Tag Archives: emerging leaders

Transitions

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On June 25th, I walked across the stage to receive my Master’s Degree from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.  In the audience (and others there in spirit) was my family. They had come from Seattle and Spokane, as well as from Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua to bear witness to this moment with me.

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The Seattle School Graduation.

On June 26th, I listened at an NPHI Board Meeting to Donna Egge and Miguel Venegas as they reminded me of how far we had come together over the past 6 years of shaping and then beginning The Seattle Institute.

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Miguel and Kara during the NPHI Board Meeting.

I mention both of these days not only because they were two significant endings so close together, but also because The Seattle School and NPH have been interwoven in my life for the past four years.  As I have grown as a therapist, the leadership program has grown and developed.  As I have learned who I am uniquely created to be in the world, I have been better able to accompany our young people in that same journey.  As I stepped into a school with its own recent history of transitions, failure, and redemption – I was newly able to imagine that for NPH as well.

I will be forever grateful to NPHI for taking the risk they took in launching this program.  And, I will be forever grateful to The Seattle School for the transformation that began in my heart within that brick building.

A week later, on July 3rd, we celebrated our fifth graduating class of The Seattle Institute.  In the audience were alumni from four years of the Seattle program, along with our Seattle Community which has so lovingly embraced this program from day one.  The graduating students spoke wisely and courageously as they shared with us what they had learned during their time in Seattle.  If you missed it, you can listen to their speeches here: 2016 Student Speeches

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Alberto sharing his thoughts on leadership.

We shared a bit about how the program came to be and where we are now, including introducing our partners from iLEAP and the NPH staff members who were in Seattle for a month-long leadership training.  We were also excited to share an update on our alumni and the good and inspiring work they are doing in the communities.  You can read those here: Where are they now?

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Jean Francois (Charter Class) reflects on the first year of The Seattle Institute.

Finally, the graduates and alumni offered a gift I will always treasure – their words and memories about their time in the program.  Jean Francois Seide (charter class) was there to remind us of some of the realities of that first year, for we certainly had a steep learning curve!  I am glad we can now laugh about how lost we often felt (or literally were) in that first year – and I am grateful for all the learning that has come from it.

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Charter Class with NPHI Leadership in 2011.

Those first students: JF, Emir, Wendy, Julissa, Digyana were the pioneers of this program and their legacy is strong.  I am thankful for them and their willingness to “go with the flow” as we learned together during that first year.  We are also grateful to the supporters and host families who joined us as we got our feet under us along the way.  The vision of this program takes time to fulfill, and the results may not always be quickly seen.  But, that first class is clear evidence something beautiful is at work here: JF is headed to Oxford to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Emir is in his 5th year of Medical School in Monterrey, Wendy is finishing her degree in Linguistics and runs the Girl’s Home at NPH Honduras during weekend and vacations, Julissa is a fabulous mother and works at a bilingual call center in Guatemala City as well as being involved in the Hermanos Mayores Group for NPH Guatemala, and Digyana lives in Tegucigalpa with her husband Denis and is the lead Montessori teacher at NPH Honduras.  It is stunning to me to see the good work they are each doing.  I could go on about our other alumni as well, but instead, I will invite you again to read more about each of them here: Where are they now?

As the other alumni and students blessed me with their words, they also offered tangible gifts that I will take with me into my work as a therapist.  It is a lovely way to carry them with me as I make this transition.  Thank you to each and every one of you!

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Seattle Institute Students from Classes of 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016.

Finally, a shout out to Donna Egge.  Donna has believed in, and dreamt of, this program long before it even crossed my imagination.  She has been a mentor to me throughout the process of getting it up and running.  Donna, thank you for your passion, your wisdom, your courage, and your friendship.  You have taken my late night calls when things were falling apart (and helped me see they really weren’t), you have challenged (and oh, so gently guided) me when I was veering off-course, you have supported me when it felt overwhelming, you have celebrated with me when the beauty of the students made my heart sing, you have done all of this and so much more.  Deep, sincere gratitude to you and all you have been to me during this process.

