We just finished another great year at Junior Leadership Oakland (Jr. LO), marking our 15th anniversary!

This program is all about helping young people become excellent leaders. We give them chances to learn about our region and the issues people face and help them understand how to reach their highest potential.

From June 19 to 21, students joined us at Walsh College for a busy three days. We had guest speakers who are experts in their fields. They talked about different aspects of leadership. Dr. Lee Meadows kicked off the program with the history and significance of Juneteenth! Faris Alami discussed how to deal with uncertainty, while Susan Bailey focused on how to find your life’s purpose. These sessions were designed to make students think deeply and discover new things about themselves.

One of the exciting parts of the program was the visits to Amazon and United Wholesale Mortgage. Students got to see up-close how these companies operate. This experience showed them how leadership is put into action in the real world and provided them with insight into two large companies in our region.

We also talked about life skills that are necessary for a balanced life, such as being healthy, managing money, and having a positive attitude toward challenges. We want to stress that leadership is not just about succeeding at work but also about growing as a person and understanding different parts of life.

The Jr. LOXV group was full of students with all kinds of interests. Some want to work with plants, others want to be doctors, social workers, or computer scientists. Seeing these different goals makes us realize how important it is to teach leadership in a way that can help anyone, no matter what they dream of doing.

But more than anything, Jr. LOXV was about making friends and understanding each other. Seeing our young leaders meet, talk, and make connections was inspirational and what this program is about.

We want to say a big thank you to the Allison Family Foundation, SafeWhistle and Walsh College for sponsoring this program.

At the end of the program, each student received a certificate. This was a symbol of them continuing on their journey to becoming even better leaders. We can’t wait to see what they will do with what they learned in our program.

Looking back on the last 15 years, we’re so proud of the young leaders we’ve helped grow. But we know we’re not done yet. We’re excited to continue helping young people become the best they can be. The energy and determination of these students inspire us to keep going.

Here’s to the next 15 years of building young leaders!

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