
on. We undermine our power as effective adult
allies the moment we start to take over their ideas or allow our own doubts to
fuel their own insecurities.</li></ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>Embrace
Vulnerability. </strong> Young social
entrepreneurs are taking a risk. They
are stepping outside their comfort zone to share and act on something of
personal importance. We should be honest
with our feedback – that is an important part of taking them and their ideas
seriously – while at the same time reinforcing a tone that is respectful,
constructive, and professional.</li></ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>Celebrate
Changemaking. </strong>As we celebrate the
work of famous youth activists, we collectively recognize what is possible when
we trust youth. At the same time, we
risk placing select individuals on an unattainable pedestal. In celebrating the successes, and failures,
of less famous student social entrepreneurs, we reinforce the spirit of “I can
do this, too.”</li></ul>
<p>In this new school year, may we be inspired and challenged by the emerging leaders and activists in our own lives – and may we continue to trust youth, embrace vulnerability, and celebrate changemaking.</p>
<p><strong>Scott Rechler</strong><br>Co-Director & CEO<br>LearnServe International</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://learn-serve.org/2019/10/31/trust-youth/">Trust Youth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://learn-serve.org">LearnServe International</a>.</p>
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