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Donna with students from the Class of 2015.

Tomorrow, we begin the real work of transitioning to our next Program Director, Jacqueline Shrader.  You will hear more from Jacqueline in the coming weeks and months, for now please join me in welcoming her into our NPH Seattle family.  Jacqueline can be reached at: jacqueline.shrader@nph.org.

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The NPH Seattle Community met Jacqueline at Graduation o July 3rd!

It has been my honor and deep privilege to be on this journey with you.  I can continue to be reached for NPH-related topics through August at kara.king@nph.org.  Otherwise, you can find me at: kara@karakingcounseling.com.

Peace and All Good Things (Paz y Bien),

Kara King

 

Site Visit – Starbucks International Headquarters

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By: JEAN LOUIS FRECHETTE ALBERTO, NPH-HAITI. CLASS OF 2016.

I want to share with you a great experience we all had in Seattle. A few weeks ago we went to the Starbucks headquarters for a tour and to get a sense of what they do there, what kind of leaders work there, and of course – to have lunch!

It organized by Ed Holtgraves, my mentor in Seattle, who works there along with Chris and Mary who were both volunteers in Nicaragua, and Alana who was a volunteer in Honduras.  We are grateful for their hard work on this day!

We started first by a brief tour of part of the building because we couldn’t walk into the whole building in only one or two hours. After that we went to a room for a coffee taste with Mary where we taste 5 different coffee flavor from five country where my fellow brothers and sisters from such as Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Unfortunately, they don’t have any coffee from Haiti however, I enjoyed the experience and so far I already have a favorite coffee but I won’t tell you which one.

After the coffee taste we went to another room where we had two guest speakers: Craig Russell and Jennie Bowen who work at Starbucks. At this moment Julio from El Salvador explained to them what is the Seattle Institute Program, what we are doing here and explained what is NPH in general.

Let’s see something we learned from each of these leaders.

Craig Russell: As a leader you should care about respect and dignity. When you work as a team one of the things you should have is “TRUST”. As a leader sometimes you will feel alone but no matter what you should not give up. One thing I personally liked in what he said is “OWN YOUR MISTAKES” – if not you will not overcome them and in this case you will fail as a leader. At the end he said “reset yourself and your goals every quarter or every month”. I like that and I think everybody must do that.

Jennie Bowen: As a leader the first thing you need to know is “what you need in your life?”, you should have a vision while you have this vision you should listen and while you are listening you should learn and be who you want to be not who people want you to be. She made a little difference between Boss and Leader… Boss tells you what to do while Leader works with you and you achieve together.

Finally, we end the day with a nice lunch on the 3rd floor of the building with Ed, Kara and Glory from the NPH USA office.

Thank you Ed, Chris, Mary, Alana, Craig, Jennie and Kara for that opportunity and I can tell you we really learned something. Thank you Glory for joined us we really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Faces Of Hope 2016

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By Suyapa, Class of 2016

Faces of Hope is one of the events for fund raising for the kids in N.P.H. homes to provide the needs to our children, health care, education, faith, and moral values.

We want to say thank you for the people who work in N.P.H office to made these events good and successful: KATIE, CRISTI, HAILEY, AND GLORY.

At the same time all the students including Kara represented our brothers and sisters in the homes.

The people who attended these events help to make a child dreams come true by being a godparents or helping, and many different ways to create a beautiful smile.

Working in these events we have learned about these people who make it possible to continue the father Wasson’s legacy for children.

Sharing my story was a new experience for me.  Talking in front of many people and representing the family was an amazing opportunity.  The support we received during the practices for the event helped us to grow.  Thank you, Kara and Bob Bubar.

I shared my story in Seattle and my brother Jonathan shared his story in the event in Bellevue.

In conclusion, Faces of Hope was a wonderful experience that we had – the opportunity to represent our NPH family in Seattle, our second home.

 

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Hermanos Mayores in Seattle

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A few months ago, we participated in a day-long workshop with the Hermanos Mayores who were here as a part of the iLEAP Global Leadership Program for NPH.  Here Irene reflects on our day together (written in her own English!).

