#CommunityConnect2022

[gdmli]

Oh, The Places We’ll Go

By Jody Gifford, Community Connect Program Graduate, Class of 2022

(Jody with her small group, left to right, mentor Nadilia Gomez, Jody, Alexa Strickler, Lacey Little and Megan Grandgeorge)

Graduate: a person who has successfully completed a course of study or training.

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about Community Connect. She was asking how things were going, if I had landed on a goal (there had been several previously discussed) and if there was anyone I was still hoping to connect with before the end of class. This was just a couple days after the session wrapped and I was happy to share that I was now a graduate of the program.

“Do you actually graduate from something like that?” she asked. I didn’t know, honestly. I’d always thought that was the correct terminology when you completed a program like Community Connect. No, I hadn’t put in four years of study or walked across a stage in a cap and gown, but I had completed the requirements of the program and I was ready to head out into the world armed with the tools to live my purpose.

The funny thing is, I thought about this a lot over the next couple days. Could I really call myself a Community Connect “graduate” or was I merely a “participant?” I needed to know so, of course, I went to Google.

“What does it mean to graduate?”

“What’s the definition of a graduate?”

“How do you graduate?”

Answers varied but the one thing they all had in common was the idea that graduation meant completing a course of study or meeting all the requirements of a particular area of study.

Had my fellow Community Connect participants done that? Yes! Creating a purpose statement and a goal were the two main hallmarks of the program and we’d all done the work. In fact, on the last night of the session, we were tasked with sharing those with our fellow participants and mentors.

It was as ceremonious as any graduation as I’ve been to. We lined up with our small groups at the front of the room, printed pages in hand, ready to share what we’d created. It was the first time many of us had ever spoken our purpose statements and goals out loud and we were all, it seemed, a bit nervous about taking that next big step in our journey.

I’d had the chance to meet just about everyone in the class and had gotten to know a handful of them well over the course of the program. We’d all collaborated with one another, to some degree, and I personally found that every time I’d connected with someone new, my purpose statement and goal became more focused and polished because of their help and feedback.

Listening as everyone shared theirs, I realized that we’d all benefited from these connections in class. I could hear it in their words and see it in their faces: they’d all gained the confidence to leave the classroom, ready to take on the world with what they’d learned.

Isn’t that what graduation is all about—taking what you’ve learned and making the world a better place? I think so, and I’m confident that the 32 of us are going to do great things now that we’ve completed, er, graduated from Community Connect.

So, congratulations, Community Connect class of 2022! Stay in touch. I can’t wait to hear what you’re up to in the months to come!

[kellyroyal]

Building Relationships Through Community Connect

By Jarael Madyun, Community Connect participant

(Jarael, far right, with mentor Matt McGarvey and participant Garrett Shepherd)

Today for the Community Connect session we focused on relationships. Each session brings a new level of excitement for me because I am able to reflect on how I can best support others as they develop their Community Connect goals. 

One of my favorite activities today was coming up with a list of big dreams we would like to accomplish if we had an infinite amount of resources. As we roamed around the room, we signed our names under items we’ve done, that others hoped to accomplish. I, again, felt a sense of community, connection, and shared values. The activity was inspiring because it was a simple reminder of how a diverse group of people can come together with similar goals, but we’ve all traveled different paths to be at this session together. The amount of information and resources I was given in a short amount of time speaks to everyone’s commitment to building relationships and the program. 

I have many moments I am grateful for but two moments stick out to me from today’s session. Apparently, I have the superpower of being in a room of 50+ people and identifying who has met Taylor Swift. I am also grateful for the mentor stories and how unique, personal, and authentic they were. Each mentor discussed “relationships” but I received a different message from everyone. Some of those gems include: 

1.       First Show Up/ Keep Showing Up 2.       Amplify voices & create co-pilots 3.       Make connections & ask good questions 4.       Whatever journey you’re on, you will be best supported by others in the community based on the connections and relationships you continue to cultivate.

