Daniel Lopez’s Post

Do you ever go above and beyond? 💫 Or do you know someone who goes that extra mile? 🏃🏻 Then now is your time to show your appreciation! 🤞🏼 The Freshies nominations are now live!! 💚 If you know anyone in the Northwest area And you want to show your support Then now is the time! ⏰ You are able to nominate anyone you like Or better yet…. You can even nominate yourself! 🙌🏼 Head to the link in the comments to submit your nomination 🤪 #Nominations #Freshies2025 #FreshPerspective

As part of our series highlighting the accomplishments of LeadingAge PA in 2024, today we are sharing our achievements in professional development and workforce initiatives: 🌟 Hosted our annual conferences and introduced the inaugural Women’s Executive Retreat to empower leaders. 🎓 Awarded professional development scholarships and internship grants to strengthen workforce initiatives. 🤝 Partnered with new education organizations to expand resources for members. 🏆 Honored another graduating class of Fellows in Leadership, building the next generation of changemakers. We’re proud of these accomplishments and can’t wait to share more about our advocacy work and partnerships in the coming days. Stay tuned! Learn more: Blog: https://ow.ly/pzlU50Ur0v9 Full Report: https://ow.ly/B8Tj50Uq8b6

"People who are mentored are five times more likely to get promoted than those who aren't." 🙋 In the final instalment of the mentorship series with LEAD Network Europe Ireland Chapter, Maria Victoria Simas of Kraft Heinz Ireland lays out the benefits of mentorship, for mentors and mentees alike. https://lnkd.in/egJ_KhxH

This is why you need a third-party risk management program. Monitor your vendors because they won’t tell you for months or years if they’ve been hacked. There are manual and automated ways to monitor this type of activity. Interested in learning more about third-party risk management program? Message me for more details.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the Female Leadership Academy event at Talent Garden, themed "Accelerating Young Talents Into Boards." In front of 125 young participants, I shared my journey as a young professional entering the boardroom and my best advice to those aiming for board positions. I highlighted the paradox: Young generations are a significant part of the workforce and deserve boardroom representation, yet boards are often filled with those having 20-40 years of industry experience. So, how can young talents prepare for the boardroom? My three pieces of advice were: 𝟭. 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲: Build a deep competency in a specific field you're passionate about to stand out as an expert. 𝟮. 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Seek external validation through media coverage, speaking engagements, writing a book, or sharing insights on LinkedIn to establish yourself as a thought leader. 𝟯. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Make your aspirations known within your network and gain experience by joining advisory boards, even if initially pro-bono. Following our talks as young role models, Nyeleti Sue-Angel Nkuna and I participated in a panel discussion, answering questions from the audience. It was a fantastic evening with an energetic crowd, even though they had already listened to more than two hours of talks before we took the stage. Thank you to all facilitators, participants, and speakers for making it a great event! 🙌

Saying YES to opportunities has always been my mantra, I figure out the details later! When Christina Kruis tapped me on the shoulder to join her team for a Confidence Boost Training with adynamic sales team at PepsiCo here in Calgary, my answer was an immediate YES! My role? Deliver the speech segment of the training—a challenge I embraced nervously, yet wholeheartedly. As it turned out, I think I had even more fun delivering the session than the audience had listening! It was an incredible outing, filled with energy, learning, and connection. I believe in challenging ourselves daily to be better than we were yesterday. To anyone out there doubting their abilities or second-guessing opportunities: take that leap of faith. You may crash, you may fly, but you'll never know if you don't try. The beautiful thing about crashing is, its not really crashing but ‘a learning experience’. It’s like a game of Mario, we have extra lives and we can try as many times as we like until we actually take flight. Here’s to saying YES, showing up, and continuing to grow. 🌟 #ProfessionalGrowth #Leadership #ConfidenceBuilding #Pepsi #ChallengeYourself #SayYes #KeepLearning #publicspeaking

