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Incoming North Park Freshman Invited to White House for Youth Summit
The Beat the Odds Summit, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday at the White House, focused on sharing tools and strategies to help more students successfully transition to college and complete the next level of their education.
Part of First Lady's Reach Higher initiative
CHICAGO (July 24, 2015) — Incoming North Park University freshman Cesar Bustos, a graduate of Steinmetz High School in Chicago, was invited to attend a youth summit at the White House on Thursday. He was one of 130 students from across the country selected to attend the Beating the Odds Summit, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama.
The event was part of the first lady’s Reach Higher initiative, which is intended to get more U.S. students to continue their education after high school. Bustos participated in workshops and panels focusing on obtaining the tools and strategies to help more students successfully transition to college and complete the next level of their education. Students attending the summit come from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom had "overcome substantial obstacles to persist through high school and make it to college," the White House said in a statement.
“The experience sounds so surreal,” Bustos told the Chicago Sun-Times in an interview before leaving for Washington, D.C. “Being undocumented, I never believed I would ever go to the White House or even meet the first lady. I never thought this would happen to me. As undocumented immigrants, we come to work and hope we can provide better for our children. That’s what my mom wanted for me from the beginning.”
On Thursday, Michele Obama told incoming college students that "education should be cool again. This should be the cool thing to do in life."
A panel consisting of Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, E! News co-anchor Terrence Jenkins, rapper Wale, and college senior and education activist at Brown University, Manuel Contreras, discussed the keys to success in college.
“Failure is a necessary part of growth and success,” Obama said. “Don’t let that be your mental barrier. Roll up your sleeves, don’t be afraid to work hard, and if you fail, recover. Get over it."
“Nothing can prepare you for teaching more than actually submerging yourself into the teaching profession,” says Steve Smrt, who began an assignment this summer at Robeson High School with the Golden Apple program.
North Park University junior sees teaching as a kind of ministry
CHICAGO (July 23, 2015) — Steve Smrt, a Rockford native and North Park University junior, had intentions in high school of becoming a youth minister. But by the time he got to campus his freshman year, he began to “feel a tug in a different direction,” as he describes it.
“I felt a calling towards teaching, but I would say that teaching is still a kind of ministry,” says Smrt, a double major in secondary education and history. It’s a calling to serve and invest in young people, though the environment may be different.
That calling was affirmed this spring when Smrt received the Golden Apple Pathway Scholarship, the second year in a row a North Park student received the award. Beyond financial assistance to complete his teaching degree at North Park, the Golden Apple award also provides career development and mentoring opportunities throughout his undergraduate program and into his teaching career.
This year, 200 college students from Illinois were selected for the Golden Apple Pathway Scholarship, bringing the total number of statewide participants to more than 1,800 since its inception in 1989. The program is designed to prepare future teachers to thrive in the most challenging high-needs school environments where more resilient teachers are needed.
Smrt’s first-hand experience has already begun this summer, as he received a teaching assignment at Robeson High School in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. He is teaching a small class of seven high school students, leading many of the classes alongside a cooperating teacher from Robeson. It’s a credit recovery course in social studies, his favorite subject, which allows the Robeson High School students to earn credits to move on to the next grade level.
Steve Smrt, second from right in top row, with additional 2015 award recipients from the School of Education.
Front Row, left to right:
After teaching all morning, he and his fellow Golden Apple award recipients then regroup from their teaching assignments for additional classes and workshops on the art of teaching.
The demand of the program thus far has been challenging, Smrt admits. “But it also inspires me to become a better teacher. It’s my first experience inside of a classroom. I’m not only bettering myself in my content areas, but also learning how to reach different kids. People learn in different ways and it’s about differentiating your teaching.”
“I am impressed by Steve's love for learning, professional and personal integrity, and willingness to collaborate with others,” Maduram says. “I am sure his experiences with Golden Apple are enabling him to become a thoughtful educator. I know he will distinguish himself as an excellent teacher.”
After his upcoming junior year at North Park, Smrt will receive another teaching assignment for next summer as part of the Golden Apple program. Once he does graduate from North Park in 2017, he plans to continue teaching history or social studies to high school students, preferably in an urban setting. As part of the Golden Apple Pathway Scholarship, Smrt has committed to teaching in a high-need school in Illinois for five years following college graduation.
