YLS 2018 – Photo Recap

On Oct. 17, we welcomed over 1,000 high school students (from 80+ schools) to our 2018 Youth Leadership Seminar.

Our theme was all about being EMPOWERED. Students heard from six local speakers and participated in activities that focused on understanding themselves as leaders and how to then apply what they learned at the event in their schools and community.

Rather than just tell you everything that we did, we wanted to show you what our students experienced!

 

Anthony speaking to students.

Our six local speakers shared their stories and wisdom with our students, each with their own lessons on what it means to be EMPOWERED.

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Students worked with students from other schools in the breakout sessions to brainstorm ideas and share similarities and differences in their communities. This is when they were introduced to the AMF Service Challenge. In the challenge, schools are asked to develop project ideas that address needs in a community, whether local or international.

Some schools at the event already have potential ideas for their school projects.

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We will keep you updated as schools progress through the service challenge projects they decide to take on.

You can check out more photos from the event and learn more about what students took away from the event checking out the hashtag #EmpoweredCincy18 on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Thanks for checking in this week, we are already planning for next year’s YLS, we’re that excited about it!

 

Cheers,

 

Maddie

Events Intern

 

YLS 2018 – Speaker Spotlight

We just can’t keep it to ourselves anymore – we love our speakers for this year’s Youth Leadership Seminar! We have an amazing and diverse lineup and their messages are sure to empower us all.

RIA DAVIDSON

Ria is the co-founder of the Dragonfly Foundation, a local organization that helps pediatric cancer patients and their families find “strength, courage and joy by providing emotional, relational and practical support”. Ria founded Dragonfly after serving as a caregiver during her mother-in-law’s battle with cancer and serving as a family support when her co-founder’s son became sick as well. Ria has over 25 years’ experience in public relations, communications management and consulting, which has helped with the growth of Dragonfly.

NICK JACKSON

Nick is the founder of Nick Jackson Speaks and Speakers of Love. He is a motivational speaker who has enlightened, entertained and championed the lives of over 755,000 high school and collegiate students to date. His motivational speeches are founded in the principles of loving thy neighbor and serving one’s community. He is the only keynote speaker to have presented for eight consecutive years at the Anthony Muñoz Youth Leadership Seminar.

MICHAEL LAROSA

Michael is the oldest son of company founder, Buddy LaRosa. As current CEO of LaRosa’s Pizzeria, he has been instrumental in developing the service culture within the organization, with a focus on leadership development. Before rising to the executive level, Michael was trained in all aspects of the family business, gaining a throughout understanding of the company.

 

TYRA PATTERSON

Tyra is currently the Community Outreach Strategy Specialist for the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP). Before joining OIP, Tyra spent 23 years in prison for murder and robbery, which were crimes she did not commit. She used her time in prison to educate herself by earning her GED, a steam engineer’s license, becoming a certified tutor and completed a paralegal training program. She now advocates on behalf of OIP and works to educate children about the importance of staying in school (she was a 6^th grade drop-out) and avoiding drug use.

 

JOSHUA REID

Joshua is a Digital and Social Media Marketing trainer, social media strategist for commercial brands and a national spokesman for General Nutrition Center (GNC). HE is the president and CEO of Drivenoptics, a full-service Digital and Social Media Marketing Agency in Cincinnati. He has worked with organizations such as Harley Davidson and the Mercedes Benz Club of America and taught courses in online marketing for companies.

LAUREN WORLEY

Lauren is currently the Chief Communications and Engagement Officer for Cincinnati Public Schools, the best performing urban school district in Ohio. Prior to working in Cincinnati, Lauren worked for NASA (yes, NASA), as Press Secretary and Senior Adviser. She also has worked for the ONE campaign, a global organization focused on eliminating extreme poverty and preventable disease. She is a fearless communicator and tireless champion for positive change.

 

With a lineup like this, how can the event be anything but inspiring? We can’t wait to hear each speaker’s unique story and their messages to students.

