Where are they now? This is feature story every Saturday of the First Gen Leaders who have gone through our prior leadership classes so that you can see their success over the arc of time. As we celebrate educators this month, we are proud to share Richard’s personal story, his passion for education and the difference he makes every day to bring global perspective to urban students in Denver Public Schools.
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You are a First Gen student who participated in the GlobalMindED Leadership Class. You are also a IB Program Manager at Denver Public Schools. What is your personal story and how did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Denver with two parents who were passionate about education, even though neither of them went to college. The big focus in our family growing up was doing your best and enjoying it, but also using where are parents were as our floor, so that we could continue to climb. I have always liked school, and I really appreciated the community of teachers, staff, and friends that I grew up with in Southwest Denver. That community is what led me to attend the University of Denver, where I majored in History and Spanish, with the ultimate goal of working in the education field. DU was a valuable experience because I learned so much more about myself, how I show up and interact with others, and that there were so many ways to make an impact working in education. It was through DU that I did my student teaching at George Washington High School, where I currently work. GW is a very special place, with an amazing community of students, educators, and families from all over the world. Sometimes I feel like I learn more from the community than they may think.
How has GlobalMindED helped you and the development of your skills?
I attended the first GlobalMindED First Gen conference, and it was really cool to meet other individuals with similar backgrounds and interests. It also reaffirmed why I wanted to go into education and that this is the place I needed to be. Actually, I didn’t know it at the time, but I met another student, Perla Bustillos, at the conference, and just this past year I was able to reconnect with her on work we are doing as a Denver Public Schools alumni group.
Tell us more about your passion for providing students with educational access and equity, while also ensuring their success. In an educational setting, you talk about how important it is to bring together perspectives from all backgrounds. Why do you think it is crucial to do this?
Learning is not just sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture or reading from a book. I fully believe that we learn the most from each other. How to engage with different people, how to respect differences, and how to listen to understand perspectives. This type of learning is so important in order to prepare students for a global society. We can always teach content, but the most important thing is to teach the skill of moving through life, understanding the complexities of people and communities, and how we show up to add value to those communities.
Do you feel the leadership decisions you have made in your current role were shaped from your own experience attending public schools?
I definitely agree! I currently serve as the IB program manager, and I only would have done this because I was an IB student in high school myself. I have also learned that I enjoy looking at systems and what can change in those systems to better serve our community, not just students but teachers as well. While there have been things that have changed since my time in the Denver Public Schools, there are many things that haven’t. I think that has been the biggest influence for me, seeing that even in my home community there are still things that need to change is my driving force. I have a deep love for Denver, and that means doing the work to support its future, which lies in our students.
What advice would you give to future learning leaders who would like to make a change in the school system?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I am an observer and processor, so I need to sit back and listen, think, and then ask questions to understand how a system works and how people are operating within that system. Change happens when we ask why something has been done that way for so long, and if it is supporting what we need it to support. The education system was not designed for all the students it serves today, and we need to keep asking the tough questions, and then not backing down when we don’t get the answers, to make thoughtful change.
