Leadership Training Offered to the Community

On Friday, November 10, 2023, the Concerned Veterans for America Foundation (CVA) held its second Grassroots Leadership meeting at the Houston-Lantrip Center at Hardin-Simmons University. At the day-long event, participants learned how to be better leaders and engineer change in their lives and communities. 

In a statement within the booklet given to participants, Grassroots Leadership Academy co-founder Slade O’Brian passionately says, “It is up to us, 21st century Americans, to act and demand that the United States lives up to [the promises within the Declaration of Independence]. We can’t be passive and silent…we must stand up for what our Founders envisioned and for what self-government is supposed to be about!” 

Those who led the workshop also shared this same passion. They used the day to share techniques to help those in attendance recognize social issues, devise a plan of action to change these issues, and organize a team to help transform them.

Edna Herschberger, a junior social work major in attendance, shared that she was glad to come out of her comfort zone and learn about new tools for reaching goals for issues she cares about. “I’ve learned better ways to reach communities and how to know my own strengths—now that I know how to identify my own strengths, I can recognize strengths in others as well and do my part.” 

The Grassroots Leadership program helped communicate its lessons through interactive activities.

The Grassroots Leadership program helped communicate its lessons through interactive activities such as small games and group brainstorming. The activities helped apply the lessons learned to real-life situations such as rallies, election campaigns, and the grassroots campaigns on which the organization’s namesake is based. 

HSU junior social work major Ashley Borges attended the first workshop opportunity offered in February. She shared that she will use the lessons learned in February and November for her future in social work to advocate for policy changes, help those who suffer from injustice, and help represent the people she will meet in her work.  

If you would like to be a person who can create change within your community like these students, keep an eye out for when and where the third meeting will be held next February. You can also visit www.GLAtraining.com for more information about the organization.