Social Change Competencies

SRLS Survey Data

The Socially Responsible Leadership Survey results showcased my leadership growth from pre-fellowship and post-fellowship. Throughout the fellowship, I focused on collaboration, reflection, and congruence with my values as a leader. My consciousness of self showed the largest increase, proving that my leadership skills have been aided by reflection and self-awareness. My congruence also increased, demonstrating my ability to recognize my values and adjust actions accordingly. Collaboration and commitment stayed similar, indicating that while I have experienced new perspectives, I still have growth in some areas.

Key Areas of Growth

Over this last year I have grown immensely as a leader and I plan to continue that development professionally as well as personally. Some key areas for growth are collaboration, writing, and vision. 

Collaboration: In my original plan for implementation at Purdue, I did not envision myself collaborating with other student leaders to organize the initiative. In the past, I hesitated to entrust others with various responsibilities and tasks. I frequently overworked myself, underutilizing the skillsets of the volunteers around me. Through the leadership education I have received at Purdue, I experienced the value of working alongside student leaders and grew to enjoy collaboration. Through hearing various perspectives, receiving feedback, and sharing responsibilities, I have utilized collaboration to become a better leader. Although I have become more collaborative, I want to continue growing and learning how to depend on others. I plan to seek out or create collaborative events with organizations that have similar missions, creating a larger impact on campus. Mini-Movers is also hoping to recruit additional members for our impact team for the 2025-2026 academic year! 

Writing: Writing is not a skill that comes naturally to me. When applying for the grant, I began to understand the importance of limiting word choice to emphasize only the important aspects. However, my writing style typically involves thorough explanations which tends to produce lengthy reflections. This is an area that I am continuously improving, attempting to highlight key ideas and concepts without rambling. My reflections in the leadership education courses have helped further my writing development, allowing me to write concisely and efficiently. 

Vision: During my leadership experience, I have learned that being able to portray the organization's vision is crucial to the retention and motivation of followers. If your vision for the organization doesn’t align with your followers' understanding, they can become uninterested in furthering the cause. In order to improve conveying Mini-Movers’ vision to the volunteers I created presentations, timelines, and pitches for different events. I focused on the actionable items of the organization and the variation in impact they create. Due to the dual focus and mission, it is easy for things to be confusing. I also worked to include visuals and provide resources to demonstrate the modifications while teaching the interdisciplinary skills. In terms of things to improve, I hope to refine my pitch to suit a variety of audiences and learn how to include personal experience to demonstrate vision. 

Testimonials

I would like to speak on behalf of Katie Essex and Michael Wise.  I am the mentor for these students and the Mini-Movers team.  This project is designed to make low cost powered wheelchairs for small children using a kids battery powered toy as the base and off-the-shelf components.  This project is challenging because it requires external resources, matching with children in our community, liability waivers with Purdue legal, along with traditional university processes like student meetings and purchasing.  Katie and Michael have been exceptional leaders. I have been extremely impressed with the determination and persistence of these two students.  They are compassionate to the child and mother they are working with.  They are resilient to challenges they encounter, and they are self-disciplined in working on the project and organizing student meetings and club initiatives. I have seen them both grow as students and especially as leaders in our community and university as they have navigated recruitment and event organization. It has been a privilege to work with them both. 

-Dr. Brittany Newell

It was a privilege to work with Katie, whose leadership style harmonized humility and bold vision. She brought a grounded sense of purpose to the assignments and a willingness to learn from feedback and new perspectives. Her ability to bridge diverse ideas and people was especially evident during team-based activities, where she helped facilitate dialogue and maintain momentum. Her written work and reflections were thoughtful and well-crafted, indicating both academic strength and personal insight. The Purdue Mini-Movers project addressed an important issue with creativity and cultural awareness. Even when uncomfortably challenged, Katie showed bravery in trying a new method or thinking a new way. She exemplifies the kind of well-rounded, values-driven leader our program is proud to support.

-Shaunta D. Scroggins, Ed.D.