 

By Irene Cruz, Class of 2016

I remember the day when we arrived to iLEAP.  We just were looking for our brothers and sisters from the same country.  We were very happy to see all of them. One by one they were coming, and we began to sit next to each other.

While the meeting started we were talking with them.  The most funny part was that when the meeting began, and we did one dinamica where we needed to talk, but only in English.  So I remember that when they began to try and talk Mirna was looking me, and she coming to me and told me: do you remember when we arrived we were like them?  I just was laughing because it is true.  When we came here and the people told us that we needed to talk in English we did not know how because we were very shy, but the truth is that we really did not know anything, just HELLO AND BYE.  So I saw that we learned a lot these months.

I think that iLEAP really is a very good program. Now I think this because the first months for me was very hard, even boring just because I did not understand nothing in English. iLEAP has a lot of interesting information, and the people that work in iLEAP are prepared to teach us subjects, but not just about leadership also they teach us about the life.

They prepared very well and know how to teach the information to help us when we return our countries. Spending the time with our brothers and sisters all day was very nice. I really appreciate the time because I had the opportunity to know them. The best part was when we take the lunch. Everybody bring food to the table and everyone could take it. Everybody were siting and talking about our families, friends and school. We were joking a lot.

It is interesting when you can see that your house has more leaders, and that many people want the best changes for NPH. That each one has different ideas, but the same purpose DO THE BEST FOR THE CHILDREN.

Our FATHER always wanted that, so we need to work together and try to give the best of ourself.

We are the future of our NPH family, so we join our hands, hearts, and ideas together and we don’t let go until we achieve what Father Wasson wanted: A better life for our little brothers and sisters.

 

Story Retreat

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By Irene, Class of 2016 

It is true that we cannot forget the past, but we can overcome it.  Life is not only filled with failures, and not everyone around us will hurt us.  In order to move forward we must first fall and learn to rise up again, we learn to work hard for what we want and also to take advantage and value life.

The weekend of our “Story and Servant Leadership” retreat was definitely hard for all of us.  It is difficult or remember the things that hurt or shame us.  But we learned that as we bring these things – that for many years we have carried alone and that have hurt us – into the light we feel like a new person.  We also found that we really are brothers and sisters, the fact that we don’t share the same parents or blood does not indicate that we aren’t.  NPH is a family and we support each other, knowing we can count on one another.  Now, we have more confidence in ourselves and each other, and we know that we can overcome our pasts and achieve our goals.   

We often think that we are the only people suffering in the world, but we are wrong.  Others are also passing through difficult situations, and it helps to put ourselves in their shoes.  NPH has the good fortune to have wonderful people that make the program without doubt one of the best experiences, these people are trained to give us the information and tools that we need to build a better path.  Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos gives us the opportunities and helps us find our path to achieve our goals, it is now up to us to decide to stay on it.  

 

 

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El pasado no lo puedes olvidar es cierto, pero si superar. En la vida no solo fracasamos, y tampoco todas las personas que están a nuestro lado nos lastimas. Para llegar lejos hay que tener que caer primero y aprender a levantarse. Aprender que para lograr lo que deseas debes trabajar muy duro y sudar, de esa manera una aprovecha y valora las cosas de la vida.

El fin de semana que tuvimos el retiro sin duda fue duro para todos, es difícil recordar las cosas que nos duelen o que nos avergüenzan. Pero también aprendimos a que una vez que sacas de tu vida eso que por muchos años te ha lastimado y has cargado a lo largo de los años, te sientes una nueva persona, aprendimos que verdaderamente somos hermanos, el hecho de que no tengamos los mismos padres o misma sangre no quiere decir que no lo somos. NPH somos una sola familia y nos apoyamos unos a otros, sabemos que podemos contar entre nosotros mismos. Tenemos más confianza en cada uno de nosotros, estamos seguros que podemos lograr nuestras metas si verdaderamente lo deseamos y nos esforzamos.

