What Does it Mean to LEAD.SERVE.CONNECT? - FUTURO Leaders Analyze FUTURO's Values at 2024 Spring Leadership Day

As an inclusive college success and professional development organization, the values of LEAD, SERVE, and CONNECT hold profound significance. Reflecting on these values sheds light on the pivotal role FUTURO plays in the lives of its members and the broader community.

By nurturing LEADership skills, FUTURO empowers students to confront challenges, advocate for themselves, and ignite transformative change within their communities. Leadership, in this context, transcends conventional roles; it's about fostering a sense of familia and resilience that propels students toward success, regardless of the hurdles they may face.

For FUTURO students, many of whom may hail from underserved backgrounds, the opportunity to engage in SERVICE enriches their personal growth. It reinforces a profound sense of responsibility toward their communities. Through service initiatives, students cultivate empathy, cultural humility, and a deep understanding of collective well-being, instilling values that endure far beyond their college years.

How do FUTURO students embody the CONNECT value? Forging meaningful connections with peers, mentors, and professionals can significantly influence their careers. These connections offer support, guidance, and avenues for collaboration, ultimately bolstering the students' academic and professional growth. Creating connections on campus is crucial to fostering an environment of belonging where students feel valued, understood, and empowered to flourish.

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After learning what are the pillars that hold FUTURO, student leaders wrote 5-7 words of what each value means to them and made word clouds with the results (see picture above). Leadership day for FUTURO leaders is a time in which they get to practice reflection exercises, leadership training, conflict management seminars, and many more tools to be able to lead with these values in mind. In these trainings leaders strategize about event planning, goals, collaborations to name a few while leading with empathy and familia in mind.

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