Rebecca Burrell
After I received a scholarship to attend my first Americans for the Arts Convention in 2012, my world rapidly began to shift. In San Antonio, I learned about the local Emerging Leader (EL) networks, and I immediately went on to help found the EL network in Portland. I then ran for a seat on Americans for the Art’s Emerging Leader Council, an experience that has allowed me to help design and present at the Leadership Preconference, sit on the host committee for NAMP 2013, and mobilize EL networks in other states.
Being part of the community at Americans for the Arts also allowed me to contribute a recent blog post about The Right Brain Initiative, the arts education program I work for, which earned our organization major attention from colleagues in the field.
Perhaps most importantly, my affiliation with Americans for the Arts has helped me see myself as a leader for the first time. I’ve been able to contextualize and ascribe value to the unique contributions I’m already making to the field. I’ve become connected to inspiring, challenging, and extremely smart people throughout the nation. These folks drive me to do better work, and I hope I get to work with them for the rest of my career. There is simply no monetary value that can be placed upon that.
