Spirit of Youth Leadership

The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

As part of Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) 2017 Global Program, the objective of my fellowship is to build a community of parents, teachers and school leaders committed to nurturing social and emotional skills in young leaders, fostering pursuit of meaningful lives, and design of safe and collaborative environment.Leadership indeed matters.

In the course of my Eisenhower journey over seven weeks in USA, I have visited academic institutions to pose questions to experts who conduct research, to share ideas with non profit organisations and meet with practitioners of community based models, knowing this experience will help me build my purpose.

Institutes such as CASEL & Aspen research Institute provide compelling evidence that improving social emotional skills in children improves performance in the classroom .Moving from awareness to action in promoting social emotional skills in children will build a strong foundation in facing the challenges of societal pressures

Organizations such as Committee for children , focus on building these skills for students to build potential and raise achievement level . Non profit organisations are committed to a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on reinforcing strategies such as legal services, community training, and policy advocacy .It is imperative to take evidence-based leadership programs to improve emotional resilience, behavioral control, cognitive mastery and social adequacy among youth.

The Community model is an alliance of national, state and local organizations to promote youth development, community planning, foster the safety and well-being of children through social-emotional learning and development.There is also a shared commitment between community’s schools and health care organizations to support student’s health, well being and academic success by providing preventive, early intervention and treatment services where students are: in school

Additionally deep dive discussions with past USA Fellows gave me valuable insights ,my purpose and vision became clear during these intense conversations. Leadership through empathy, clarity of thought, and authenticity in action are developed through supportive relationships in a caring and safe environment. I witnessed these skills in the Waldorf School of Philadelphia to respect and celebrate people from various cultures and backgrounds.

In today’s global context we need institutions that encourage and nurture young leaders to act with empathy and integrity, take on difficult challenges, build trust, and empower others through commitment.Future leaders will lead collaboratively towards a shared vision and purpose while having an impact to promote justice ,peace, prosperity in the community.