Muchas veces creemos que somos los únicos que están sufriendo en el mundo, pero estamos equivocados. Otras personas han pasado por cosas más duras, uno debe ponerse en los zapatos del otro y asimilar la situación. NPH tiene la fortuna de contar con personas maravillosas que hacen que el programa sea sin duda una de las mejores experiencias por la que pasaras, cuenta con  personas capacitadas para darte la información y las herramientas necesarias para construir el mejor camino. Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos nos dan las mejores oportunidades y el camino que te hará llegar a la meta. Depende de ti si decides seguirlo o cambias de rumbo.

iLEAP Days: December 2015

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By Mirna, Class of 2016

In her own English (with some help from her NPH brother, Julio).

First of all, I want to thanks all the iLEAP crew, Britt, Izumi, Caitlin and Bao (Bao, we missed you this time!) for all these learning days.  The most important for me is learning of others and reflect about my life, in that way being a better person by serving NPH family and the society.

In iLEAP I have learned about the importance of listening with the mind, the heart, to others and connect with them by listening with the soul.

I also learned to find my leadership style by evaluating my self and evaluating my friends. Doing this evaluation I was surprising for my results, according to them I am an ‘’AUTHENTIC LEADER’’.

I am really surprising for all I have learned, I am surprised of how much my thoughts has grown, and I am surprising how I learned to find myself, because I know all this will help me to be a strong and fighting woman and reach my goals in my life.

During our last sessions we became more active learners when we went to the field. We went to FareStart restaurant. Being there we made a tour and met about the history of the restaurant, about their social work. The idea born with David Lee a person who was interested in help people, and that is what the restaurant does. In this restaurant people who do not have a home, or are living in poverty, became a professional in culinary arts. They go through three phases and at the end they graduate. After the graduation, the non-profit org help them to find job. What I learned of this is that there is amazing people helping others, and that inspires me to be a better person.

I want to finish my article with the next quote: ‘’It is always easy to blame others. You can spend your entire life blaming the world, but your success or failures are entirely your own’’ – Paulo Cohelo.

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Our Day at Cispus Learning Center

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By Alberto, Class of 2016.

Cipsus Learning Center is a place where you can do outdoors leadership activities.

We are six students from NPH: Irene (Mexico), Mirna (Nicaragua), Suyapa (Honduras), Jonathan (Guatemala), Julio (Salvador), and finally me Alberto (Haiti). We enjoyed a long training day at Cipsus. To tell you the truth I personally enjoyed this place and that day.

In this place it is as if you have the truth in front of you, problems to be solved, people who need your help, you must work in teams, and learn how to analyze problems. These are some of the different things we learned during the day.

It was a nice day, it was totally different, because it was experiential, not only sitting and listening.

Karen Skoog and Anna Ricci!!!  These women were our two trainers.  Honestly I have no words to thank you for this beautiful day and access to Cipsus Learning Center.  In this sense, the students and Kara, we say a big THANKS. We appreciate very much and we love you.

I’m sure Gracie (Seattle) learned something too, she was so attentive.

Thank you NPH Family for making all this possible, I love you.

 

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NPH Mentors

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By Irene Cruz, Class of 2016.  Translated by Kara (Irene’s next post will be in English)

Nosotros necesitamos y contamos con ayuda de varias personas, las cuales ahora son muy importantes y forman parte de nuestra vida.

Los mentores son un apoyo muy importante para nuestro crecimiento durante nuestra estancia en Seattle, ellos nos brindan y aportan de su tiempo para poder estar y convivir con nosotros.

Recibimos consejos de cada uno de ellos, sabemos que podemos contar con su apoyo siempre que lo necesitemos. Sé que nunca vamos a estar solos, y que el día que no creamos o que pensemos que ya no podemos seguir, ellos van a estar ahí para darnos la mano y ayudarnos a levantar. Eso hace los mentores por nosotros.

En lo personal Bailey (mentor), me brinda su apoyo cada vez que lo necesito, aun cuando ella no tiene el tiempo suficiente para poder hablar, ya sea que está en el trabajo o aun si está descansando y requiero de ella, nunca dice que no. En este tiempo que lleva como mi mentor ha sido de mucho aprendizaje para mí, ya que es una persona con un gran corazón, responsable y humilde e iré aprendiendo durante el tiempo más de ella lo cual me hará una mejor persona.

