Colleen Younghans
Operations/Communications Director
Email: colleen.younghans@ctunitedway.org

March 27, 2007

Local Youth Get Lesson on Leadership

Over one hundred students from six area high schools gathered on Tuesday night to attend the United Way of West Central Connecticut’s annual Youth Forum, entitled “Learn Today… Lead Tomorrow.” The forum was planned and led by the United Way Youth Board, a group of approximately 30 local high school students.

The forum had five impressive speakers discussing the theme of youth leadership: Ryan J. Bingham, Mayor of Torrington; Tony DiCicco, Olympic Women’s Soccer Coach; Keith Goralski, Senior Director of Operations for ESPN Radio; Jillian Sullivan, All-American collegiate athlete; and Evan Taback, young business owner of TEM Associates.

The members of the Youth Board came up with the list of speakers and contacted and booked each of them. The students felt that each of these speakers would bring a different and unique aspect of leadership, from the business world to sports to politics.

When asked why he agreed to speak at the forum, Mayor Ryan J. Bingham stated, “As the youngest Mayor in Connecticut, it is my greatest hope to encourage my generation to get involved. Leaders are not bound by age and the people present at this forum are wonderful examples of that.”

This year’s theme of youth leadership is an important one for students today. As Matt Gorman, a senior at St. Paul Catholic High School and a member of the Youth Board, explained, “We choose the theme to emphasize our commitment to growing young leaders. It is our hope that the skills and lessons learned from this forum will help the attendees of the forum to lead their communities as positive role models.”

The forum was organized as a panel, with each presenter speaking for about ten minutes. The speakers told their story of becoming a youth leader and/or helping to cultivate leadership in others. The speakers were asked to leave the students with a lesson on leadership, such as “Don’t let anyone ever step in your way… Take risks and don’t be afraid to fail,” both good pieces of advice from Evan Taback, a young professional who started his first business at the age of 13. The group then had an open question and answer period, which allowed the students to delve deeper into each speakers’ personal story.

“I applaud the United Way for creating this forum… everyone that is involved in youth sports needs to be involved with developing leadership and character traits,” said Tony DiCicco, former Olympic Women’s soccer coach.

Donna Osuch, United Way’s Community Impact Coordinator, said that the United Way only provided the springboard for this Forum, since the students were responsible for most aspects of the evening. “The students came up with the theme, booked all of the speakers, figured out the program and format for the evening, and recruited their peers to attend the Forum. This is really an amazing group of young adults, all of whom truly exemplify our theme of youth leadership.”

And this group of young adults had high hopes for the students who attended the forum – “So often in our society, young people are marginalized as ineffective and powerless. We hope that through the stories of our speakers, our attendees can learn that one doesn’t need to wait until they are older to make a difference,” Gorman stated.

It is clear that this group is already making a difference.

About United Way of West Central Connecticut
The United Way of West Central Connecticut originated as the Community Chest of Bristol, Conn. in 1922 and later expanded into the towns of Burlington and Plymouth. The United Way of Bristol, Burlington and Plymouth merged with the United Way of Plainville in 1996 to form the United Way of West Central Connecticut, which is one of 22 independent United Ways in Connecticut and one of 1,350 national and worldwide agencies. The United Way of West Central Connecticut has been in partnership with individuals, business and organizations working to improve community life for 85 years.