You can learn more about our Youth Leadership Seminar and see what’s coming next by checking out the hashtag #EmpoweredCincy18 on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Thanks for checking in this week, we can’t wait to hear from our students about what their favorite part of YLS was! Tune in next week to hear our recap.

 

Cheers,

 

Maddie

Events Intern

YLS 2018 – We’re Ready for You!

It’s finally here! YLS is a week away and we are busy preparing for it here at the Foundation. It’s our biggest event in the fall, and we can’t wait to see all our students back in a few weeks!

Students excited about the event in 2016.

This fall, our theme is all about being “EMPOWERED”.  We hope students can walk away learning:

 

• How little actions can make a big impact.

• How students can empower themselves.

• How our speakers (local Cincinnatians) overcame their individual struggles and learned how to become a leader and then empower others.

• Different ways, both big and small, to make an impact in the community through the AMF Service Challenge.

• How you can empower others to do their best and succeed.

• About other school communities in the area, and their unique stories and similarities and differences to your school.

 

2007 Seminar.

2007 Seminar

Since our first Seminar in 2002, we have impacted over 14,000 Tri-State area students from more than 100 local schools. We can’t wait to see what messages our students walk away from after listening to our speakers this year.

Check out this recap here from our Seminar in 2016 to understand what all the excitement is about. Interested in participating in this year’s YLS? Sign up to be a volunteer here!

2016 Recap Video

Thanks for tuning in this week, we are counting down the days to our Youth Leadership Seminar and are very excited. Tune in next week to read more about our YLS speakers and Emcee, Jamir Howerton.

Cheers,

 

Maddie

Events Intern

Back to School and Back to YLS!

As everyone returns to school this fall, there is plenty to think about. New classes, new school supplies, and maybe even adjusting to a new school. What’s on our minds at AMF this fall? That YLS is back!

What is YLS, you may ask? It is officially known as our Youth Leadership Seminar, an annual event where more than 1,000 local students from up to 100 tri-state schools come together for a day of engaging speakers, breakout sessions and opportunities to reflect on how they can create change. We’re excited to be back this year, in partnership with Centene Corporation, and the countdown is on to October 17, 2018, at the Crossroads Complex in Mason.

With our theme of ‘Empowerment’ this fall, speakers will self-reflect on what’s empowered them, how it’s made them the community leader they are today and in return how they empower others. We love having our students at this event because they can learn from and communicate with other local students about self-empowerment, leadership and community involvement. This seminar is also important as students develop ideas for how they can positively impact their communities through the AMF Service Challenge.

Check out a blog on past AMF Service Challenge projects here and learn more about the impact our YLS students have made over the years.

Here’s a example of a project that was created after the 2016 YLS Seminar. Bracken High School students created a 24/7 ‘Blessings’ Box that houses items such as non-perishable food, toiletries and baby items, and is open to anyone in the community. The purpose is to leave an item when you can, and take an item when you need it.

Bracken High School students created a community “Blessings Box”. 

We started this event in 2002, and it keeps growing every year. We especially want to recognize those schools that have attended for more than 10 years!

We are looking forward to seeing our students back at YLS this fall. From long-time partners to first-timers, we’re excited for another great year at YLS! If you haven’t registered yet, here’s your chance. We currently have more than 60 tri-state schools registered. If your school is not registered, use the link here to get started.

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about YLS. We are excited to see welcome all our students back this year in October and see how they become empowered to create change in their communities. Check back next week for our next blog post on our local tutoring program – Whiz Kids!

 

Cheers,

Maddie

Events Intern

Back to School Means YLS is Just Around the Corner!

Back to school blues? Not when you have the 2017 Youth Leadership Seminar to look forward to! With registration open, we are looking to make this year’s event our biggest and best yet. Start your countdowns, because YLS will be here before you know it!

