Profile of A Volunteer

My co-worker, Anne brings bread to work about three days a week. One of those days, the bread is to share with us, her work community. On the other days, Anne drops the home baked bread off with a friend or an acquaintance that is struggling with or celebrating life. Anne ministers with bread. You can taste love in her work. I cannot begin to estimate how many loaves of bread that have left Anne's kitchen. In baking, Anne celebrates life's high points, a new baby, a college graduation, a promotion at work and life's low points, a death, a divorce, a miscarriage.

Anne's bread is symbolic of her passion for connection and community. In times when so many of us write checks to organizations or volunteer to serve on boards, Anne's act of kindness seems so intimate in comparison. Anne's bread says I care. I care enough to bake, to deliver the bread, and to show up at your doorstep for a brief (or not so brief) visit. In it's simplicity, the bread heals. Anne is our school readiness facilitator in the district. One of her major responsibilities has been to assist immigrant families in navigating the school district. She takes her time to get to know each family and astonishingly remembers their names, names that take practice to master years later. When Anne sees an alumni family at school, so many of them thank her for her gift of bread to welcome them.

I know bank presidents who give large amounts of cash to programs but  never take the time to know anyone being served there. I know CEO's who donate to the food bank but never dine with folks who live in poverty. Anne's story resonates with me in a way that leaves me inspired to make real connections with people as I volunteer. Organizations that put real people in the path of folks who need them, like Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the Miller Mentoring Program, and Ready, Set, School are all local organizations that make a real impact with people power. Kindness is powerful, kindness matters.

Using Social Media to Get Connected

Three years ago I was living a disconnected social media life. I had a cell phone but not an iphone. I didn't text and I could not be found on a social media site. Life was calmer. I read more books. I was happy. When my life became more public, I was encouraged to get on Facebook. I refused and started a blog as a compromise. Why would I want to live such a public life? My life was already full of people, more than I had time for much of the time. My life changed with her. I won her and she changed my life. Here she is:

I could work anywhere! I could update my blog when I traveled! I joined Facebook under a secret name. I was hesitant because I feared having to do parent education on social media, something I did not want to do. I later created a Community Facebook page to announce my speaking schedule and to promote early childhood programs and efforts. I joined LinkedIn. I maintain a website.

I took a digital learning class in Washington DC last summer that required me to open a Twitter account. Without a doubt, this has been the best social media tool I use to connect with legislators, policy makers, and community leaders on behalf of advancing early childhood in MN. Just today, for example, I sent a Valentine to MN's House Majority Leader. She tweeted about it. I was thrilled!

I would appreciate any feedback that anyone has to offer about my social media connections. You can find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/KatySmithWinona and on Twitter, my user name is KatyMN12. I am on Google Plus and LinkedIn, both of those accounts have the same picture that I use for my Walden work. Let me know what you think!

Advocacy Message

It seems to me that everyone smoked when I was a kid, movie stars, princesses, models, and even my favorite cartoon characters. Taking up smoking was a right of passage between adolescence and adulthood. The Marlboro Man was a powerful symbol of independence and free spiritedness. I looked forward to the time that I could start smoking during my childhood. Smoking was glamorous.

In my lifetime, smoking has gone from glamorous to gross. The body bag commercial by the American Legacy Foundation is just one example of a serious anti smoking campaign that raged through out my adulthood. The public education campaign was so successful, it prompted public policy that has increased the taxes on cigarettes to make them largely unaffordable for most Americans. I cannot think of a friend or colleague of mine who smokes now. 

Both advocacy messages draw on the emotions of the viewers. The smoking ads sell a feeling of independence and relaxation. The anti smoking ad sells a feeling of anger and betrayal. Any time we can illicit an emotional response from the intended audience, an ad campaign is successful. 

My Own Capacity

The culture of childhood fuels my passion and sparks my interest every day. I often think about children in the context of their families and community. The parent child relationship has been topic that has fascinated me for nearly three decades. Supporting that relationship has been the focus of my career.

Childhood, done well, gives children the foundation for a healthy life. I am interested in advocating for a healthy childhood and creating community conversations about issues that impact a healthy childhood. Media, technology, play, routine, structure, discipline, and raising readers are just a few of the topics I educate the public about. Over the weekend, I delivered five different speeches in the span of thirty hours in three cities. I spoke to roughly 1000 people. This is the best advocacy work I do. 

I have a long history in the field which has created a body of work that is rich in stories, experiences, education, and research. I have a long contact list that includes colleagues, legislators, parents, foundation leaders, and community members. I love public speaking and teaching. I am a powerful communicator. I think I have everything I need to be an effective advocate. 

In order to continue to grow along with the early childhood "movement" in our state, I need to work hard to help elect politicians who believe in the importance of investing. Lots of candidates seek my endorsement and I always take my time to be thoughtful in endorsing. I also take the time to educate each candidate about the importance of early childhood and our nations commitment to create policy and fund our most important resource.