Finals are near and as they approach I would like to share a little about my experiences with The Millennium Momentum Foundation’s Leadership Development Institute. I decided that I wanted to be as active as possible while in graduate school and MMF’s LDI provided the perfect mix of leadership training and networking opportunities for me. I wasn’t too sure that I would have enough time to participate and tackle all the excellent opportunities available to me through the MMF but so far so good.
For starters, my MMF tuition was paid for by an anonymous donor so that I could participate in the program. I was shocked to say the least when Jason Seward and Jason Molina contacted me about this. I was not sure I could cover the full costs myself and when I brought this to Jason Seward’s attention he made some phone calls for me. This one gesture won me over. I cannot say enough about the level of generosity, hospitality, and professionalism I have experienced while taking part in the MMF LDI.
Not being one to take things for granted, I decided that I needed to make this donor proud and do my best to make sure that I am visible to all the guest speakers and hit as many networking events as possible. Through the MMF I have had the chance to meet some well connected individuals including the Mayor of Carson, the Mayor of Manhattan Beach, a staff attorney for the California State Controller’s Office, a staff attorney for The City of Los Angeles, one of the top managers for the Los Angeles Transportation Department, and a Vice President at Union Bank. Needless to say these contacts would not have been established had it not been for my time at the MMF. Through the MMF I was able to position myself for an internship with the State Controller’s Office and introduced one of my fellow SPP students to the Mayor of Manhattan Beach. She is now writing speeches for the mayor as a result of my introduction.
One of the best parts of the program has been meeting other students in the program. Many of my peers are graduate level students at USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, and Loyola. There are also a few undergraduate students in the program and I find that I am able to share some of my experiences with these students as well. My hope is that they can learn from some of my academic and personal mistakes and hopefully avoid making similar mistakes. Most importantly, I am building connections with the some of the future leaders of California.
Part of the MMF LDI curriculum is the completion of homework. This isn’t the typical graduate school homework where you read a thousand pages and write a paper. Instead I am learning how to apply what I have learned in the classroom to real life. I have sat in on meetings with leaders as they discuss policy issues and then offer my feedback in terms of what I might do if I faced similar situations etc. one of the benefits of being in the MMF program is that I have access to many people in the community who know how to get things done, and as a result I have been working on a 503(c) that I would like to launch in the near future. Basically the MMF gives me a chance to work on things outside of Pepperdine that in many ways reinforce what Pepperdine has taught me thus far.
With that being said, I would highly encourage anyone who is interested in making connections to check out the MMF. Now back to prepping for finals…wish me luck.