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We both need, and have, the help of various people, people who are very important and form part of our lives.

Our mentors are an important support for our growth during our stay in Seattle.  They share their time with us.

They give us advice, and we know we can count on their support whenever we need it.  I know that we will never be alone.  If one day we think that we cannot keep going, they will be there to offer a hand and help us back up.  This is what our mentors do for us.

Personally, my mentor Bailey supports me whenever I need it, even when she doesn’t have enough time to talk, maybe because she is at work or needs to rest – she always makes times for me anyways.  I have learned a lot from her, she is a person with a big heart, responsible, and humble – and I know I will continue learning from her throughout my time here and that will make me a better person.

 

Editor’s Note: This year we have adjusted our mentoring program.  In September each student was paired with a former NPH volunteer.  These mentors help them bridge the cultural gaps, adjust to life in Seattle, and introduce them to friends closer to their own age.  These mentors also speak the students’ native languages which is of much comfort in the beginning months!  Feedback from the students, mentors, and host families indicate this new addition is a success!

Currently, we are working to pair each of the students with a second mentor.  This person will dig even more deeply into the leadership work, self-awareness, exploring career options, goal setting, and working on personal growth with the students.

Both mentors support the students in their work to become more capable leaders.

It is our hope that the time in Seattle might be just the beginning of life-long relationships that are mutually beneficial.  We are so grateful to all our mentors and all you do for our students!

 

Former volunters/mentors!

 

iLEAP/NPHI Global Leadership Intensives

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by: Julio, Class of 2016 (in his own English!)

iLEAP is a non-profit organization that helps social leaders and global citizens to improve their skills and inspire them to continue their amazing labor of change in their communities. iLEAP is an international leadership training. It has participants from 20 countries around the world.

iLEAP now is working with NPH, so is having a huge impact in the life of the pequenos. The actual group of Seattle Leadership Institute is attending one iLEAP ‘s program, the group is formed by: Irene (Mexico), Suyapa (Honduras), Mirna (Nicaragua), Alberto (Haiti), Jonathan (Guatemala), and my person, Julio (El Salvador). There are six countries that could have six potential social leaders, so that’s the impact that iLEAP has in people around the world.  The program consists in develop important topics like: leadership foundation, social business, small group challenge, and so on. They have a schedule of each session. Our group has only attended the first session and we have already learned so much. It is an interesting and invaluable training; I hope this program last so long.

Their vision transcend barriers, I mean can be a bad situation people is facing, but this organization don’t have excuses for don’t do anything, instead they’re inspiring social leaders, in order to improve their performance in their own communities.

That’s it what I want to highlight, NPH has to face adversities all the time. Like government and social issues. We the pequenos need to be prepared for face these situations. What a better org to achieve that goal that iLEAP as NPH partner!

After living this program, is expected that people return to home and make more changes in their communities. I think iLEAP and NPH shares the same goal, which is helps social leaders to grew as humans. They are inspiring the people who will change and transform the world.  I invite anyone who would like to join this amazing program and meet them. I am sure you will not disappointed about learn with them! Thanks iLEAP stuff for open us the knowledge gate, Thanks to Britt (founder), Izumi (associate director), Caitlin (Global programs coordinator), Kei (Japan programs coordinator), Bao (office coordinator) and trustees, thanks all for make iLEAP possible.

Julio Cesar

NPH Seattle Leadership Institute 2015-2016

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Our Group

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By: Mirna Sotelo, NPH Nicaragua (translated by Kara…Mirna’s next post will be in English!)

“Llegar juntos es el principio. Mantenerse juntos, es el progreso. Trabajar juntos es el éxito”.

Coming together is the beginning.  Staying together is progress.  Working together is success.

