Elaine Salvo (EL ’15, LL ’13, FL ’10), retired president, Assumption High School
As a recently retired individual, my concern was palpable. What will I do now? How will I adjust to a slower life after such an incredibly busy job? When I was so used to giving to others, how will I continue to serve? The opportunity offered by the Leadership Louisville Center to apply for Encore Louisville came at just the perfect time! And it is an honor to be part of this inaugural program.
Our first meeting in December laid out the plan for our work and gave us an opportunity to get to know each other. We spent the morning with general information and expectations and received a primer on how to work together and with others in the non-profit realm as consultants from Karen Wunderlin. The afternoon gave us the opportunity to speak with ten non-profits who requested assistance, followed by our individual decisions to work with one of them. And voila! Our team was formed: John Fleming, Pat Parks, Bill Summers, and myself. We chose to work with the non-profit, School Choice Scholarships.
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” (Phil Jackson)
Never was this observed as clearly as the experience our team brought to the non-profit we worked with during the first cycle of Encore Louisville. Chosen for the Encore program because of the skills we developed during our work before (and maybe after) retirement, it was so interesting to see the variety of skills that were contributed by our team. Among many, one brought knowledge, another management experience, another the ability to clarify the issues, and another important connections. Each member of our team had so many strengths and together we put together a strong action plan for the board of School Choice Scholarships to consider. It was so interesting to witness those strengths and deep experience as our work together developed. Each team member was engaged completely and the respect and understanding shown to Heather Huddleston, executive director, was heartening. Shall I say, we all “clicked” together!
We continue to wait for information about the final results of our work, but the commitment of our team and the receptiveness of Heather gave us great satisfaction. It was a positive experience and hopefully one that is fruitful in its outcomes.
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