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Dr. Tania Hogan; Director of Undergraduate Student Success, University of Colorado Denver leads the discussion with Richard Maez; IB Diploma Program Manager - Denver Public Schools, Dr. Maria A. Castro Barajas; Assistant Director, Pre-Collegiate Development, Univ. of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Robin Brandehoff; Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Denver, and Joselyne Garcia-Moreno; student, University of Colorado Denver
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Jonathan Cooper; Superintendent - Mason City Schools leads panel discussion with Soroya Smith; DEI Learning Experience Designer - Mason City Schools, Kori Harris; Online Content Designer - Second Grade Teacher, Mason Early Childhood Center, Amie Switzer; 4th-grade teacher - Mason City Schools, Mariah Norman; Senior, Mason High School, and Bena Kallick; Co-Founder, Institute for Habits of Mind
Waukecha Wilkerson; Director of Coaching, Cell-Ed leads the panel discussion with Vickie Hay; CalWORKs Coordinator, Student Success, Orange Coast College, David A. Croom; Asst. Director, Postsecondary Achievement, Aspen Institute, Portia Polk; Director of Learning and Advocacy, Generation Hope, and Rachel Mercott, Student, Cell-Ed STEPS
Dwana Franklin-Davis; CEO, Reboot Representation leads discussion with Carina Weyer; Program Manager, F5 Global Good & F5 Foundation, Taliah Givens; Sr. Director, Student Professional Development, UNCF, Jamie Schwartz; Director of Major Gifts, American Indian College Fund, and Debbie Marcus; Senior Director, Break Through Tech, Cornell Tech
Dr. Jessica Rowland Williams; Director, Every Learner Everywhere leads the discussion with GlobalMindED Every Learner Student Ambassadors Jair Flores; Student, Colorado State University Pueblo, Serita Liles; Student, North Carolina A&T State University, Hector Ramos Diaz; Student, University of Portland, and Kyra Welch; Student, Bethune-Cookman University
Advancing Equity in Highly Selective HS and College Admissions-Ed Equity Lab, Partners, and Students Alexandra Slack; Chief of Staff, National Education Equity Lab, leads this panel discussion with Asheley Siewnarine; Student Success Director - National Education Equity Lab, Di’Zhon Chase; Student, Columbia University, Michaell Santos; Student, The Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice, and Favi Olmedo; Student, Bronx Career & College Prep. High School
Dr. Michael Torrance; President, Motlow State Community College leads panel discussion with Elise Shea; Founder & President, Conversations Unbound, Robert Joseph; President, Team MindShift, Rishi Kanjani; Analyst, Data Insights, Salesforce, and Cala Estes; Director of Education, Blind Institute of Technology
Adrian Rosado; President, Zion Leadership Group leads panel with Mara Luna; Director, TRIO Upward Bound. Univ of Puerto Rico, Mitzi Damazo-Sabando; CEO, TinkerHouse Inc., Manila, Philippines, Tree Xu; Community Manager, Education First, Wuxi, China, Erika Aquino; Executive Director, Infinit-O Group Foundation, Raymond Cabrera; Director, TRIO Upward Bound, Univ. of S. Florida, Ayessa Weems; Student, TRIO Student Support, Purdue Univ. NW
Earth Week sessions:
Ash Pachauri; Co-Founder and Senior Mentor, Protect Our Planet Movement and Drishya Pathak; POP Movement, India lead this panel of international students including Summer Benjamin; POP Movement Peter Gruber International Academy, US Virgin Islands, Caroline Sandberg; Tahoe Expedition Academy, USA, Tsague Dongfack/Willy Endelson; POP Movement, Cameroon, Ricardo Delgado; POP Youth Mentor, Arturo Michelena Univ, Venezuela, and Zoe Ricardo Rivera; CEI Univ, México
Courtney Knight; Founder and Managing Member, Capstone Capital Advisors and Susan Kidd; Executive Director, Center for Sustainability, Agnes Scott College lead discussion with Anamarie Shreeves; Environmental Education Programs Manager, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Eriqah Vincent; Network Engagement Director, Power Shift Network, Dr. Dana Williamson; EPA Environmental Health Fellow, Assoc of Schools and Programs of Public Health, and Gwendylon P. Smith; Exec Director, Collier Heights Association for Revitalization, Resilience, and Sustainability.
Dr. Kyle Whyte; Professor of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, leads panel discussion with Ka’illjuus / Lisa Lang; Executive Director, Xaadas Kil Kuyaas Foundation, Dr. Kelsey Leonard; Assistant Professor, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Brittany Judson; Just Growth Consultant Partnership for Southern Equity, and AJ (Andrea) Grant; President, Environmental Communications Associates.
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OZY GENIUS FINALISTS We're pleased to congratulate the top 25 finalists out of nearly 100,000 submissions! Now, we invite you to meet the OZY Genius Finalists, get to know about their projects, and vote for your favorite OZY Genius Finalist now until Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 6 p.m. EST.
To find out who will be chosen as winners, join us for OZY Fest on May 15 and May 16. Hang out with Dr. Anthony Fauci, H.E.R, Tig Notaro, Condoleezza Rice, Mark Cuban, Malcolm Gladwell and more. Register now (free options available). Proceeds serve as a fundraiser for HBCUs! And if you have a question for Dr. Fauci, a pitch for Mark Cuban or a joke for Tig Notaro, record it here!
