Johanna Masis, LDI Fellow 2016
Johanna felt stuck.
Working in the out-of-school time field the past 15 years had not been easy – every day she watched her students struggle, encountering one barrier after another and facing problems that even adults would be challenged to navigate. Johanna was balancing a web of problems, deadlines, and competing needs, that sometimes felt tedious to untangle. She wondered what other supports were available.
Then, Johanna became a Leadership Development Institute (LDI) Fellow.
Through LDI, she gained a community of practitioners who were navigating similar challenges. Johanna also found her voice, emboldened to identify problems, name what needed to change and stand tall, knowing that she was the person to provide solutions. She became a strong advocate for change in her organization and grew in confidence. So, when an opportunity came to apply for a promotion, Johanna got the job! In this new role, she knew that she could impact hundreds more young people, and now had tools to advance systems change in her program, across her community and at state and national levels.