Summary of my Leadership project:
Our project seeks to expand access to mental health resources among young students in the District of Columbia. We created an infographic with mental health resources, such as hotlines for serious issues, mental health professionals and providers, etc. We then Distributed this infographic through DC reads who gave it to their team managers, who then distributed it to the children they work with. We estimate that we’ve reached about 100 families, but the infographic could spread much further with those families sharing it with families they know and so on.
Reflection on my growth as a leader:
Before starting the SPA leadership I never reflected on leadership or what it meant. I always knew I wanted to be a leader but I had no idea how to, and I certainly didn’t have the confidence to be one. But during my time in SPA-361 I’ve learned about all the different types of leadership, what they embody, how they operate, and how they are successful. I feel that I have grown significantly in my confidence in my own leadership abilities and that in the future I will be able to put them to good use in my career.
Reflection on my group’s team dynamics:
During the implementation phase of my group’s project, the team dynamics worked very well. Niko became the unspoken leader of the group because he always took the initiative in guiding the conversation and put in the most work on the project. The rest of us were always following his lead. We all worked on generally different things. Niko did more of the outreach and distribution of the infographic. Gabi made the infographic as she was more skilled with photoshop and those types of tools. Owen worked on finding meetings for us so we could get to the distribution and implementation phase. And Seth and I did research for whatever we needed, whether it was resources or information. All in all, I think the diverse skill set and leadership roles our group had made us a well-rounded team that allowed us to tackle our problem from multiple angles.