Oh, you have a new job? That's awesome! What do you do?

I've been hearing this question a lot lately from important people in my life - my friends, my family, my girlfriend's parents... And when I first started, I would generally mumble something about empowering young leaders in the progressive movement. True, but pretty vague.

I mean, yeah, I sit at my very own desk, with my name on the office door, but it's what I do at that desk (and around the rest of the office) that's important. As the weeks roll by, my understanding of my role at YP4 is becoming more clear. The most important job I have is to serve as the primary point of contact between Fellows who participate in Education and Leadership Programs and the rest of YP4.

On a daily basis I'm blown away by the intelligence and creativity of the Fellows I am working to support, sometimes to the point of wondering what I could possibly have to offer them. As someone who was raised in a conservative family and environment, I'm very aware that I'm still learning my way around the language, the acronyms, and the idiosyncrasies of the progressive movement, but I need to remind myself that I sure know how to serve.

We each bring our particular strengths to this movement. There are areas where we excell, and areas where we could use some education and training. I bring with me a sense of empathy that runs deeper than I have ever found the words to articulate, and a strong desire to build other people up and to support them. If ever I feel stuck on the details of how to do that, I can turn to others. I don't have to know the answers to every question, I just have to know who does know and try to learn from them.

To me, that's what the Education and Leadership Department is about. Making those connections and passing along relevant resources. It's about appreciating the wealth of knowledge and experience we're all bringing to the table, and acknowledging where we need help to make things happen.

Over my desk, I have a map with each of the 2009 Leadership Academy Fellows' faces.

I get to keep in touch with every one of them and talk to them about commitments and goals they have set. So these are the commitments I'm making to the 21 of you (I hope you're listening!):

I can't promise that I'll get everything right the first time around, but I can promise to listen and learn for the second time. I can't promise to know all the acronyms and vocabulary, but I can promise to educate myself. I can't promise to be well-versed on all of the issues you are working on just yet, but I can promise that I look at each of
your faces every single day, and I think about how I can serve you.

So what do I do for a living? I get to keep in contact with young people who are making a difference in the world.

Not bad. Not bad at all.