Antes de todo quiero compartirles un poco de mi experiencia con el grupo,  aunque no tengo palabras para expresar lo bonito he importante que es para mi este grupo, por que de ellos he aprendido muchas cosas positivas que  han llenado mi vida de fortalezas como por ejemplo la firmeza de ser valiente y  tener seguridad en mis capacidades.  En algunas ocasiones se nos ha hecho difícil tomar decisiones pero siempre encontramos la solución al problema, se que no es fácil enfrentarlos,  pero si llegan hay que desafiarlos y es exactamente lo que hemos hecho como grupo atacar el problema y no a las personas. Espero que sigamos así confiando uno en el otro y ayudándonos como hemos hecho hasta el día de hoy.

Before anything else, I want to share a Little bit of my experience with this group.  I don’t really have the adequate words to describe how beautiful and important this group is to me, because from them I have already learned many positive things that have filled my life with strength.  For example, I have learned to be brave and have confidence in my capabilities.  There have been a few occasions when it has been hard for us to come to a group decision, but we have always found the solution to the problem.  It is not easy to confront problems, but when they come we have to face them, and that is what we have done as a group – to attack the problem, not the person!  I hope we will continue like this, trusting each other and helping each other like we have done so far. 

Hay 6 cosas importantes y fundamentales que nos permiten estar tomados de la mano:

There are six important and fundamental things that permit us to hold each other by the hand:

1-El trabajo en equipo: Hemos logrado trabajar mutuamente, no somos individualista a pesar de nuestros errores, temores y dificultades no hacemos más, ni menos, el trabajo ni los pensamientos de nadie, todos somos iguales siempre hay una buena conexión, en el equipo. Aceptamos la responsabilidad; pero el mérito se le atribuye al equipo.

1 – Teamwork: We have been able to work together, we are not individualistic in spite of our errors, fears and difficulties, we are neither better nor worse than the work or thoughts of others.  We are all equal, there is a good connection between us.  We all accept responsibility, but the success goes to the group.

2-La unión: Nos unimos, no para estar juntos, sino para hacer o resolver algo juntos, somos como una cadena de acero, pero algo muy importante y que no se nos olvide nunca es que tenemos que aprender a tener un balance en nuestras decisiones ante cualquier situación.

2-Union: We come together not just to be together, but to solve something as a group, we are like a metal chain.  We need to remember to always keep a good balance in our decision making.

3-El crecimiento: Todos tenemos un proyecto o un plan para nuestras vidas, estamos conscientes que tendremos días difíciles y que en cualquier momento caeremos, pero nos levantaremos y seguiremos adelante para llenarnos de conocimientos positivos y satisfacciones, no es fácil es una jornada larga y difícil, pero estoy segura que buscaremos soluciones y superaremos el problema.

3-Growth: Each of us has a plan for our lives, and we are conscious that there will be hard days and that we can always stumble – but we will get up and keep going.  It is not easy, but rather a long and difficult journey, but I am sure that we will find solutions and overcome problems.

4-Confianza: Esa confianza mutua que nos tenemos unos a otros me da la plena seguridad que todos lograremos nuestras metas y propósitos.

4-Trust: The mutual trust we have gives me confidence that we will achieve our objectives and goals.

5-La Motivación: Me llena de alegría escucharlos cuando se motivan unos a otros sigamos así, porque con motivación estaremos dispuestos a correr riesgos y tomar decisiones que la mayoría de personas no harían por miedo.

5-Motivation: I am filled with happiness when I hear the group motivating each other, for with that motivation we will be able to take risks, and make decisions that many people don’t take because of fear.

6-El Respeto: Es importante que siempre sigamos respetando las decisiones, opiniones, y pensamientos de los demás no perdamos este valor tan importante y fundamental dentro del grupo.

7-Respect: It is important that we continue to respect the decisions, opinions, and thoughts of each other.  We should not lose that important value in our group.

Gracias Irene, Suyapa, Alberto, Julio y Jonathan, ustedes son los mejores y recuerden que el talento depende de la inspiración e el esfuerzo depende de cada uno de nosotros.

Thank you, Irene, Suyapa, Alberto, Julio and Jonathan – You are the best! Remember that talent depends upon the inspiration and efforts of each of us.

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