AL's fundraising dinner and auction, Friday, October 1^st, 5 - 7 PM  at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center is almost here!  It's not too late to get your tickets - just contact Brook Lindquist,  AL '11, at [email protected].  Individual tickets are $15  each - that covers a complete dinner, your celebrity waiter and  amazing entertainment!

 

 Is your business or AL/ALY class sponsoring a table?  There's still time to grab one, which guarantees you sit together, and gives you recognition in the program & at your table.  To sponsor, contact Dinah Herring, AL '09, at [email protected].

 

If you're an AL or ALY alumnus, have been a part of our programs as a speaker, host, mentor or volunteer, or simply support diverse, informed, passionate leadership in our community, don't miss this event!

Lawrence Garrett, Cindy Wendland, Bridget O'Connor (not pictured: Jim Storvick, Janice Siebenaler)

Advancing Leadership's Board of Directors is the true heart of our organization.  Ours is a working board, actively involved in program planning and implementation, recruiting, interviewing and recommending new participants, fundraising and community-building.  When we select new board directors, we know we are getting dedicated, passionate people who aren't afraid of hard work.

These characteristics describe our five incoming directors: Lawrence Garrett, AL '10, Roberts & Associates, Bridget O'Connor, AL '07, Red Canoe Credit Union, Jim Storvick, Umpqua Bank, Janice Siebenaler, AL '10, Heritage Bank and Cindy Wendland, AL '05, Federal Way Public Schools.  Each of these impressive leaders is already involved in committee work to serve our current classes, alumni, funding partners and our community's future.  Please join us in welcoming them to our board!

Congratulations to Susan Streifel, AL '00, CEO of Woodstone Credit Union, for receiving the CUNA (Credit Union National Association) Management School  Jim Likens Alumni Award for her significant achievements in the credit union field. 

Susan already had a passion for the non-profit financial cooperative format of credit unions when she began AL, but the training she received through the program helped her recognize the role of community service in professional endeavors.  In her words, "AL enhanced my awareness and fueled my passion for community servitude.  This was a "discovery" based on the programs design to introduce participants to the critical components that it takes to build a healthy community.  Additionally, the networks that were developed have been invaluable in providing the resources necessary to impact the community by working together."

Annia Yoshizumi, ALY '07

Annia Yoshizumi, ALY '07, is now a student at the University of Washington.  This summer, she was selected to attend a Summer Institute Program called "Asian Center's Redefining Asian Americans in Multicultural Queens."  Annia has maintained ties with ALY, and came to Exec Director Teri Hickel for a letter of reference when applying to the Summer Institute.  She chose Teri over a UW professor because she wanted a letter from someone who really knew her. College students from across the country applied for this opportunity, and only 20 were chosen.

  

"We evaluated, compared, and challenged issues within the Asian American community of Queens, New York, and in our own communities in order to critique the issues Asian Americans face in the United States even in the 21st century," Annia explains. To help their discussions they visited multicultural neighborhoods in New York such as Flushing, Richmond Hill, and Manhattan's Chinatown. In addition to field trips, they had discussions with university professors, academic scholars, filmmakers, activists, and writers.  For Annia, the experience was very powerful. "What was rewarding for me was to see a community outside of my own have such passion for issues of inequality, voting rights, and multiculturalism. . . it makes me want to be more involved in my own community."

 

In many ways, the lessons she learned during the Summer Institute expanded on her experiences in Advancing Leadership Youth. ALY taught Annia the importance of networking, building relationships, finding common ground and how vital these efforts are in being able to create change. These lessons have helped improve her experience at UW.

 

"In college it's so easy to fall into the crowd of students who just go to class, study, work, and sleep. Sometimes it's hard to prioritize your time to be involved on campus or to give back to your community. But it's been 4 years since I graduated from the youth program in 2007 and the values and skills that I have learned from ALY motivate me to do more than just be involved on campus but to find a space for me to make an impact in my community while meeting many others with the same interests as well."

 

Annia's favorite ALY memory - other than great food - was learning her leadership style. "I was a yellow, almost a green though!"  AL and ALY participants and alums, you know what she means!

 

 

Thanks to strong partnerships and watchful eyes, an at-large and active child predator was apprehended in Federal Way in July.  The partnerships came together through Safe City Federal Way, and two AL alumni were at the center of the action.

 

The Safe City Federal Way initiative is a result of the joint efforts of The Federal Way Chamber of Commerce, the City of Federal Way, The Federal Way Police Department and the Federal Way business community. Cdr. Chris Norman, AL '02 and Lt. Sandy Tudor, AL '01 at the Federal Way Police Department work together as commanding officer and program coordinator to keep Safe City successful.  Thomas Fichtner, AL '08, at the City of Federal Way, provides technical support for the cameras and cost estimation for equipment and maintenance.

 

Safe City is an initiative that unites businesses, city officials, and law enforcement through a project intended to maximize safety and minimize theft and other crimes in the business community.  It works like a business "crime watch" that allows stakeholders to communicate about criminal activity impacting their businesses on a real time basis. Safe City Partners use the system to alert each other about criminal incidents impacting their business or geographic area, in an effort to prevent other partners from being victimized.  Safe City of Federal Way is modeled after a similar program in Minneapolis, and began with an extensive application to the Target corporation for a $100,000 grant to start it up.

 

Since it's official kick-off in 2009, the program has installed 36 surveillance cameras (including two via partnerships with DBM, Inc. and Walmart) and joined with over 250 partners. Chris and Sandy have trained volunteers from the police department and businesses, meet quarterly with volunteers and partners and work behind the scenes to make sure information is disbursed accurately and efficiently throughout the network. It was Chris' alert - sent out via the Safe City website - that resulted in apprehension of the predator.

  

Chris' biggest lesson learned in Advancing Leadership has had a direct impact on his involvement with Safe City.  As he puts it, "the collective is stronger than the individual. . . amazing things can be achieved when a group of people work together towards a common goal".  Sandy echoes a similar view of AL's benefits, including networking opportunities and learning to challenge the process.  The AL experience, and it's influence on Safe City's innovative use of collaboration, is summed up by Thomas: "Advancing  Leadership gets you to think outside of the box.  It paints a larger picture of how the acts and services of a single person can help many people and working together can exponentially increase that impact for the greater good."

 

Safe City Federal Way wants to grow their network to make our city a place where public safety is a collaborative, community effort. For more information, or to join the program as a business or community member, visit safecityfw.com.