“We applaud these young people for making the selfless choice to inspire and lead future generations of students through a career in education,” said Dominic Belmonte, Golden Apple president and CEO, in a release. “As teachers they will experience the reward of improving the lives of thousands of children. We know from experience that excellent teachers produce successful students and we welcome this new class of future educators with deep gratitude and enthusiasm.”
In the early 2000s, the Ultimate Frisbee team got its start playing on the Hump behind Old Main.
The Lost Boys, 15 years later
CHICAGO (July 9, 2015) — In the spring of 2001, a group of North Park University students would gather a few times per week on the Hump. That’s what the rolling green space behind Old Main is called. It has served many purposes over the years, including for these students as a makeshift Ultimate Frisbee field, with bushes and trees acting as end zones and out-of-bounds markers. The games were casual, something to do after class and to meet people.
That year, one of the team members got in touch with a rival college west of Chicago and asked if they wanted to come to North Park for a formal game.
“I remember them showing up with jerseys and cleats and thinking, ‘This is the sport I want to play,’” says Luke Johnson, who was a junior at the time. “At that point I went from a casual observer and casual player to spearheading a movement that year that we needed to form a club.”
The ragtag group of guys lost the match that day, but that summer Johnson, along with fellow student Jeff Keyser, approached the University’s student government association about turning their casual group into a formal school club. They eventually got their own set of jerseys and over the last decade have risen to become a regional power in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee. “I can tell you we haven’t lost to that team very often since that day on the Hump,” Johnson adds.
The Lost Boys, originally known as Extend, has three goals: brotherhood, fun times, and winning games. “The idea behind Extend was to use Ultimate Frisbee as a platform to talk about Jesus,” says Johnson. “Even though it’s not called that anymore, it instilled a value set that still exists today.”
Since the formal inception of Division-III Nationals in 2010, the North Park team has made it there every year except one, finishing as high as third. That is made even more impressive by the fact that only one team per year from the region earns a bid to nationals. At one point, the team was ranked as the 38th best collegiate Ultimate team, which includes teams from Division-I and Division-II universities.
And although leery of the name change at first, Johnson came to appreciate its purpose. “When they changed the name to Lost Boys I think it really captured well the spirit of the team,” he says. “There is this group of guys that really don’t belong in the sport. They are not the jocks or have much experience at all, but here they are competing at the highest level.”
Case in point, by 2009 the club had improved and was competing regularly with teams across all college divisions. Johnson tells the story of a young student at North Park, who was not particularly athletic, still working on his English, and trying to find his community on campus. One day that student was walking by the Hump and spotted the group of guys running around throwing a Frisbee. He asked them what they were doing, and quickly earned an invitation to play.
“He fell in love with the spirit of the team and the friends,” says Johnson. “He came to every tournament, played maybe two-to-three points in a whole weekend, but he’d warm up, be in huddles, and he didn’t care. I’m happy to be a part of a club that can have a guy like that on the team. That’s what makes this team so special.”
More than Frisbee
The Lost Boys is ultimately about something more than an official 175-gram disc and formal jerseys. Johnson knows this firsthand, as his journey with the club ventured far beyond his days as an undergraduate.
The team's original name, Extend, instilled the values of brotherhood and character that persist today.
After graduating from North Park in 2003 with a double major in youth ministry and philosophy, Johnson moved to Oregon to serve in a church. By 2009, he was thinking about graduate education, and pursuing a master of divinity through North Park Theological Seminary.
“It might sound silly, but a huge factor in considering North Park Theological for seminary was knowing that I could come back and play college Ultimate,” Johnson says.
His eligibility had not expired—in college Ultimate the five-year clock starts ticking once you play your first game—so he decided to move back. And that decision paid off in more ways than one. At his first tournament in St. Louis he met a North Park undergraduate student, Kelly, who was an Ultimate standout in her own right and still the only female to ever play for the Lost Boys. She also starred for Allihopa, North Park’s women’s Ultimate Frisbee team.
It turned out a few years later the two would get married, and Kelly would go on to play for the Seattle Riot, a women’s professional Ultimate Frisbee team in Seattle, where she would help them to win the 2014 World Championship in Lecco, Italy.
What’s more, Luke Johnson turned his love for Ultimate Frisbee, born out of the Lost Boys, into a partnership with the American Ultimate Disc League. Johnson’s company, Fulcrum Media Group, works on video production for the men’s professional Ultimate Frisbee league, which has seen an incredible amount of expansion in recent years.