The mentor speeches were also a reminder to show up as our authentic selves and continue to be vulnerable. I’ve often been in spaces where I question if I can truly be myself. I was happy to see that communicated consistently today. It’s refreshing and inspiring. I want to express gratitude for everyone who showed up today, each week we continue to build a stronger bond and we get closer to accomplishing our community goals. 

[gdmli]

Summoning Courage

By Jody Gifford, Community Connect 2022 participant

I did something absolutely terrifying a few weeks ago. I spoke in front of 750 people.

How I got into this predicament is the fault of a well-meaning manager. At a meeting a month prior, she’d mentioned that our company, NCMIC, was sponsoring the Business Record’s Forty Under 40 event and would I be interested in a spot at our table. “Absolutely!” I said, thinking what a great way to network while indulging in free food and drink.

Just days later, our event coordinator asked for my bio and contact information for the program. Odd, I thought, that they’d need that if I was just hanging at the table. Turns out, I’d committed to so much more than dinner and drinks.

After a bit of back and forth, I’d discovered that I was going to be one of five presenters who were tasked with introducing a handful of Forty Under 40 honorees. I would need to prepare a short speech about our company, too, and deliver it on stage to hundreds of attendees.

In that moment, I’m pretty sure my heart stopped. See, I’m not a public speaker. Don’t get me wrong, I can talk to anyone. One person, three people, a dozen? Yeah, I’m your girl, but the very idea of standing up in front of hundreds of people (and did I mention it was live-streamed?), saying words in complete sentences, made my palms sweaty.

Still, I didn’t say no. As afraid as I was to do it, I wasn’t about to bail. I thought of all the people who believed that I could do it. There were apparently quite a few who’d suggested me for the job including my boss and the aforementioned well-meaning manager. They all believed in me in a way I wasn’t sure I did.

But I did it. I got up that morning, nervous as could be. I fretted over what I should wear. I showed up hours in advance, so I’d know where to sit, stand and speak. I’d written and rewritten my speech a dozen times, not quite nailing what I wanted to say to this room full of inspiring people. I thought about telling the story about how I got there but scrapped it 30 minutes before taking the stage.

Instead, I spoke from the heart. I talked about the pride I had in NCMIC and how we give back to the community. I mentioned passion and how it fuels us all to give back to causes we deem worthy. I also acknowledged how uncomfortable it might be for some of the honorees to be in the spotlight that night—how it’s often the doers and thinkers who are humble and uneasy with recognition. I saw heads nodding and I didn’t feel alone at that moment.

This was a lesson in courage, a topic we’d cover in Community Connect a week after the event. I’d come full circle at that point. I’d had the courage to do the very thing I was afraid of (and lived to write about it).

I’d thought a lot about the honorees and realized that my feat was nothing compared to all the good that was happening at the hands of these 40 leaders.

I’d also thought about my fellow Community Connect participants and all the good they would do (and were doing) in the world. It brought to mind this quote from Brene Brown:

“Courage is contagious. A critical mass of brave leaders is the foundation of an intentionally courageous culture. Every time we are brave with our lives, we make the people around us a little braver and our organizations bolder and stronger.”

Have courage, friends. Show up and let yourself be seen and heard. Your act of courage could inspire others to do the same.

[gdmli]

Building Relationships Through Community Connect

By Jarael Madyun, Community Connect Participant

(Jarael, far right, with mentor Matt McGarvey and participant Garrett Shepherd)

Today for the Community Connect session we focused on relationships. Each session brings a new level of excitement for me because I am able to reflect on how I can best support others as they develop their Community Connect goals.

One of my favorite activities today was coming up with a list of big dreams we would like to accomplish if we had an infinite amount of resources. As we roamed around the room, we signed our names under items we’ve done, that others hoped to accomplish. I, again, felt a sense of community, connection, and shared values. The activity was inspiring because it was a simple reminder of how a diverse group of people can come together with similar goals, but we’ve all traveled different paths to be at this session together. The amount of information and resources I was given in a short amount of time speaks to everyone’s commitment to building relationships and the program.