We are so excited for the event this year, and look forward to seeing so many familiar faces, from schools, students, and moderators. Our annual YLS started in 2005, and some schools have participated since the beginning. In fact, there have been twelve schools that have gone 12 for 12 in years attended! A HUGE thank you to…

We hope these schools will continue their streak by attending this year’s YLS on October 12, 2017 at Xavier University.

Last year, YLS had a total of 94 schools in attendance from our Area of Impact. Whether it was ten-minute drive to over an hour, these schools all came with one goal:  to learn from their experience at YLS and leave ready to impact others. An overwhelming 41 schools came from Hamilton county for our event in 2016. Butler, Clermont, Brown, and Kenton county all brought a great amount of schools as well to help 2016 be such a success. Watch our 2016 Recap to see what all the buzz was about last year!

This year at our YLS event, we are looking to empower even more schools. We hope to see not only schools that have attended every year, but schools who have not attended consecutively or it’s their first time with us!

So, what are you waiting for? Register now for our 2017 Youth Leadership Seminar! We can promise you it will be an event you do not want to miss out on. If you’ve already registered, share it using #EmpoweredCincy17. See you on October 12^th!

Seeing the Impact First-Hand

The Anthony Muñoz Foundation’s (AMF) mission is to impact the lives of Tri-State area youth mentally, physically, and spiritually and I have been fortunate enough to watch this happen first hand.  I started working at the Foundation last fall and I have the privilege of interning this spring as well.  I have been able to gain real world experience, but more importantly I have been able to see the impact AMF has on lives.

The Foundation runs a tutoring program called Whiz Kids that works with students to help enrich their reading abilities.  Seeing them grow in their reading capabilities was incredible to watch.  I was also fortunate enough to be a tutor for one of the students and working with her every week was always a highlight. To see her grin from ear to ear from understanding a word she had been struggling with was all I needed to want to come back each week.  Without the Foundation I would not have been a Whiz Kids tutor or known how much positive impact these students were receiving with AMF’s help.  To learn more about Whiz Kids and see how you can get involved check out last week’s blog post.

Not only is the Anthony Muñoz Foundation helping students through tutoring, but also with their Youth Leadership Seminar and different camps.  The Youth Leadership Seminar brings together local high school students to give them the tools they need to positively impact their communities.  I was able to see students come up with projects that would better their school, their peers, and their neighbors.  The Foundation realizes the importance of the youth and helps them understand the positive effect they can have on other people.  AMF is also able to use the game of football as a character building tool.  Not only are middle school boys able to learn football skills, but they also learn about the character traits that can help them succeed in life.  I had helped with events centered about sports, but the dedication to character that is rooted in every event the Foundation runs is something I had not seen before.

To be able to intern at the Anthony Muñoz Foundation has been an incredible experience that I am glad is not over yet.  I know that the moments of seeing Tri-State youth smile from learning a new word, realize how much of an impact they can have, and implementing positive character traits in their own lives will stay with me long after I am done interning.  I cannot wait to see what is in store for the spring and be able to share with you the impact the Foundation will have on lives!

 

Kristin Shaffer
Football Programs Intern

2015 AMF Challenge

The Youth Leadership Seminar (YLS) was a huge success where Tri-State area students learned how to break trends, start trends, and be leaders.  To relive the event check out our recap video:

At the Seminar, we challenged students to take what they learned that day, combine it with a need in their community and come up with a project for our AMF Service Challenge. Student’s projects range from mentor programs and charity walks to mental health awareness events. Check out all of the projects submitted to the Challenge and see if they’ll be impacting a community near you!

This year to help the students with their projects we are introducing The Assembly. The Assembly is compiled of Cincinnati leaders who will assist schools with fundraising, marketing, media, and project development.  To see which leaders are involved and  see what impact it will make check back here next week.

Kristin Shaffer
Experience Intern
#AMFChallenge

The Youth Leadership Seminar Continues to Impact

The Youth Leadership Seminar (YLS) is quickly approaching.  The schools are the most important part of our event each year. Without them the seminar would not be possible.  We here at the Anthony Muñoz Foundation believe in partnership and we cannot thank the schools enough that make every year great and continue to come back and experience the event.  We would like to give a special shout out to a few schools who are making this year special.