🎉 **Celebrating Derrick Young Jr., LeadBoston Alum and Co-founder & Executive Director at Leadership Brainery!** 🎉 Thank you to Karen Holmes Ward for having Derrick and Jonathan L. Allen on "CityLine" to discuss the critical issue of the decreasing number of students of color at competitive universities following the SCOTUS decision last summer. This is a must-watch interview for anyone invested in the future of education and diversity—catch the full interview here: [https://lnkd.in/exE4q6eD) The shrinking pipeline for diverse talent is alarming, but "Leadership Brainery" is taking bold action. Derrick and his team are forging new pathways by building alliances not just with universities, but also with K-12 schools, college access organizations, and leadership programs. This proactive approach is essential to ensuring that graduate programs and companies can directly engage with underrepresented talent. Learn more about **Leadership Brainery’s Strategic Alliances** and how you can get involved: [https://lnkd.in/eBsfu4XJ) #LeadBoston #LeadershipBrainery #DiversityInEducation #TalentPipeline #SCOTUS #CityLine #EquityInAction #StrategicAlliances #InclusiveLeadership

I volunteered at my 6th Tony Robbins Teen Leadership Camp this past week. It was amazing, as always. Phenomenal speakers who've been through the hardest stuff you can imagine, come back, and found a way to make meaning and purpose out of their pain and their hardship and their tragedy. They're now doing incredibly well. They exude love and they show kids no matter what you're going through, you can bounce back and rise to incredible heights. The camp is for teens 14-16 years old. It happens every summer in July, and the applications come out in January, and it fills up fast, in case you're interested. For kids who come from a tough background, they experience their first safe environment, and over and over throughout the week, you're just touched to the point of tears by their breakthroughs - their courage and vulnerability and healing. And because this age is so ripe, because teenagers are still half kids, they still have a lot of neuroplasticity, and they seem to take the messages and run so far with them. You see camper after camper who have returned in later years whose lives were completely changed by the camp. Kids who are ready to kill themselves, and they sound like they mean it, and that's over. It's done. They love themselves more and more now, and they have a community of kids around them now who want to grow and support each other. It’s so, so beautiful, and I would say kids who come from, from better backgrounds, they come out with the maturity of a 30 year old. Highly, highly recommended! #socialskills #teensocialskills #confidence #socialconfidence #teenconfidence #globalyouthleadershipsummit #socialskillsforlife #tonyrobbins #socialawkwardness #dalecarnegie #howtowinfriendsandinfluencepeople

Moving On: Reflections on 14 Years as a School Governor After 14 years as a school governor, and many of those years as a Chair, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down. It’s been a rewarding journey, one filled with significant milestones and some tough challenges. I was proud to be part of recruiting three heads who have each made the schools stronger, delivering more for the children. My proudest achievement? Leading the federation of two primary schools, resulting in better outcomes for both. The hardest? When our head was seriously ill, out of school for the year, and we were working out of special measures and making redundancies. There were some powerful lessons there about leadership, communication and humanity. But I’ve noticed my energy waning. For one, because the school I’ve been supporting is on an upward trajectory. For another, there are other roles supporting children that now call for my attention. It’s time for new perspectives and fresh ideas to take the lead. If you’ve ever thought about doing the role: do it. It’s interesting, challenging and you make a difference. I think what puts many people off is the time commitment. In many schools there are governors for whom it takes hours of their time each month – sometimes each week. They’re either doing it wrong or doing another role/s in addition. Instead, you’re there to set strategy and hold leaders to account for delivering on that. It’s a smaller investment of time, about big interventions and questions, which lead to even greater effects. And that’s a fascinating, enriching experience.

2024 showed me, once again, that student leadership isn't just about programs—it's about transformation. Take Hayden, a marine science major who didn't just study food systems—he reimagined them. Through his internship at The Food Basket, he developed innovative hydroponic growing techniques that could help reduce local food insecurity. That's the magic of community engagement: turning academic knowledge into real-world solutions. This year at UH Hilo's Center for Community Engagement, we expanded our Bonner Leadership Program, creating pathways for students to become genuine community changemakers. We're not just teaching skills; we're cultivating a generation of leaders who understand that meaningful change starts at the local level. Highlights that captured our journey: • Supported student-led initiatives addressing critical community challenges • Developed capacity for faculty engaged scholars to grow, connect & thrive • Strengthened community partnerships through hands-on student engagement projects We're committed to expanding our community impact, deepening student leadership opportunities, and proving that education is most powerful when it's practiced, not just studied.