By Quentin Lehn, SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Around 20 Community Action Angels Agencies are in attendance this week as the 12th Annual Meeting of the Minds is taking place in Syracuse, New York. The purpose of the event is through speakers, workshops, and overall collaboration, to recap what a lot of the agencies have done this year and introduce strategies of how to further improve the state’s communities.
This year, the event started with a motivational speech from Lindsey Zajac from Ahern, Murphy & Associates, who spoke on how leaders are made, not born. Some of these activities included thinking about who was a mentor to you, and how did it make you feel. The point was that not all mentors are “born leaders” or well-known figures, that anyone can inspire.
Another notable speaker was Mike Kamish, CEO at Continual Care Solutions. He spoke on how we should be using data to benefit our communities.
“There’s been a lot of anecdotal and experiential data kind of recorded, and the field is trying to transition to more scientific more evidence based approach,” Kamish says.
This year also marks the creation of the Angel Action Committee, where 16 members come together to help organize and grow this volunteer-based organization. Pat Standish, the creator of this event, hopes this new committee will be an effective way to tackle community issues we see in multiple locations throughout the state.
