So much of what we do at the Leadership Foundation is about paying it forward—passing the civic DNA of our region on to the next generation of leaders so that they will continue to learn and innovate, making the Denver metro area an even better place to live and work.
And it’s in that spirit that we’ll have two students in our Colorado Leadership Alliance (CLA)—our league of college leadership programs—traveling with us to Chicago for Leadership Exchange (LEX) in October. LEX is all about learning from others and using that perspective and new knowledge to find answers to the challenges we face at home. We’ll have plenty to learn from our CLA students and they’ll get a great base of knowledge to bring back to their campuses.
Jackie Maldonado’s first lesson in leadership was being her parents’ translator. Today, the first generation Mexican-American is the voice for thousands of students at Metropolitan State University of Denver as its student assembly vice president. This marketing major wants to put MSU Denver on the map for its inclusive, diverse student body and its academics. She’s got a good start already—she led the rebranding of its Student Government Assembly, and she is diving deeper into statistics and computer programming so that she can use big data to better understand the needs of people. She can’t wait for LEX because we’ll be hearing from experts in Chicago who are using that data to provide better city services.
Jason Armijo has witnessed perseverance in action. It started with his father, who is paralyzed on his left side following a motorcycle accident. Though it happened before Jason was born, he’s heard and seen first-hand how his father has relearned skills large and small. “It’s a beautiful gift,” Jason said. “That dedication to not give up on your family—to not give up on your future.” It’s something Jason hasn’t taken for granted and he sees education as an important first step. It’s why he wants to become an educator when he graduates from Regis University and why he can’t wait to experience LEX. And, he hopes he can teach the other delegates a thing or two as well.
Now in its 26th year, LEX is all about learning from others—and we’ll have plenty to learn from these students as well.
The delegates head to Chicago this week. We will be posting updates about what our delegates our learning while they’re in the Windy City. Check back here for updates from Chicago.
Dan Lewis is the executive director for the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation.