After leading ServeMinnesota for 24 years, 奥黛丽 Suker retired in March of 2023. 为明尼苏达州的新CEO服务, 茱莉亚Quanrud, has worked with 奥黛丽 closely to manage many innovative initiatives 和 programs. Their collaboration helped bring forward some of the key programs that have helped Minnesota respond to acute needs of recent years, including the Emergency Response Initiative 和 安置队. 3月, 奥黛丽和茱莉亚一起坐下来谈论她们的工作, 他们从彼此身上学到了什么, 和 their reflections on what’s to come for AmeriCorps in Minnesota.
你们的角色已经重叠了十多年. 自1999年以来，奥黛丽一直在明尼苏达州领导美国志愿队. 茱莉亚是美国志愿队VISTA的成员, 然后在impact管理项目, 最终担任幕僚长. 在一起工作是什么感觉?
茱莉亚: The first time I really got to work with 奥黛丽 closely was when we launched 全面学习型教室. I learned that she’s always asking, how can AmeriCorps be a transformative force? 从那时起, we’ve worked on a lot of things together 和 collaborated on really important relationships.
奥黛丽: When I first started working with 茱莉亚, I thought, here’s a woman who will help solve problems. 和她一起工作让我感到轻松和自信. Whenever there’s been an issue where we needed to do some problem solving, 茱莉亚’s really shown up.
茱莉亚: There have been moments where you’ve asked me to leap 和 I’ve needed to leap. 结果，我们做了一些令人难以置信的事情. 奥黛丽 has really instilled in me that value of leading boldly 和 not letting fear hold back the promise of what we can do.
作为领导者，你们认为对方有什么优点?
奥黛丽: I think 茱莉亚 said it well when she said that both of us are willing to take leaps of faith together. 你不能独自完成这些事情, 所以有一个伟大的想法是一回事, 但如果没人跟你一起去, 没关系. 茱莉亚也经历过，这是一个巨大的优势. She has a really unique ability to bridge 和 build partnerships.
另一个优势也是我们被要求去做的. The whole purpose of AmeriCorps as an agency is to solve unsolved problems. 你不能通过重复做同样的事情来解决任何一个问题. 你必须去发现哪些事情没有完成.
茱莉亚当我开始这项工作的时候, it was so welcoming to me that there’s a real value placed on learning 和 having humility here. We don’t know it all – there’s constant research being done that challenges our beliefs. 重要的是要问，这是我们能做的最好的吗? 或者有更好的方法来做这件事? 这需要好奇心和学习的心态. When I think about where that culture comes from, I think about 奥黛丽.
奥黛丽, going off of your decades of experience in this space, what advice would you want to share?
奥黛丽: At ServeMinnesota, we take the purpose 和 the mission of AmeriCorps very seriously. When we take that seriously, we can’t just sit back 和 be passive 和 transactional. 你必须领导. 你得明白我们该去哪里. There’s this great scene in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones needs to get to the other side of a canyon, 也没有桥. 他一跳，桥就出现了. 这就是我们在这项工作中要做的. 你必须大胆尝试.
相信美国志愿队理念的力量是很重要的. Trust this notion that we’re giving all these resources to help solve problems, 要知道这是非常真实的. 总是寻求帮助. 我的一个优点是能够寻求帮助.
茱莉亚, 你已经提到了一点, but what are you thinking you’d bring forward with you from 奥黛丽’s legacy?
茱莉亚奥黛丽展现了非常大胆的领导能力. We have so many AmeriCorps champions statewide because of the work that 奥黛丽 has done to build the impact of our programs across the state. That kind of leadership is something that I will be working hard to bring into the role.
The leadership I’ve experienced here has been about community building. It’s been about keeping that ego in check 和 bringing a lot of different experts, 利益相关者, 把社区带到谈判桌上. 我也想起了我在这里所经历的善良. There’s an expectation flowing through our culture that says we care about each other, 我想继续下去.
What’s in store for the future of ServeMinnesota 和 AmeriCorps?
奥黛丽我想说，要坚持下去，保持所有的增长潜力. There’s growth potential that exists even with our long-st和ing programs like 阅读队 和 数学队. 它们可以走得更远，我们的新举措也可以走得更远. 了解所有的潜力是很重要的. And it’s important to be thoughtful about how we make decisions about where to go next 和 where would the greatest value be.
茱莉亚我同意. I am thinking about how to sustain that legacy of AmeriCorps making a big difference on the critical issues facing our state. 这对我来说很重要. I’m also really excited to continue to work in a space where I’m thinking about all of Minnesota, 全州所有的社区.
我完完全全地爱明尼苏达州. I think it’s such a badge of honor that our citizens sign on to serve their communities 和 do such much on behalf of their communities. So for me, I want to continue 奥黛丽’s legacy as a leader in welcoming a lot of people to AmeriCorps. 我想让美国志愿队变得更具包容性. We’ve really done some exciting things to make AmeriCorps more inclusive to more communities. 我真的想把针推得更远.
你还有什么其他的感想要分享吗?
茱莉亚: It’s exciting that so much of my leadership style has been shaped by my experience working with 奥黛丽. I’ve learned how to build spaces of innovation 和 environments where teams can do what they need to do. It’s been a gift to be able to grow as a leader 和 now be leading. 这真是一件了不起的事情，我从来没有想到它会发生. 我非常感激.
奥黛丽: I have so much ownership over all the work that’s happened here. I’m confident in the change – it’s really comforting to me to feel the synergy 和 deep connection with 茱莉亚. I know we’ll continue talking with each other 和 we’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other.
