Welcome- The morning started off with Dana Washington, Community-Engaged Learning Program Manager at the University of Washington, welcoming the students to the busy campus! Giving the students a run down of the upcoming speakers and agenda for this event, which is attached below!
Leadership for a Multicultural Age- Dr. Laura Cailloux, Department Chair/Faculty for Sociology & Ethnic Studies at Skagit Valley College, presented about Leadership. She spoke about the shifting demographics in the United States population. She shared these two statistics with the group: 45% of American workers experienced discrimination and/or harassment in the past year (Gallup) and 78% of employees who responded to a Harvard Business Review (HBR) study said they work at organizations that lack diversity in leadership positions (Harvard Business Review). She also shared the wealth inequality that is present: In 2021, the median wealth of a Latino household was $48,720, which is only about 20% of non-Hispanic White households’ median wealth of $250,400 (Muhammad and Gardner). Creating an open discussion about these topics allowed the group to understand the roles this plays in their lives.
Mastering the Art of Presentation: Strategies for Effective Communication- Sarah Boland, Assistant Career Advisor at the University of Washington, presented on how to effectively create and communicate a presentation and tailor it to your audience. She spoke about the planning and gathering of ideas before we elaborate on the presentation itself. Understanding your audience, is important in developing the presentation so that the audience gets the message clearly. She led an interactive activity where students gave a speech to their neighbor and the partner counted the "um" and "like" that were said. Practicing your presentation material will help to reduce the filler words and help you to be more professional.
Careers for the Greater Good- Aliza Auces, Sr. Medicaid Policy Analyst at The MITRE Corporation spoke about her experience through work and where this has led her. When working towards finding a career that works for you and aligns with your personal values and societal impact, you can't be afraid to try something new and see where that leads you. Aliza and her career in Health Policy pushes her to continue influencing policymaking and leveraging her role as a culturally competent health policy expert to serve and give voice to underserved communities.
There are four different types of careers Aliza shared with the students:
- Nonprofit sector: roles in NGOs, charities, social enterprises
- Public sector: government positions focused on public service and policy-making
- Social entrepreneurship: starting businesses with a social or environmental mission
- Corporate social responsibility: careers in companies committed to ethical and sustainable practices
Aliza wants everyone to know that there is no right path and to be confident in yourself, know your worth, create and ground yourself in community, prioritize your health so that you can help others, be comfortable with change, be curious, and ask questions.
Project Planning- Groups got to meet with their advisors and speak about their community projects and fill out a planning document for LETI to have a summary about their project and presentation that they will be completing in May.
Debriefing and Evaluation- The session ended with LETI's Founder & CEO sharing information about our upcoming Breakfast Fundraiser, volunteer opportunities for putting videos together, LLI Alumni Association information, as well as to complete the evaluation about the seminar!
To hear what the speakers had to say, watch the recording that is linked below!