The North Park Women’s Ultimate Team, Allihopa, is a group of dedicated ladies who love to play Frisbee and love the Ultimate community of friends and fun. Allihopa formed as a club sport in the spring of 2003.
The fundamentals of Frisbee
On a warm sunny day in late June, a current member of the team, Adam McDowell, and coach and former player, Cameron Hodgkinson met us on the field at nearby Von Steuben High School to toss around a Frisbee. McDowell, sporting his Lost Boys jersey, was taking a break from a summer physics course on campus, while Hodgkinson, a 2011 alum, stopped over on his lunch break wearing work pants and black leather dress shoes.
At its most basic form, the point of Ultimate Frisbee is to pass the disc from one end of the field to the other without dropping it. It’s free flowing, relying on the integrity of the players, with no referees.
“The game itself fits right into the spirit of the Lost Boys, and becomes a perfect avenue for players to fully embody what it means to play with character,” says Luke Johnson.
There are two main positions, McDowell and Hodgkinson explained, cutters and handlers. They can be thought of as wide receivers and quarterbacks. There are a number of throws in Ultimate Frisbee, including some complicated ones like the hammer and the chicken wing. But the two basics are the forehand and the backhand.
“Other teams try to get fancy with their throws and it can look nice, but we rely on fundamentals,” Hodgkinson says.
Each fall, the Lost Boys bring in fresh recruits with little experience for basic training. The first thing is to teach them how to throw, and players line up across from one another for a simple game of catch. It can get tedious, but after the fundamentals, they then move on to the team’s signature on-field strategies.
On offense, a team usually plays what’s called a horizontal stack or a vertical stack, basically how they line up on the field and where the players run. The Lost Boys prefer the horizontal stack, though they will switch it up, and prefer deep throws to a collection of short ones. The team is mainly known for its defense, and its execution of a zone. Most teams play man-to-man. It’s simpler and requires less strategy. But the Lost Boys practice the zone, and take advantage of the windy conditions of the Great Lakes region. They count on the other team’s inability to successfully complete a series of passes, and more often than not, it works.
Yet despite all of the strategy, and practicing, and game plans, for Hodgkinson, like Johnson and everyone else who came before, the Lost Boys is about more than winning.
“Since we are not a varsity sport we don’t make any cuts,” he says. ”It doesn’t matter if you’re in shape, whether you were a star athlete in high school. We could care less if we win or lose. Obviously we want to win, but we just want to be with our friends.”
It’s a spirit born out of the North Park experience. “You are becoming an adult, figuring out life, and just spending so much time together,” Johnson adds. “That brotherhood is a natural thing.”
Setting the mark
“When they changed the name to Lost Boys I think it really captured well the spirit of the team,” Johnson says. “There is this group of guys that really don’t belong in the sport. They are not the jocks or have much experience at all, but here they are competing at the highest level.”
In April 2014, the Lost Boys suffered a shocking defeat in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Regional to Indiana Wesleyan. It meant the first time the team wouldn’t get the one and only bid to nationals for D-III since its officially inception in 2010.
This past April, the team had an opportunity to earn back its place as the premier D-III Ultimate Frisbee power in the region with a return matchup against Indiana Wesleyan in Rockford. That Indiana Wesleyan team happened to feature the D-III national player of the year, yet the Lost Boys started fast and won 14-11, securing its place at Nationals.
They returned a few weeks later to Rockford for the national tournament, and would exceed expectations, finishing in a tie for 11th. After the tournament, the team posted on its Facebook page:
“Thanks and good luck to all of our seniors. It was a pleasure playing with you guys for the past 4 years! The team will take some time off and enjoy the summer, but are already gearing up for a trip to North Carolina next May for Nationals.”
On North Park University’s campus, you’ll still see a fair amount of Frisbees flung around the Hump, whether it’s a small game of Ultimate or a group of freshmen learning about the infamous secret disc golf course. The team now plays at a larger park down the street on Foster Avenue. In the fall, they will put up posters and recruit new students to join them for practice a few times per week. Nationals is the expectation now, and probably will be for some time. There is no shortage of belief. It’s a far cry from that day in 2001.
Still, the spirit of the club remains the same. “It’s the community that keeps me around,” says Hodgkinson. “I want to be a part of continuing this tradition however I can.”
