Leadership

April 18, 2019 In Leadership, Youth Frontiers

Analogy of the Fog

I have always been fascinated by Ben Franklin. In his book, “The Autobiography of Ben Franklin,” he shares the story of the “Analogy of the Fog.” Franklin asks us to picture ourselves walking down a road on a foggy night. The people we see on the road far ahead of us and far behind us are wrapped in fog. But near us — no fog; all is clear, or so it seems … In Franklin’s own words, “though in truth, we are as much in the fog as any of them.”READ MORE

Megan talking to young leaders about their innate value.

January 17, 2019 In Character, Leadership

What if your value were a given?

What if your value were a given? This is perhaps a simple concept, but how often, and how many of us, walk in the world believing that our own value, our worth, is a given?

A few months back, a mentor of mine posed this question to me and asked me to sit with this idea for a week. My initial response was, “Well of course I know my value is a given! I am a successful woman, I’ve accomplished a lot in my lifetime, I know I have the respect of others …” and then continued to list off all of my various accomplishments, mostly career- and education-related: I graduated from a prestigious college; I’ve always held leadership positions; I’ve been promoted to positions I want at work; etc. None of these accomplishments, though, really get to the heart of the question at stake — what if my value were a given, regardless of my accomplishments?

December 13, 2018 In Community, Leadership, Youth Frontiers

Highlights From Our 10th-Annual Ethical Leadership Luncheon

For ten years, Youth Frontiers has hosted its Ethical Leadership Luncheon (ELL), an event that attracts more than 600 of Minnesota’s brightest leaders to discuss fostering character in our communities today and building the next generation of ethical leaders. Last Tuesday, Hubert Joly, Best Buy Chairman and CEO, shared his insights on leading with character. Here are three highlights from the event:READ MORE

December 12, 2018 In Leadership, Youth Frontiers

A Donor’s Perspective on Leadership and Youth Frontiers

The following content is taken from an interview with Ann Miller, 100th Anniversary Project Manager at Liberty Diversified International and long-time supporter of Youth Frontiers.

How did you first connect with Youth Frontiers?

We’ve been supporting YF for, gosh, I don’t even know how many years. I don’t know exactly how my parents, Mike and Linda Fiterman, found the Youth Frontiers mission, but they’ve believed in it a long time. I got more involved in it through my career at Liberty Diversified International (LDI), and my daughter’s been connected through living exactly what they do. And so even though all three generations of our family are highly energized and engaged with Youth Frontiers’ mission, I think we are engaged for different reasons. In the last five years, we’ve really put that partnership on steroids because we think that it’s needed more now than ever.

For us, it’s all about leadership and it’s about legacy. And the leadership piece is how do we create stronger leaders not only at LDI, our company, but how do we create stronger future leaders? And what better way to create that legacy than with kids. And when we thought about how do we create this lasting legacy of leadership we knew Youth Frontiers was just a super partner for us.

“There’s coffee in that nebula,” said Captain Kathryn Janeway.

December 6, 2018 In Leaders, Leadership, Youth Frontiers

Star Trek Taught Me How to Lead

My favorite Star Trek quote comes from Captain Jean-Luc Picard: “The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it’s scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth. It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based.” I love that quote because it speaks to me in the beautiful language of absolutes. There is a truth, and there is a lie. There is a right, and there is a wrong. There is a success, and there is a failure. It’s simple, it’s clear, it’s aspirational and it is achievable. Picard led his team with the absolute and unshakeable idea that as long as you do the right thing, you will be a great leader and your people will follow you. This sentiment has guided much of my early life and had a pretty definite, if at times misguided, impact on my path to leadership.

Educators building relational trust on an Honor Retreat

September 20, 2018 In Leadership, Youth Frontiers

Community starts with building relational trust

Building community is one of the top three reasons why educators bring Youth Frontiers in to work with their students. In fact, 83 percent of educators reported that is why they partner with us.

Is it surprising in today’s divided world that educators need support in building respectful, civil communities? And not only do they need support in building community among their students, but more and more superintendents and district leaders need support in fostering trusting communities for their staffs.READ MORE

May 31, 2018 In Character, Community, Leadership, Youth Frontiers

It’s about all of us

At Youth Frontiers, we unabashedly challenge kids to make our world better. And every day, we get to witness students stand up and lead with character — students like Maple Grove seventh grader, Eve Miller.

Eve wanted to bring four Courage Retreats to her school because her class has been grappling with bullying. She worked hard to raise the funds by reaching out to family, friends and community members.READ MORE

Youth Frontiers' 2018 Character Award Winner, Destiny Kudelko

May 17, 2018 In Character, Leadership, Youth Frontiers

2018 Wisconsin Character Award Winner: Destiny Kudelko

Congratulations to Destiny Kudelko, a senior at Kewaskum High School in Wisconsin, for winning the 2018 Youth Frontiers Character Award! Last week, Youth Frontiers presented the award to Destiny at its third-annual Ethical Leadership Luncheon in the company of hundreds of the area’s top corporate, nonprofit, education and civic leaders. To further recognize her accomplishments, Scott and Linda Haag awarded Destiny a $2,500 college scholarship. Learn more about Destiny by watching her video and reading the story below.

The Y Corps: Genevieve, Kevin, Maggie, Dahlia and Traiveon

May 10, 2018 In Character, Leaders, Leadership, Youth Frontiers

YCorps Spotlight: Traiveon Dunlap

We are so grateful for our wonderful staff at Youth Frontiers (YF), from our full-time and part-time employees to our YCorps. The Youth Frontiers YCorps (Youth Corps) is a seven-month internship program that gives emerging leaders the opportunity to facilitate, along with our full-time staff, life-changing retreats for schools all over the upper Midwest. The YCorps do a lot to further our mission, so we want to celebrate their skills and stories on our blog in a five-part spotlight Q&A series. Our final YCorps member in the spotlight is Traiveon Dunlap. READ MORE

April 26, 2018 In Character, Leaders, Leadership, Youth Frontiers

YCorps Spotlight: Maggie MacLennan

We are so grateful for our wonderful staff at Youth Frontiers (YF), from our full-time and part-time employees to our YCorps. The Youth Frontiers YCorps (Youth Corps) is a seven-month internship program that gives emerging leaders the opportunity to facilitate, along with our full-time staff, life-changing retreats for schools all over the upper Midwest. The YCorps do a lot to further our mission, so we want to celebrate their skills and stories on our blog in a five-part spotlight Q&A series. Our fourth YCorps member in the spotlight is Maggie MacLennan. READ MORE