I have many moments I am grateful for but two moments stick out to me from today’s session. Apparently, I have the superpower of being in a room of 50+ people and identifying who has met Taylor Swift. I am also grateful for the mentor stories and how unique, personal, and authentic they were. Each mentor discussed “relationships” but I received a different message from everyone. Some of those gems include:

1.       First Show Up/ Keep Showing Up 2.       Amplify voices & create co-pilots 3.       Make connections & ask good questions 4.       Whatever journey you’re on, you will be best supported by others in the community based on the connections and relationships you continue to cultivate.

The mentor speeches were also a reminder to show up as our authentic selves and continue to be vulnerable. I’ve often been in spaces where I question if I can truly be myself. I was happy to see that communicated consistently today. It’s refreshing and inspiring. I want to express gratitude for everyone who showed up today, each week we continue to build a stronger bond and we get closer to accomplishing our community goals.

[gdmli]

The Power of a Shared Experience

By Jody Gifford, Community Connect 2022 participant

“When we establish human connections within the context of shared experience, we create community wherever we go.” — Gina Greenlee

It’s not a secret among my close friends and family that I am a diehard fan of the band, Blue October. I have every CD they’ve ever released, attended dozens of concerts in faraway cities and own an embarrassingly large number of band tees that take up way too much space in my dresser.

I’ve also attended countless meet & greets, visited one-on-one with the band’s lead singer, watched every live stream offered when they couldn’t perform in-person and even worked as a “roadie for a day” at a tour stop in Minneapolis a couple years ago.

None of this makes me special. There are scores of others who have reached the level of fandom that I have. But these are my people—the folks I’ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder with at a show, belting out song lyrics at the top of our voices, dancing without a care and just being in the moment together. It’s an incredible feeling, really, that burst of collective serotonin. As soon as the show ends, I just want to feel it again.

You probably know this feeling, too. Maybe you’ve felt it at a sporting event or at church on Sunday, or even as you walked across the stage at graduation. You’ve probably felt it at family gatherings, weddings or other milestone ceremonies or even as you binge watched the latest “it” series on Netflix because a coworker convinced you to.

These are all examples of shared experiences—opportunities that help us connect with others. They help us build relationships not just because our interests, desires and values align, but because we are creating a community in the process.

The last session of Community Connect got me thinking about how powerful this shared experience really is. Here we are—the 32 of us—all from different professions, backgrounds and walks of life sharing this incredibly inspiring, life-changing experience. Every time I’m introduced to a participant, mentor or committee member, I learn something new. I hear their stories and advice and am humbled and grateful that they’ve shared it. These are my people, my community, and I leave at night full of ideas and eager to try new things because of them.

Each session moves me closer and closer to my purpose and not just because of the work I’m doing during class or with our mentors, but because of the connections I’m making while doing it. It’s an incredible, almost indescribable feeling, one I know I’ve felt before and am looking forward to feeling again.

[gdmli]

Gratitude & Excitement; Community Connect 2022

By Jarael Madyun, CC’ 22 current class member

The first day of the Community Connect program was exactly what I envisioned. There is a special energy and enthusiasm that you feel when you gather a diverse group of individuals together who share a common purpose. Although we all come from different professional backgrounds, the excitement surrounding the idea that we made a commitment to be more intentional with our time and commitment to the community was unmatched. I especially enjoyed how the day was facilitated. The facilitator, Dr. Christi Hegstad, created a safe space that allowed everyone to share their perspectives on key discussions and continued to remind us that there are no wrong answers.

As I experienced the day, I thought of how grateful I am to have an opportunity to engage with people at my table. I am excited that I can support others in living out their purpose. As we met the mentors, I was reminded about how important it is for people like myself to have the opportunity to have access to the mentors. Their skills, knowledge, and experience can guide me as I continue to develop myself both professionally and personally. I am excited to continue to meet more people and build relationships. This was only the first day, but I am encouraged by my conversations with others that we are creating long-standing relationships.

The first day blended our professional and personal experiences in a way that allowed us to be vulnerable. I know when I am in a room with others who are excited for my personal and professional goals, I am in the right space. I leave today feeling gratitude and excitement for everyone who made a commitment to this program.