South Carolina Student Council Conference

I LOVE the South! Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong part of the nation. This past Friday night I was the Keynote speaker for the South Carolina Student Council conference. The opening session was amazing! They had a neat glow stick dance, a step team perform and an ending like no other! The theme was G'Vegas and the students did a wonderful job of playing up the theme. After I spoke, there was a surprise visit...from none other than Elvis himself! It was wonderful! Thank you for having me as your speaker!

Girl Scouts Birthday in Orange County

Today was the Girl Scouts birthday and I was the guest speaker for the girls at the Richard Nixon Library, (www.gsbirthday.org). There were over 1,500 young women focusing on the Girl Scout Law and building their leadership skills. It was a wonderful day!

8th Annual MS Conference-Elk Grove

Yesterday I was in Northern California for "Take A Stand, Stand Up, Stand Out and Stand Together" student run leadership conference. The local HS students presented over 15 different workshops to MS students and I was the keynote speaker and 1workshop presenter.

The HS students were remarkable presenters and had the ability to teach, inspire and get the MS students to think about teen issues and ways to be leaders on their campuses. It was a wonderful conference and I am certain those MS kids are making a difference in their schools!

Back Pocket Leadership Meets CADA 2009

I can't believe I have been going to CADA www.cada1.org for 5 years. Each year gets better and better and it is always a joy to see old friends and make new friends.

This year I presented twice during Meet The Pros and Curriculum Round Tables.

I shared my new product "Back Pocket Leadership" (launching the end of April) and 5 different activities with advisor. The activities focused on team building , communication skills, public speaking, problem solving and character building.

I will share more about the cards in the next month...if you want the CADA handout or a sneak peak of 6 free cards, email me at Jill@leadingforlife.com and I will send your way!

Dream Leader-Dreams and Disney

Over President's Day Weekend I met 25 of the most inspiring young people from all over the world... the US, Mexico, Jamaica, Panama, Ecuador and Costa Rica. We spent 4days bringing the book and game "Dream Leader" to life at Disney World.

The four day program consisted of learning, laughing, leadership, specialized workshops on dream setting.

Winter Leadership Conferences in Oregon

This past week I had the amazing opportunity of traveling around Southern and Eastern Oregon with Nancy Moen, the State Director of OASC www.oasc.org and meeting amazing students and advisers through regional leadership conferences. Here was our first school (mostly MS students- pic.the host school).



We had a four day tour starting in Hermiston, then to Hillsbro, followed by Roseburg and finally ending in Beaverton. All in all, we saw about 500 leadership students in middle and high school. Here is our second stop, (all HS studnets-pic.host school)!



The days consisted of ice breakers, a keynote message "Go Big and Make A Big Difference", a leadership workshop on leadership styles, lunch and finally a swap shop on new ideas and activities. The kids were really focused and energized at all four sites. Here are pictures with the host schools (host schools for days 3 and 4). Thanks OASC for a great time!

Where in the World?

So the holidays flew by and I had the opportunity to go to Israel in the month of January and kick off 2009 in an incredible way! It was one of those once in a life time experiences... so very hard to put words to the whole experience, other than saying, "It was AMAZING!"

Just to give you an idea of what the day to day was like, we traveled by bus all over the country, stayed at a total of 4 hotels, at each one we had 3 to a room. On the bus: 37 American participants in Taglit-Birthright Program all ages 22-26 from Los Angeles, 8 Israeli soldiers there to share the experience with us, 2 group leaders from LA employed by Birthright to make sure the trip goes smoothly, 1-2 Israeli armed guards (quantity depending on our location- in the North and Jerusalem we had to have more), one amazing profession tour guide, and hilarious bus driver. All 50 of us were on and off that bus like 12 times a day, and each time we boarded we had to "count off" to make sure we weren't forgetting anyone.


We visited sites such as Golan Heights, floated in the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, stayed in Bedouin camps, rode camels, climbed Masada...and so much more. It was often the moments in between the moments that I learned the most or had the personal connections. A highlight was visiting the Holocaust Museum and dancing with Holocaust Survivors. There is so much to say about the people, the state, the situation, the amazing beauty of the country...a quick blog is just my attempt to share the other side of Israel that is not often shown on CNN.

And now...back on the road, new and exciting leadership products for 2009, more conferences, friends and memories to be made.