Every UC Merced student has the potential to engage in leadership. That means you!
The best way to develop leadership skills is simplty to dive in and try! Our programs and experiences will help you identify your strengths as a leader, find your confidence, & help you identify the way you want to engage in leadership at UC Merced and beyond. Everyone's journey is different. The Souza Leadership Center is here to help. We offer two types of opportunities:
Leadership Experiences are usually one-time workshops, seminars, service trips, and conferences that allow students to engage in self-exploration and learn about leadership strategies as well as elevate their current leadership skills.
Leader Development Programs are comprehensive programs in which students interested in becoming a Bobcat Leader make the commitment to their leadership development by joining programs that are either 6 weeks, 1 semester, or 1-2 years long.
-
Short-term opportunities to engage in leadership development at UC Merced!
- Usually one-time events
- Great to dip your toes into leadership!
- Open to all students! Some events due require registration beforehand!
- Volunteering remotely
-
Long-term opportunities to engage in leadership development at UC Merced!
- Donate to local domestic violence shelters.
- Donate to your local mutual aid fund.
- Commit to donate a percentage of your salary to youth mentoring organizations.
- Donate your extra produce to Merced’s People’s Fridge.
-
Involving, educating, and mobilizing individual or collective action to influence or persuade others.
- Collaborate on a campaign event (knocking on doors, phone calls, tabling, etc.) to raise awareness about an issue you are passionate about.
- Join a coalition to promote community activism.
- Organize your peers through social media to promote a local community political campaign.
- Create a petition for an issue you care about and work to get others to sign it.
-
Connecting coursework and academic research to community-identified concerns to enrich knowledge and inform action on social issues.
- Partner with local agencies to survey or interview residents on the effects of recent local legislation that has passed.
- Enroll in a program that combines coursework with field experience in community organizing around an issue you feel passionate about.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of a program in your community that was created to address a local need.
-
Participating in political processes, policymaking, and public governance.
- Attend or organize a political debate, forum, or town hall to discuss issues affecting your local community.
- Visit with your elected representative to discuss building community centers and spaces.
- Draft legislation related to a personal cause or passion.
-
Using ethical business or private sector approaches to create or expand market-oriented responses to social or environmental problems.
- Participate in a class with a student-managed investment fund to invest in organizations that support public works like parks, libraries, and schools.
- Work for a business to develop a product or technology that supports your community's small business owners.
- Develop a lending project to help people in your community start small businesses.
See our Pathways Worksheet for additional information!
Source: Stanford University Haas Center for Public Service. Please see their work on Pathways by visiting: https://haas.stanford.edu/about/our-approach/pathways-public-service-and....