The last game of the day for the North Park Lost Boys was a tough one. There was one player though who stood out for the boys from Chicago. Check out his highlights and final words of the day to his teammates.
Andrea Mitchell Receives Fulbright to Teach in Latvia
“No matter where I am, whether that’s getting the opportunity to teach in Latvia or after the Fulbright, North Park has given me tools to meet people where they’re at,” said Andrea Mitchell, 2015 alumna and the University’s 18th Fulbright recipient in the last seven years.
CHICAGO (June 24, 2015) — A third North Park University graduate from the 2015 class has received a Fulbright award, bringing the University’s total to 15 students and three faculty members who have earned the honor over the last seven years. Andrea Mitchell, an elementary education major from Austin, Texas, will travel to Latvia this fall to serve as an English Teaching Assistant in either a university setting or as part of the community with younger students.
“No matter where I am, whether that’s getting the opportunity to teach in Latvia or after the Fulbright, North Park has given me tools to meet people where they’re at, to care for the 'whole person,' Mitchell said. “That is a life of significance and service, and it’s an honor to have been given much to serve with.”
“It’s the people who have most shaped me at North Park,” Mitchell added. “Yes, I got an education. But I also was challenged to be a young adult who follows and seeks after Christ with all that I have.”
After serving in Latvia, Mitchell plans to return to Chicago to teach at the elementary or middle school level.
“Andrea's wit, intelligence, and depth of analysis will enable her to be a very effective English teaching assistant in Latvia,” said Dr. Angelyn Balodimas-Bartolomei, professor of education at North Park. “She has greatly researched into the customs, language, and life of the country. It has been said that a powerful teacher displays several of the same characteristics of a great actor or actress. Andrea's zeal makes her do just this. She will mesmerize her students while teaching them about our language and country.”
The Fulbright Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946, and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. It is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
Nonprofit Management Awards Announced at Axelson Center Symposium
Nick Tasler, internationally acclaimed author, delivered the day's keynote, which included an illustrative round of Jenga to introduce the strategy behind decision-making.
Honorees include Accion Chicago, Intonation Music Workshop, and Teen Living Programs
The 2015 Alford-Axelson Award, given for exemplary nonprofit management practices, was presented to Accion Chicago, with an honorable mention awarded to Teen Living Programs. The 2015 Excellent Emerging Organization Award, presented to an up-and-coming Chicago-area nonprofit, was given to Intonation Music Workshop.
The awards were part of the one-day conference dedicated to bringing nonprofit professionals together to discuss management topics that affect all types of organizations. The event included a series of workshops, in addition to a keynote address by Nick Tasler, internationally acclaimed author of Why Quitters Win and The Impulse Factor. In his talk, “Everyday Decisiveness: Decision-Making for Organizational Excellence,” sponsored by BMO Harris Bank, Tasler urged the audience to “be deciders” and to “change the world one decision at a time.”
Award winners for 2015 announced at Monday's event were (left) Accion Chicago, Alford-Axelson Award winner, which believes in fair and equal access to economic resources so that entrepreneurs can achieve their full financial potential; and (center) Intonation Music Workshop, Excellent Emerging Organization Award honoree, empowering children to become rock stars on every stage of life through innovative music education. Teen Living Programs (right), earning honorable mention for the Alford-Axelson Award, offers comprehensive, year-round services specifically for youth who are homeless, which includes emergency needs and housing to education, job readiness, and whole health services.
The awards were presented during the luncheon portion of the event. This year’s Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence winner, Accion Chicago, helps entrepreneurs in underserved groups achieve financial security, grow their businesses, create jobs, and stabilize their communities. Since 1994, Accion has made nearly 3,800 small business loans in Illinois and Northwest Indiana totaling $30 million. Accion Chicago believes in fair and equal access to economic resources so that entrepreneurs can achieve their full financial potential.
As part of the Symposium, a number organizations participated in the "Make Your Pitch" contest, sponsored by Urban Partnership Bank. Chicago Semester, an off-campus program with 40 years of experience providing students the opportunity to live, learn, and work in Chicago, took home the $1,000 prize.
“We accept this award on behalf of the people we serve,” said Betsy Neely Sikma, director of development and communications at Accion Chicago. “Thank you for letting us be a part of this nonprofit community,” she added, before imploring the audience to “transform the small business economy together.”
The Alford-Axelson award honors and continues the legacies of Nils G. Axelson, a devoted community healthcare leader and visionary, and Jimmie R. Alford, a leading contemporary thinker and practitioner in the nonprofit arena.
