What are you passionate about?
Wendy grew up in a middle class family in Dallas, Texas. She was raised in an affluent area of Dallas, and had the opportunity and privilege to attend Princeton University. When her senior year arrived she began wondering what she would do after graduation. She did not feel she was supposed to follow the corporate “white collar” road to financial success many of her classmates were on.
She had a desire to change the world, but struggled with what that could look like. She had explored teaching in the public schools, and lamented the disparities that existed in educational opportunity in America. She decided to organize a conference for students and business leaders to examine the possibility of reforming the United States K-12 education system (not too large of a task, huh?). Wendy believed that depriving children of a good education was a shame that had to be addressed.
During the conference, a light came on in Wendy’s thinking: Why doesn’t America have a national teacher corps of recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in the public schools? That idea later crystallized in a dream to launch Teach for America in 1992, what many have called the most successful secondary educational program of the last two decades.
Wendy recognized the need for more committed teachers in public schools and went out to recruit thousands of the best young people she could find from colleges across the country. The recruits bought into Wendy’s vision to improve educational opportunities for kids and care for children, but it wasn’t easy.
Teach for America started off with an inconsistent funding base and a lack of management experience. Many times Wendy would have to tackle significant fund raising to cover deficits, and was always restructuring budget figures and personnel needs. Her passion and dedication for the mission kept her going when others weren’t so sure of the future of the organization in the midst of so many obstacles.
Wendy invested fifteen years of passionate leadership making Teach for America work. Since it began in 1992, the program has ten thousand graduates, more than half of whom have remained in the teaching profession. Teach for America continues to attract and recruit top college graduates to join the mission and has an established and sustainable funding base for its staff and programs. U.S. News and World Report named Wendy Kopp one of “America’s Top Leaders” in 2006.
Think about it. Wendy Kopp was once a college student carrying a backpack, trying to figure out what to do with her life. She found and discovered something she was passionate about and inspired a lot of other people to join her in a cause that was worth giving their lives to. Wendy took a risk, worked hard, modeled authentic leadership, and affected the lives of countless others. What an example to follow! Read 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Wise leaders know that the real measure of their success is not the money, fame, or influence they acquire, but the quality of their lives. Wise people invest their lives in things that bring the most lasting and gratifying rewards. Serve globally.
Love is a verb,
Mike O
P.S. I want to remind you about our New York-New England Chi Alpha Retreat, Feb 13-15, 2009. This is the weekend before President’s Day, so it’s a holiday weekend. All the retreat info is posted at www.newenglandchialpha.org. The deadline for registration is January 29.