We have 12 schools that will be attending their 11^th YLS this year!  They have seen the impact from the seminar and we cannot thank them enough for entrusting us to help empower their students.  Thank you for your continued involvement:

A statistic that we are especially proud of is that 65 of the 74 schools currently registered are attending for a consecutive year!  All of these schools saw the positive effect that the Youth Leadership Seminar had on their students and community and want to further the impact this year.

We have 9 newbie schools that are attending just their second ever YLS this year and we are excited to continue working with them and see their students impact their communities.  We cannot wait to have them pack their bus and come to the next 5, 10 , and even 15 Youth Leadership Seminars!

There are still schools that have yet to register for the 2015 YLS! Check to see if your school is one of the 74 currently registered!

Kristin Shaffer
Experience Intern
#NTCincy15

Making A Difference: Will Gilliland

We were able to catch up with Will, a student at MoellerHigh School, and talk about “Working For a Smile”, their Service Challenge Project from 2014. Last time we spoke with Will, “Working For a Smile” was a project in process, now we see how Will and his peers at Moeller took our challenge to create a service project a step further and decided to not only impact their own community, but also the community of Santa Cruz, Peru through “Working For a Smile”.  (You can view their trip below)

What was your biggest take away from the Youth Leadership Seminar?

Will: My biggest take away from the seminar was just the inspiration of seeing other high school students become passionate about doing service work in the community. Seeing my peers come up with great ideas for service pushed me to come up with the most challenging service project possible. The speakers also inspired me to go out and make a difference in someone else’s life as so many have done to me in my own life.

What impact have you seen in your community and school from the Youth Leadership Seminar and from “Working for a Smile”?

Will: I saw a large impact from my school when we raised money through the penny wars because tons of people got involved and I was happy to see the support of my peers and my school. There was also large support from my school to try and win second place in the contest when students used social media to try and win. The Seminar was a great opportunity to raise awareness for service not just domestically but also internationally in my community and my school.

Would you recommend others go to the Youth Leadership Seminar?

Will: Yes, because it engages students in a subject that talks about service to those in need. Whether it is bullying or the homeless there is always someone who needs help and with the great opportunities given to my peers and I by our parents and our schools we have the ability to help others. The Youth Leadership Seminar inspired me to take advantage of these opportunities and it led me to great success with my project.

You were the student leader for the Service Project Challenge.  How did “Working For a Smile” specifically impact your own life?

Will: It impacted my life by forming a sense of work ethic that I never thought I could have before. This project helped me reach my potential and the satisfaction I derived in seeing the respect from the villagers made it so worth it. It helped me form new relationships as well as reestablish old ones and also helped me form new ideals to live by.  This project has changed me as a person greatly and I will never forget the positive impact it had on my life and especially the people we helped.

Check to see if your school is on the list for this year’s Youth Leadership Seminar so your students can make an impact like Will!

Kristin Shaffer
Experience Intern
#NTCincy15

Are You Sparked For Now Trending?

We are still buzzing about the success of last year’s Youth Leadership Seminar (YLS)! Spark exceeded expectations with 100 schools and over 1,300 students in attendance.  But we know this year will be even better (you can relive all of the excitement from last year below)!

This year’s speakers will discuss how leaders break trends, follow their own trends and how a trending idea can help form and empower a community.  Our desire is that students will leave encouraged and empowered to define their leadership skills and make a difference in our Tri-State communities.

YLS 2015 will feature:

• 5-7 Powerful Speakers From Our Very Own Tri-State Area
• A Delicious Lunch From Chick-fil-A
• Jamming with KJ-52
• Break Out Session for Service Challenge Projects

We want this year’s YLS to be bigger and better than ever! So far these schools have registered:

If your school is not on the list there is still time to sign up for YLS on our website and help redefine Now Trending!

Kristin Shaffer
Experience Intern
#NTCincy15