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We focus on short-term projects, 5-20 hours to complete.
Students have completed projects like:
- Designing PowerPoint decks
- Website Development
- Creating Infographics
- Social Media Creation, Management, Campaigns
- Online Research
- Virtual Assistant
- Writing Blogs
- Logo Design
- Lead Generation
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Click below to watch the Inclusive Leader Award Ceremony featuring inspirational messages from the diverse Award Winners
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GlobalMindED and the SDG Impact Fund are delighted to announce GlobalMindED's Donor Advised Fund. 2020 is the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Women's Declaration and Action Platform. Many from around the world are thinking of 2020 as the gateway to our most vital decade for delivering equity, the Sustainable Development Goals, and a world where all can thrive. Our key time for these outcomes is 2020-2030.
GlobalMindED DAF and the SDG Impact Fund are a powerful combined force for good as the 2019 year comes to a close and we reflect on the gratitude and the commitments we make to the causes we care most about. The DAF offers immense power and flexibility for giving prior to the year's end as you plant seeds of generous intention for 2020 and the decade ahead.
When you contribute to GlobalMindED, you support First Gen students. We have served more than 400 students by connecting them to role models, mentors, internships and jobs. Your generous support will allow us to take our work 10x and reach these talented students at scale who lack the resources and support we provide. Your support also helps teachers who can't afford the conference fees, faculty at colleges which are under resourced and students who persist at those universities despite food insecurity and/or housing insecurity.
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Links to read about Inclusive Leaders, many of whom are African American and people of color:
Curated sessions from GlobalMindED 2020 YouTube channel:
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From the Center for Positive Organizations:
From the Economist:
From Forbes:
From Harvard Business Review:
From the World Academy of Art & Science and UN; Geneva Global Leadership in the 21st Century econference:
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Listen here for an interview with Pam Newkirk, GlobalMindED speaker and author of Diversity Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion- Dollar Business.
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Meet GlobalMindED Founder, Carol Carter as interviewed by Tim Moore on his podcast Success Made to Last: From Success to Significance
Listen to Part 1 of Carol's interview
Listen to Part 2 of Carol's interview
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Recent GlobalMindED Newsletter Profiles:
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Since 2006 when the flagship TGR Learning Lab opened its doors in Anaheim, CA, TGR Foundation has had a lot to celebrate, including its most recent milestone of one million students impacted by TGR EDU: Explore, alone.
Developed in partnership with Discovery Education, TGR EDU: Explore is a free digital resource library that offers interactive web experiences, lesson plans, training videos and tools for educators, students and families to explore new disciplines and gain skills for a modern and expanding workforce.
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As you start the New Year, are you looking for ways to re-engineer your classroom culture? Check out Designing the Future: How Engineering Builds Creative Critical Thinking in the Classroom. The associated website has lots of activities, projects, and resources you can implement immediately. Our fall workshops using the book as a roadmap for change have been highly successful. Start designing the future today - try using the customized Study Guide for a book study in your PLC. Or contact ProjectEngin or Solution Tree to learn how you can bring professional development based on Ann's book to your school, district, or conference.
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THE FLYOVER NATION
Energy's Role in a Troubled Heartland
By J.C. Whorton
A unique and timely discussion of the challenging issues facing the country’s troubled Heartland.
Since the beginning of westward expansion into the Heartland’s vast regions, natural resource development has played a historic role in shaping its communities. Today, domestic oil and gas development offers one of the strongest prospects for the Heartland’s present and future prosperity as well as the nation’s re-emergence as a dominant player in the global energy economy.
The U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas, two circumstances that are universally disrupting international geopolitical order. The earth has a finite supply of natural resources and a rapidly growing and over consuming population.
As America positions itself for a very uncertain and constantly evolving global marketplace, will the Heartland become America’s “great connector” or “great divide”?
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J.C. Whorton is a senior level energy and financial professional with over forty years of essential experience. Having a ranching and Native American heritage, Mr. Whorton is a strong advocate for rural education and economic development initiatives.
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