Know your worth, celebrate your wins!

I wasn’t expecting a certificate of recognition for participating as a facilitator for a cohort of individuals attending "Skills to Win" from UC Berkeley Labour Centre!?You know, I always wanted to be a teacher, and though my life path has taken me in a different direction, I can see that teaching is embedded into almost everything I do. Whether it’s raising my daughter, showing someone how to use MS Teams, connecting people to resources, I am a teacher in non-traditional ways, and I have been for a very long time.

I equate teaching to helping people become empowered and realize their already exisiting talent. For example, shifting to remote work came fast and furious, and as I settled back into work after mat leave, I realized that several colleagues were kind of expected to know how to transition without any formal training. So, as a means to help colleagues and because I love sharing knowledge, I developed a series of lunch-time workshops to demonstrate how to use online tools like Zoom, MS Teams, PowerPoint, and Excel. These were informal sessions where I volunteered my lunch hour to share basic principles, and then had people ask questions, while I demonstrated how to do what they needed. Not only was it a great way to connect with colleagues, they appreciated the initiatve and time I'd taken, and above all, I felt fulfilled!

I’m proud to own this recognition because the fact is, I did go above and beyond the reqirements of a facilitator to support colleagues participating in the program - AND, I had fun doing that work!

In a world where recognition and thank yous are few and far between, I’m a bit giddy with excitement that I received this certificate and acknowledgment from UC Berkeley, colleagues and fellow participants. Perhaps more importantly, I’m proud to own this recognition because the fact is, I did go above and beyond the reqirements of a facilitator to support colleagues participating in the program - and, I had fun doing that work! I even created a website for the participants in my co-hort to find materials, study groups, and post-session notes all in once place. Yes, I love to geek out doing this kind of stuff, and I do so on my personal time.

So I decided that I would step a bit further out of my comfort zone and recognize my worth and celebrate this accomplishment - even if it is just a certificate of participation! Furthermore, as a permanent reminder during times of self-doubt, that:1) the work I do is impactful; and 2) that I walk the talk of my life’s motto: “It is only in the giving of one’s self to others that we truly live” – I am listing all the comments that fellow participants and colleagues posted in the chat when our cohort presented the culminating activity– so positive and encouraging! Thank you to the Program Coordinator, Kirsten Bottles, and our instructors Danielle Mahones and Jane McAlevey and to all the 200+ participants who taught me so much over six weeks – withall my gratitude and promise to pay it forward.

My advice to anyone who is reading this; if you experience self-doubt and/or imposter syndrome you aren't alone. I would recommend saving a folder in your email inbox, your hardrive/cloud storage and even a physical folder and keep a copy of any and all positive feedback you recieve; of projects that made you feel proud, of thank you notes given to you. Keep them not only as a portfolio, but as evidence of your worth, and celebrate yourself!!!!

For anyone intrested in learning about Skills to Win, it was a fast-paced six-week rigorus participatory program! You can expect to spend 2hrs in class, and about 2hrs out of class for group work - so about 4hrs a week. There are readings, and homework, and the opportunity to practice the skills learned by creating your own organizing campaign plan. A similar program taking place from May 10 - June 14 is Organizing for Power: The Core Fundamentals. This course will focus on the five core organizing fundamentals: leader identification,?semantics,?structured organizing conversations,?charting,?and structure tests.

Positive Feedback

The digital wall chart is soooo neat.?|?woo Love the digital wall chart???|?Love the uploading photo!?|?This is amazing!?|?can we share save this example of electronic structure chart??|?me encanta los colores, facil de leer y suave para los ojos (I love the colors, easy to read and easy on the eyes)?|?So organized.?Really amazing. ??|??Yes the colors and visuals are also very nice?|?Love the timeline ??|?that was amazing?|????????|?Very nice?|????????|???|?Great job YUSAPUY. very organized and visual. ??|?Bravo!!!!!!!! Love it all - so organized!?|?Awesome!?|?Very well organized and very catching format ??|?Yay! Well done! Digital organizing is not easy! ??|?WAS THERE AN INDEX?!?|?That was ALL Jenn!?|?Nice way to keep thing moving.?|?And appendices :O?|?great job YUSA folks?|??wonderful Jenn...?|????|????|??? ??|?fantastic?Jenn?|????|????|?A+?|????????|??????|?That was really great! ??|??????????|????? go YUSAPUY!?|?Fantastic work.?|?Great work everyone!?|?go get em yall!!!!!!?|?Jenn is definitely an organic leader!!!!!!?|?+++