Alzheimer's Association
Fall 2022 - Present
From spring of 2022 through the present, I have been volunteering with the Alzheimer’s Association. I started off as a member of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s committee, and since then have taken on many different roles. Shortly after my first walk on the committee, I accepted a volunteer position as a community educator and started teaching various education sessions related to Alzheimer’s and related dementias. I made many connections with impacted individuals, and hearing their stories lead me to public policy and advocacy. I was invited to the capitol for the first time in March of 2023, and since then have been writing letters to the editors and meeting with elected officials to advocate for more support and a better life for those impacted by this disease.
Going into my first volunteer position, I felt like I had found something I could be unapologetically passionate about. My grandfather was living with Alzheimer’s Disease at the time, and my grandmother is living with dementia. Fundraising for a cure felt fulfilling, and being around other individuals who had loved ones with this disease brought me into a community I did not previously know existed. Working as a team to lead the way towards a better future for those living with Alzheimer’s showed me a unique kind of leadership, where we are leading and advocating for individuals that sometimes cannot voice their wants or opinions.
This sometimes proved a challenge for me. One of my strengths is that I am very assertive and don’t typically hesitate to take charge. But this strength turned into a weakness when it came to the type of patience it takes to understand these individuals and properly advocate for them. A good leader will listen to the needs of the people they’re leading, and I sometimes found myself not doing that. Often I would think about the needs of my grandparents only and I would act on what’s best for them. But I was in a leadership position where my fundraising, teaching, and advocating would affect other’s lives as well. I had to take a step back and be conscious of the diverse needs of every individual I interacted with. This sometimes required taking my personal history and feelings out of the interaction, and I found this very challenging.
This is where the teams I worked with really helped me learn and grow. When I would suggest something that was not quite right, they would kindly and respectfully suggest altering that idea and making it better. They showed me how to find balance between leading on behalf of others and leading on behalf of your own personal experience and feelings. Utilizing this balance allowed me to be compassionate yet logical about how I would go about helping others.
For the 2023 Walk to End Alzheimer’s, I accepted the opportunity to be the chair of the walk committee. I struggled with the idea of leading the individuals that had taught me how to be a leader myself. But this group was very self-motivated, and my goal as a leader was more coordination and supporting them in achieving their individual tasks and goals. I appreciated this type of leadership experience, because prior to leading this group I had worked primarily in groups that needed a lot of support and direction. I learned that you can be a leader in both scenarios, and this is another example of leadership adapting to the needs of the group instead of forcing the group to adapt to your leadership style.
I will continue developing my leadership within the Alzheimer’s Association past graduation and hopefully for the rest of my adult life. I know I have so much to learn from my mentors in this organization, and my personal leadership style has become so flexible and adaptable through the opportunities they’ve provided me. The lessons I’ve learned translate well to my career, and continuing to work with the Alzheimer’s Association will help me continue to foster my leadership skills throughout the rest of my life.
