SPARK Leadership Institute

Any undergraduate and graduate student who is:

• open to the exploration of authenticity, connection, and commitment while increasing your capacity to lead
• interested in and ready to take action
• a member or leader of a CU Denver student organization
• a CU Denver student employee
• a volunteer or interested in serving the greater Denver community through supporting non-profits and agencies

Participants will be engaged in deliberative and reflective small group dialogue, large group interaction, and personal reflection

You will explore questions like:

• Who do I want to be? 
• What is my story?
• Am I being the leader I want to be? 
• What are the causes and communities I care most about and how can I contribute?

1. You will connect with a community of peers from across campus ... this might be a great opportunity to make some new friends!

2. You will get to explore what it really means to choose your own authentic path.

3. You will gain an understanding of how to best connect and contribute to the groups and causes you care about.

4. You will commit to a personal plan on how to be a catalyst for yourself, groups, and communities you care about.

5. You will leave compelled to start a new habit, to persist, and live in possibility.

• Engage In an Active Learning Experience: Showing up is only part of participating. Participants will challenge themselves to do something different to help their learning. If you are often the one speaking up, we will encourage you to listen more. If you tend to wait before engaging, we’ll encourage you to jump right in the middle and take a risk. Bottom line, we do not want you to wait for learning to happen. Spark will be about taking ownership of your learning and what you can accomplish in the community with others.

• Connect with Your Peers and Their Ideas: Participants will have time to get to know other peers and listen to their thoughts. It is rare to have the space to connect with other people and what they truly care about in the world. Spark creates a community that welcomes that opportunity.

• Craft Your Story: Where have you been? Who are you? What labels have you adopted that help tell your story? We are constantly writing our life’s story. We will take some time to think about what stories you have learned along the way and how you have developed. When we tell our story, we allow others to see us in a different way. We also make it a little easier for them to tell their story. Let’s have courage and be brave together to share stories and listen to the stories of others.

• Expand Your Perspective: If you continue to do what you have always done, you can’t really expect different results. Spark will challenge you to think out of the box. Ask “why” more often. Quietly reflect on your choices and the path you have taken so far … and then look farther. We do not know everything we think we know. Spark will encourage you to engage in curiosity and remain open to a different way of seeing the world.

Adapted from: 
https://thestamp.umd.edu/LCSL/Maryland_LEAD_Program/Catalyst