April 2018 – Kelsey Kerce

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Crave is a leadership program founded by Michele Van Son about a year ago. In my experience, I’ve found that Crave has two hemispheres: One is the external community — our connections to community partners, the learning that happens with experts and mentors in the community. The other is the internal Crave community, which quickly grew to feel like family. While there are two sides to Crave, I found these sides to be deeply connected.

Take, for example, my relationship with my mentor, Chev. Chevalier Lovett is the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Organize Florida. He sits on the board of Crave and was appointed as my “Learning Partner.” With this title, Chev quickly began to feed me his favorite kind of knowledge: books. Wonderful books that I now assign to my eager-to-grow friends and to my employees. While reading these books, I began practicing their messages at every opportunity — at bachelorette parties, at networking events, with my friends — which brought me to the clear realization that it’s important that these books impact my personal development as well as my career development. This also made me realize that these two life arenas are crucially connected.

I began doing a monthly executive coaching session with Chev, wherein he gave me direction for my work with Playground City, advice for being a better leader, and guidance on how to plan strategically. Chev is not the type of guy who’s afraid to tell you when you need to fix things, but he’s also one who doesn’t hold back praise for growth. When I realized that, I felt like a better leader within my organization. I also realized that I felt better at home. Like I said, the hemispheres are connected.

Perhaps what I love most about my job as Executive Director of Playground City are the relationships I get to build with other leaders in the community. For this reason, I love our community partner meetings. Crave leveraged opportunities for these community partners to meet with some of the most successful and influential people in Orlando, each of whom was eager to share his/her expertise with us.

At the same time I was participating in these meetings, I was working through a “Why?” and “How?” book alongside Michele and the leaders within the community. During this time, I’ve seen more vulnerability and bravery among strong leaders than I’ve ever seen in my life — and man, I can’t explain what an eye-opener that was. To admire these people so much, and to see that they’re feeling and thinking the same things that I do, gives me tremendous reassurance that I’m on the right track.

When I first enrolled in Crave, I didn’t understand that I was searching for something; but as the year passed, the pieces started coming together. As I conclude my term with Crave, I see a clear path ahead of me, a guide for all the learning I want to accomplish, and a mirror showing me the gifts I have to share with my community along the way.

Kelsey Kerce
Executive Director
Playground City

Bridge the Gap

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There is a gap between where you stand now and what you dream for your future. But how do you get from here to there?  Where is that bridge and how will you know when you’ve found it?

 

Crave

Kelsey always has a smile on her face. There is a light that emanates from her eyes and her words.   Her love for the children and families of her adopted neighborhood, Paramore, is evident.

She has a new idea about how to bring them life changing opportunities. Playground City is different, a little complex, and absolutely brilliant.  With a talented Board, committed volunteers, and a shoe-string budget Kelsey is ready to launch her dream…. big time. And even though she might feel overwhelmed sometimes – especially on the hardest days – she’s not.  There are millennial leaders who Crave a difference in every sector of need, right here in Orlando. They stand on one side of the bridge with big dreams in their heads, hearts, and hands.

Central Florida has become a cornucopia of encouragement for emerging movements that lead to social change. Over the last five years there is new and growing financial and educational support for leaders, like Kelsey, and their dreams.  However, these leaders Crave to make a difference in fundamentally new ways that is disarmingly relational: by facilitating unexpected friendships, making new connections of investment, and leveraging unusual partnerships for the common good.

This intentional relational approach has gotten the attention of one particular traditional institution with history, stability, and deep pockets: the church.  These unaffiliated trail-blazing millennials are leading social change in a way that echoes and replicates another young leader who took a radically relational approach to social change: Jesus of Nazareth.

The church has discovered that God is calling people into leadership beyond their walls, structures, and requirements.  Forward-thinking institutional Christians yearn to walk alongside these young leaders, learn more about their emerging movements, and roll up their sleeves to help their projects and the people they serve.  They’ve realized these young leaders can show them a new path that is covered in familiar soil and grounded in ancient roots.

This “old guard” in traditional institutions (both religious and civic) is looking toward the horizon, with legacy in mind, wondering to whom and how the baton will be passed.  To their credit, they are asking the right questions:

  • Can our values and mission continue in additional, broadening, emerging forms?
  • If so, what would that look like?
  • Who knows how to lead in that space?
  • How do we find and encourage such leadership?

 

@CraveFLA is a bridge that connects the gifts, history, knowledge, and resources of traditional institutions with the innovative, flexible, creative passion of emerging movements.  This “bridge” occurs through an open spiritual community (the why?), intentional intimate mentoring connections (the how?), and strategic professional introductions (expanding the what?).

If you represent an institution with an eye on the horizon, consider crossing the bridge to the future by serving as a Mentor.

If you hold a dream and lead an emerging movement for social change, consider joining us as a Crave Leader – and get ready to receive a baton of grace, guidance, and support.

It’s time to bridge the gap.

It’s time for Crave.