Plan With Your Heart: It's About The Kids

“Most of you came to this job because you care about kids,” said Alex Vila, the morning’s keynote speaker. “When you refine your vision go back to that one kid and make it very visually centered, drive the planning for your vision around that one kid.” Alex gave an uplifting talk using real-life examples of both program success stories and also how she grew into her role as a youth mentor.

She shared the story of Mario, a youth in the prison system. “I talked to him for 45 minutes about changing,” said the Colombian-born and raised Vila. At the end of the conversation he said to her, “Do not ask me to change, unless you can show me who to become.” The result of this epiphany led her to offer programs based around youth, their vision, and their goals. “It’s not about you but about the youth.”

Later, she used the exercise “How to fold a towel?” as a metaphor for program implementation. She brought up three people to demonstrate the right way to fold a towel. Of course, there is no right way. She then asked the volunteers to fold the towel into the bag, which fit just right. Later, she asked them to fold the same towel into a very small box. Of course only 15-20 percent of the towel fit. Her main point is to remain flexible with the program’s grant and implementation and to focus on the parts that impact youth. “Get out of your cubicle—check the temperature in your schools, walk your district,” said Alex, “get out and listen to young people.”