Intonation Music Workshop, the 2015 Excellent Emerging Organization Award winner, empowers children to become rock stars on every stage of life through innovative music education. Intonation works with youth ages 6-17 in Chicago to channel their love of music into a valuable skill set and an opportunity to express their creativity. From 2013 through 2014, Intonation served almost 700 students, comprising 51 pop bands across 12 city sites.
“To think the founder began this organization not long ago with his own instruments out of the back of a van,” said Development and Resource Manager Kevin Claxton. He went on to thank Intonation’s partners, in addition to the Chicago nonprofit community that continues to support their work.
Intonation received a $2,500 cash prize, sponsored by MB Financial Bank, a commemorative award, and a capacity-building package that will support improvement of services and efficiency.
For more information about the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management, please visit www.northpark.edu/axelson.
The 16th annual Axelson Center Symposium welcomed hundreds of area leaders to collaborate on ways to create organizational excellence.
Take a look at the Storify collection below for some of the images and conversation that took place.
In Search of Genius encourages kids from underserved communities to discover new life skills and sparks a sustained interest in science.
North Park hosts In Search of Genius science competition for third consecutive year
CHICAGO (June 18, 2015) — Summer months can be a little quieter on the North Park University campus. That was not the case on Tuesday when hundreds of area elementary school kids filled the gymnasium for the In Search of Genius (ISOG) Inter-School Science Competition.
For the third consecutive year, North Park hosted the event, which has students participate in a series of hands-on science challenges related to the environment, electricity, and physics. Founding Director of ISOG, Gary Walanka, rallied the kids at the start of the day by asking them, “Did you bring your genius?” The students responded with a resounding yes that echoed through the gymnasium. This is the sixth competition in all for the organization, which Walanka has described as “a unique, living example of how to involve several generations, including the youngest at a key age, with STEM.”
The competition is the culmination of ISOG’s educational program, which provides critical enrichment education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to elementary students in Chicagoland’s most underserved communities. ISOG encourages students to discover new life skills and sparks sustained interest in these critical fields through a 20-week, hands-on program delivered by young, successful mentors and role models.
“You all have schools that you go to every day to learn,” North Park University President David Parkyn said as he welcomed the students. “I'm happy because today you get to visit my school. Learning is about discovering something you never knew before, and that is the most exciting thing you can do in life.”
Near the end of the day, one student from each school received the Perplexus Award, acknowledging their persistence to succeed even when faced with the difficulties and challenges of STEM learning.
Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board, has been on hand the last several years for the event. “We’re proud of you,” she told students at the start of the competition. “You’ve worked hard all year long, and that makes all of you winners today.”
President David Parkyn got to meet one of the event's other celebrity guests, R2-D2.
Hibbard Elementary, a neighborhood school just down the block from North Park University, took home the prize for the physics challenge.
North Park University Alumna Shines on America’s Got Talent
Sharon Irving earns automatic trip to live rounds in New York City
CHICAGO (June 10, 2015) — Sharon Irving, a 2008 North Park University graduate, dazzled the judges and audiences last night on America’s Got Talent. Her rendition of “Take Me to Church” by Hozier led to a standing ovation and an immediate invitation to the live performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City later this summer.
Irving was a communication arts major while at North Park and led worship for University Ministries. Now 29, she recently left a position at Willow Creek Community Church to pursue a music career full-time. She grew up singing in church, inspired by her grandfather who was a Baptist preacher.
“Sometimes people have a gift where we can move our hearts, and you moved every heart in this room,” America’s Got Talent Judge Howie Mandel told Irving on stage. “I think you moved every heart in America.”
Watch the full video of Irving’s performance on YouTube.
Nick Tasler, author and CEO of Decision Pulse, says growing up in an impulsive family shaped how he makes decisions today. “I don’t put as much pressure on myself to make a decision that other people see as risky. It’s probably not going to go as sour as you might think it would.”
A conversation with Axelson Center Symposium keynote Nick Tasler
CHICAGO (June 8, 2015) — Nick Tasler, author and CEO of Decision Pulse, says the challenges organizations face are not between right versus wrong decisions, but right versus right decisions.
“The real challenges are those when you have three or four different possibilities, four different big goals you could pursue this year, and you can make a case for why all of them are somehow going to move you forward,” Tasler says. “The difference between excellent organizations, excellent teams, and mediocre ones, is the mediocre ones try and do all those things all at once all year long.”
