88. Launching Youth Through Leadership and Mentorship

We have so many amazing educational leaders in the field and I appreciate that we’re able to grow and learn together. But if we rely solely on leaders, our kids don’t have the agency they deserve.

This week on the podcast, I’m talking with Rachel Kittle of Leadership Launch about how her organization is giving kids the real-world experience they need to build confidence and become leaders.

The result? She’s watched incredibly shy youth come out of their shells to talk to community and business leaders. Kids have collaborated with adults, challenged themselves, and become servant leaders as a result of participating in the programs Leadership Launch offers.

As we come out of all the COVID lockdowns and isolation, we need to inspire our youth to get out there, combat their social anxiety, and create safe spaces for them to grow and learn. Creating opportunities for kids to work with mentors opens so many doors, fills needs for the whole community, and allows kids a safe person to support them through trauma and growth.

Tune in now!

Leadership Launch is a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower, equip, and engage student leaders from a place of equity. They work with students in the 9th grade through the first year of college who want to impact the community, grow as leaders, and pursue their dreams. 

​Leadership Launch is dedicated to personal development, servant leadership, mentorship, and community engagement. They primarily work with first-generation college-bound students and students facing hardship. 

• [1:54] How educational activism started for Rachel
• [2:56] Looking at what impacts you and leveraging that to help others
• [3:28] Training kids to look for needs and find ways to fill them
• [5:33] The Leadership Launch program
• [7:40] Messiness of creating events 
• [8:45] Success story/transformation story 
• [10:54] Teaching emotional intelligence through storytelling
• [14:13] The growth of social anxiety
• [14:50] Biggest roadblocks in creating a program like Leadership Launch
• [16:27] Importance of love, community, relationships, and mentorship, even if it’s not measurable
• [17:21] Authenticity, Belief, Consistency - the ABCs of excellent mentors
• [18:07] Change starts at home
• [19:08] What can you do to influence ONE child’s life?
• [19:27] What’s next for Rachel and Leadership Launch
• [20:32] Turbo Time
• [25:30] Rachel’s Magic Wand: That each child has at least one stable, loving adult in their life outside their family
• [26:48] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• Leadership Launch
• Hinds Feet on High Places
• Dr. Stacy Flowers’ TEDx: The 5 People You Need to Be Happy (or for accountability!)
• Kauai Trauma-Informed longitudinal study 
• NIH: ACES information
• Episode 44: Trauma-Informed Education
• Email Maureen
• Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools
• The Education Evolution
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• EdActive Collective
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep