Academy Ambassadors Host Leadership Workshop

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  • Lucy Sanchez, Career Technical Education Academy Specialist, contemplates advice given by the panel.

  • Candice Erickson from the Better Business Bureau recounts past experiences with decision making and leadership.

  • Participating in a group activity, students talk to each other about leadership skills.

  • Students listen to the panel’s advice and stories.

  • The panel of industry professionals answers questions asked by students.

  • Tricia Berry from the UT Women in Engineering Project talks about building trust and motivation as a leader.

  • Sherry Newman, A+ Federal Credit Union Assistant Branch Manager, gives advice for planning events.

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Academy Ambassadors from the Business and Industry Academy held a leadership workshop for members to attend on Wednesday, March 27, in the lecture hall. The event was organized by the event planning sub-committee comprised of current ambassadors.

“When I first started planning, the idea fascinated me that we were going to have a leadership workshop where all the academy ambassadors were going to get an awesome opportunity of talking to four business partners and gaining some valuable leadership skills,” Mayesha Kabir ‘20 said. “As we delved deeper into the planning, I got to learn a lot of new things including how to collaborate with fellow academy ambassadors. It was a learning process and I was nervous and excited simultaneously on how it was going to turn out.”

The workshop featured industry professionals from different businesses and organizations. This included Tricia Berry, the Director of UT Women in Engineering, Carol D’Avila,  the Artistic Director of the Austin City Ballet, Candice Erickson the Event Director for the Better Business Bureau, and Sherry Newman, the Assistant Branch Manager of A+ Federal Credit Union.

“I think the leadership workshop was very helpful because it provided insight into leadership skills which are not only useful for small projects but ultimately the workforce,” Anna Huang ‘20 said. “Having a panel of professionals give advice really allowed me to take away the important leadership characteristics such as communication, listening, and confidence. Overall, the workshop was very useful because I learned how to improve myself as a leader.”

The professionals not only discussed leadership, but also other valuable life skills, like event planning. Once the panel had given their advice, the event devolved into a Q&A.

“Personally I thoroughly enjoyed the leadership workshop and loved hearing advice from various leaders in the industry,” Sakshi Dhavalikar ‘21 said. “They gave us a lot of advice on how to become a better leader and how they were able to become leaders themselves. I will definitely use their advice in the future.”

The next Academy Ambassador event will be the monthly round up meeting on Monday, April 1 at 4:30 p.m..