Newsroom
"A cohort of nonprofit champions": Class 12 of the American Express Leadership Academy rallies together during pandemic
by Troy Hill, ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
June 11, 2020
Class 12 of the American Express Leadership Academy at the ASU Lodestar Center had a normal start to their program year, meeting in person for more than half of it. But when the coronavirus pandemic spread to Arizona, they had to transition to monthly virtual meetings.
Nikki Kontz, the clinical director for Teen Lifeline and member of Class 12, said measures against coronavirus weren’t implemented until shortly before their March program day, so they had no idea that the February meeting would be the last time they saw each other in person for a program day.
Despite the disappointment of having to meet via Zoom, Kontz said that the program staff did a good job of making the remainder of the Academy work well, making everyone feel connected and supported, and making the online graduation event on May 8 special despite being physically disconnected.
The graduation event consisted of a number of speakers, including Dr. Robert Ashcraft, executive director of the ASU Lodestar Center; Lodestar Center staff Jill Watts and Cassidy Campana; and the chosen speaker from Class 12, Carlos Castaneda. The ceremony was followed by a social hour.
The members of Class 12 helped and supported one another throughout the difficulties that followed the start of the pandemic.
“[The coronavirus] definitely created an opportunity for all of us to kind of learn from each other, and be able to learn from each other's organizations and kind of bind together because this is something that no one has experienced,” Kontz said.
The graduation event was an opportunity for the members of Class 12 to celebrate accomplishments like this and to share successes and connections with their families.
“Most of us don't even have the opportunity to connect that closely to everyone in our life so it gave an opportunity for us to be able to celebrate with them… and [the graduation event] was a way for us to kind of show off the hard work that we have been through and are doing,” she said.
Every year for the Leadership Academy’s graduation, a member of the class is chosen by their peers to give a speech. This year, the cohort chose Carlos Castaneda, the development manager at Phoenix Theatre Company.
Castaneda said he felt humbled to be chosen. He made his speech about the highlights of their time together because he wanted it to be about the class as individuals.
“That passion I saw from my team members, that's what inspires me… All I did was absorb what all of my classmates had to offer,” Castaneda said. “I wanted to focus on our accomplishments, not just one individual or how it just impacted me. It didn't just impact me, they impacted me, I impacted them, our coaches impacted each other. It was just a cohort of nonprofit champions who are in this for all the right reasons.”
Jennifer Mahoney, the manager of quality and compliance at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health and member of Class 12, said the event was a good opportunity to sit back and appreciate the “sense of togetherness” they had developed over the past 10 months, and that it ended the Academy on a high note.
Kontz said she was glad they held the event because, given the difficulty of the times and the sense of uncertainty that pervades everything, it is really easy to forget about celebrating accomplishments and the “good things that happen every single day.”
“If we don't celebrate ourselves, and celebrate each other, and if we don't have those moments of being able to say, ‘You have done amazing,”It makes it more difficult in the future,” Kontz said.
The class is already planning on meeting together again when they safely can.
“We all have a plan to make sure that we do get together, when we're able to, as a group to be able to have some kind of our own little celebration,” Kontz said. “It was so hard to be away from each other.“