The Symposium, hosted by North Park University’s Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management, brings together nonprofit professionals from across the sector to discuss management issues that affect all types of organizations.
Tasler is an industrial psychologist and author of two books, The Impulse Factor, and most recently, Why Quitters Win. In addition to consulting and speaking, he also writes for Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek, among others.
North Park recently spoke with Tasler about his research and what he is looking forward to at this year’s Symposium.
North Park: The Impulse Factor discusses how some people have impulsive tendencies and how that can influence decision-making. You describe yourself as an impulsive and instinctive decision maker. Was that always the case and does that ever get you into trouble?
Nick Tasler: On the one hand I’ve always been a little bit more on the impulsive side. When I feel something is the right course of action I just kind of go with it. I tend to be pretty intuitive with my decision-making, but over the years I’ve realized the limitations of my impulsivity. I guess what that means is that I know the areas where I can be more instinctive and be okay but I also know the areas where I really need someone else’s guidance. I’m as impulsive now as I’ve ever been but I think what’s changed is I’ve gotten smarter about how I use it.
NP: Most of the people you work with are at an advanced level in their career. Is impulse as valuable for different levels throughout an organization, for instance when you’re working your way up and don’t have as much influence?
NT: Impulsivity is kind of high risk, high reward in a lot of ways. Particularly earlier in your career where you don’t have as much experience. Your impulsivity isn’t quite sharp or as finely tuned so it’s a little bit more dangerous to use your intuition in a space where you don’t have much actual experience. The other part about it is that there’s a career risk and there’s a social risk. I had one guy at a big health insurance company say that the risks for his career are just higher than the rewards made possible by taking a risk with his organization.
NP: Did you coach him away from that?
NT: I kind of said you’re putting parameters on your risk taking. Because the other extreme of this is you’re so afraid to take a risk that you reach a career plateau. You never trust your intuition and you need all the facts every time you make a decision. Which in most cases is just impossible. What ends up happening is you become known in the organization as a person who gets things done but nobody ever really sees you as the kind of person who can be a leader, a person who can actually step up and say “This is what I think we should do” and rally people around you. There’s never enough information, never enough facts, never enough people who have given input, and so you end up never making a decision. And that’s just as much career suicide as being too impulsive.
NP: You say some of these instinctive and impulsive behaviors stem from being part of an impulsive family. Is there a story that shines light on your family and upbringing?
NT: Well, there are many of them. The best example is that before I graduated high school, we had lived in 18 different houses and 11 different towns. We were not a military family, my parents just wanted to move, and they wanted to do something different. This is where it gets into the nature/nurture thing, so possibly I have a genetic disposition to be impulsive. I grew up in a household that was full of impulsive behavior and realized that it really wasn’t as dangerous as people thought. I’ve carried that into my approach to decision-making. People tend to think that when they make a decision it’s going to be the final judgment and that the world is going to stop turning. If it goes wrong their whole life is over and everything they know will have changed. What I learned from my childhood is that decisions are all just a bunch of mini-experiments. You make one, some of them work out, some of them don’t, and nothing really changes as dramatically as you think it was going to. I don’t put as much pressure on myself to make a decision that other people see as risky. It’s probably not going to go as sour as you might think it would.
This year's Axelson Center Symposium for Nonprofit Professionals and Volunteers will take place on Monday, June 22, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Registration is available through June 17.
NP: In your most recent book, Why Quitters Win, there’s this concept of right versus right decisions. What do you mean by that, and how is it different from right versus wrong decisions?
NT: Typically when people think of decisions, they think of them as right versus wrong. But when we look at the vast majority of decisions we have to make either personally or professionally, it’s rarely the right versus wrong decisions that trip us up. For instance, one of the things we are talking about at the Symposium is this notion of being excellent, or deciding to be excellent. The difference between excellence for most people and most organizations and most careers is not a matter of cutting out bad things. The challenges, the real challenges, are those when you have three or four different possibilities, four different big goals you could pursue this year, and then you can make a case why all of them are somehow going to move you forward. The difference between excellent organizations, excellent teams, and mediocre ones, is the mediocre ones try and do all those things all at once all year long. The really excellent ones separate themselves by making a choice about which of these value added things, which of these “good things,” is going to actually provide the biggest lever to create the most change. This is instead of cutting ourselves off at the knees and trying to spread our resources, our time, our energy, our people, and our creativity evenly across all of the things we could do.
