At 17 years old, a young girl is transitioning from child to young adult and living with her father. Her mother lives out of state. In discovering her identity, independence and values, she struggles to fully grow within the restrictions put in place by her father. She and her father get into arguments often, some that include threats to kick her out of the house. One day, she decides to leave.

This is a real story from a young woman who came into Safe Place. I had the pleasure and honor to serve my second Public Allies term at UMOM New Day Centers as the Safe Place outreach and education assistant. With a mission to prevent and end homelessness with innovative strategies and housing solutions that meet the unique needs of each family and individual, UMOM’s Safe Place program served 114 homeless and runaway youth in 2017.

My journey with UMOM originally began in my 2016 term when I was matched to serve in the Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development. Tumbleweed programs, including Safe Place, luckily transitioned under UMOM once Tumbleweed filed for bankruptcy. 

I ended my first Public Allies term at the beginning of the transition, and I began my second term during the ending of the transitioning period. Throughout the organization’s changes, I worked in three different programs, serving in three different positions and I learned that although change can be frustrating,…

I was one of the Allies fortunate enough to be selected to hear Michelle Obama speak at Comerica Theater Feb. 12. I have been a longtime follower of the former first lady, but the more intimate parts of her origins I was unfamiliar with; fortunately, this event illuminated her background to me, as well as her next chapter post-White House. 

When asked by the ASU Lodestar Center for my thoughts about the event, I was quoted as saying, “I can't explain how excited I am to be in the presence of this woman. Michelle Obama, by being an educated, black woman from a working-class family, has revolutionized the role of first lady simply by being herself."

My feelings regarding this statement were along the lines of how identity plays into personal politics and personal achievements. Being the first is never easy, but being the first on a national level such as an American first lady is nothing short of borderline impossible. 

Michelle spoke candidly about her experience in the media as a target of harassment, smear campaigns and blatant lies used to discredit her and her husband. Through it all, she handled herself with grace and dignity not unlike Jackie Kennedy, but with her own sense of grounded-ness and personality that is uniquely modern. She relates her entire experience pre-fame, from growing up working-class on the South Side of Chicago, to being an Ivy League…

The Public Allies Arizona training program might have been equally as beneficial as my coursework in helping me accomplish my objectives at MIKID while working on my personal and professional growth. Although the Public Allies program is also a nonprofit leadership program just like the degree and certificate program and is all under the ASU Lodestar Center, Public Allies is a national program under AmeriCorps first.

Public Allies approaches the ideology around leadership differently from the degree and certificate courses. From a micro view, this could seem almost contradictory. Public Allies is more about boots-on-the-ground leadership, while the degree program prepares students for more administrative work consisting of leadership with a given title.

Public Allies’ motto is “Everyone Leads.” To me this is the realization of accountability that we all create change in the world, for better or for worse, and the power we have is in the choice of what kind of leader we want to be. Being a leader in this sense is not something a job title can dictate. It is who we are to our communities, families and friends. 

It’s the butterfly effect created by how we move through this world, regardless of grace or stride. We have to be the change we want to see in the world every day. With a focus on social injustice and…

“Work smarter, not harder” has been the mantra I have dedicated myself to as I approached participating in three nonprofit leadership programs concurrently: Public Allies Arizona, the Nonprofit Leadership and Management bachelor’s degree and the Certified Nonprofit Professional credential through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. Public Allies advises prospective participants to carefully evaluate their other commitments before joining the 10-month program, so planning, planning and more planning has been the only way to make all this work.

Before every semester at ASU, I would sit down with my syllabus and program every single class time, deadline and assignment I could. Then I would schedule everything else around it for the rest of the semester. This can be a challenge, trying to stay on top of deadlines and making sure I am not over-booking myself for important events and tasks. Prioritizing is one of the most important things to master when creating a packed schedule for the year. I used my communication skills and mantra to make sure “first things first” stayed a rule. I decided that my degree program and self-care were main priorities. When I approached potential Partner Organizations and Public Allies…

“When the cause is not about you and your personal greed, but the greater picture of mutual need.”

My name is Rachelle Wayne. I received my bachelor’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at Arizona State University in 2018 and earned the Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) credential from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance student organization at ASU.

For my required Nonprofit Leadership Alliance internship, I chose to serve for a second year as an AmeriCorps volunteer in the Public Allies Arizona program at the ASU Lodestar Center, returning to Public Allies five years after I had served with Native American Connections.

The three programs – an academic degree, the CNP credential and Public Allies – together align perfectly with my personal mission statement: I work to create a world that provides everyone with the opportunity to create a quality life for themselves and future generations alike.

Under the Public Allies program, I was placed at Mentally Ill Kids in Distress (MIKID) with the objective to help build capacity within the organization. Working in the nonprofit sector for almost a decade, I have gained an interest in what it looks like to lead within the field and how leaders…