NP: In some way you serve as a leader of other leaders. Do you view everyone in an organization as some kind of leader or is there a difference in leading individuals on a team versus leading other leaders?
NT: There is a difference in that some people have more formal authority than others. When they make a call everyone has to go along with it, or at least those others don’t have as much authority to push back. With that being said there still are people at every level of an organization whose judgment is needed, who have the ability to make a decision and can actually influence people. And maybe it’s not a decision that’s necessarily carried out but you bring input to that decision, rather than going along with what everybody else is saying. And there is, getting back to the first part of our conversation, of course a risk that goes along with that. In my mind, I think a leader is someone who is accountable for the uncertainty and ambiguity in an organization and can stand behind a direction to move in.
NP: You’re giving the keynote at this year’s Axelson Center Symposium. What are you looking forward to?
NT: One thing I’m definitely looking forward to is the kind of audience who’s going to be there. It draws on all these people who serve in an organization with some kind of social mission. I find working with those kinds of audiences to be very personally rewarding. I like working with for-profit corporations too, but I also find that there’s something inspiring about people who have given over their everyday existence, their vocation, to advancing a social cause.
With that, a lot of the work I do is with large corporations and so I like getting the diversity perspective from different-sized organizations. This can sometimes include smaller staffs and smaller budgets. The issues can be different, but sometimes the same. I like to cross-reference the issues they’re facing with the issues the big corporate clients are facing and pull out major themes. This is where the researcher in me gets excited.
Registration for the Symposium is open until 5:00 pm on June 17. Review the entire event program and register at www.northpark.edu/symposium.
About the Axelson Center
The Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University is the source for informative and engaging nonprofit professional development in the Chicago region. Through regular workshops, a BootCamp for new nonprofit CEOs, customized trainings and the Annual Symposium, the Axelson Center delivers a superior educational experience for nonprofit managers, leaders and frontline staff, covering a vast array of topics from program evaluation to strategic planning, and communications to financial management. The valuable information presented through these programs enhances the impact of both the nonprofit sector and its professional staff. Visit www.northpark.edu/axelson for more information, including a full schedule of upcoming events.
North Park Welcomes International Studies Honors Society to Campus
Sigma Iota Rho, headquartered at the University of Pennsylvania, seeks to promote and reward scholarship and service among students and practitioners of international studies, international affairs, and global studies and to foster integrity and creative performance in the conduct of world affairs.
Students from around the country and world expected to attend Sigma Iota Rho conference
CHICAGO (May 29, 2015) — This weekend, North Park University will host the inaugural student research conference for the national honors society for international studies, Sigma Iota Rho. The student-run conference will include undergraduate research presentations, career and graduate school workshops, and peer-networking opportunities for students in various disciplines, including international and global studies, international relations, and international business. Participants from Chicago, the United States, and from around the world will have the opportunity to present their work and engage with scholars and practitioners in the field.
Garrett Warren, senior philosophy major from North Park University, who is serving as the lead planner for the conference, says it is an opportunity to open the horizons of what international studies can be. “We’ll be able to hear what other people are doing, which includes their goals and aspirations. It’s a chance to open a broader dialogue.”
The event will also feature a keynote speech from Emily Berman, deputy director of strategic partnerships and global affairs, in the Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago. Pamela Bozeman-Evans, senior director of career development and internships at North Park University will also speak to aspiring leaders about opportunities available to them.
“Sigma Iota Rho's mission is to promote the study of international affairs on campus and in the community,” said Dr. Frank Plantan, national director and president of Sigma Iota Rho and co-director of the international relations program at the University of Pennsylvania. This conference allows students to “further develop their research and presentation skills and to consider international careers of some kind.”
A number of North Park students will participate in various ways throughout the conference, including as volunteers. North Park currently offers undergraduate programs in global studies and international business that provide intercultural learning opportunities that can broaden worldviews and prepare students to lead in a global economy.
Warren, whose position as lead planner is part of an internship with North Park’s International Office, says he became interested in international studies after a study abroad experience in Hyderabad, India. “International studies and travel will hopefully be a part of what I do after I graduate in December. They are tied to my interests in cross-cultural communication and creating a world that is able to share what is good in the world, the values we have in common.”
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