SELLEST OSAST
What happens when a nonprofit founder, a school superintendent, a police lieutenant, and a retired Army colonel walk into a podcast?
It sounds like the beginning of a joke. Instead, it became a powerful conversation about what can happen when leaders from very different worlds come together around a shared purpose.
In this episode of Lead for Good, Chris Looney sits down with Julie Hudash, Founder and CEO of Team Kids, along with three leaders who have become important partners in advancing its mission:
• Lt. Steve Peña, Anaheim Police Department
• Dr. Sue Johnson, Superintendent, Savanna School District
• Ret. Col. John Chu, Team Kids Board Member
For 25 years, Team Kids has operated from a simple but powerful belief: children should not merely be the recipients of adult solutions. They should have meaningful opportunities to lead, serve, make decisions, and help shape their communities.
Julie puts it another way: children often know they are cared for. But do they know they are needed?
That question has helped shape a model that brings schools, law enforcement, firefighters, veterans, universities, businesses, nonprofits, and families together, not simply to serve kids, but to serve with them.
The conversation explores:
• Why giving children genuine responsibility can transform how they see themselves and their futures
• What happens when police officers and young people work together as teammates
• Why schools need community partners to help children develop belonging, confidence, purpose, and connection
• How veterans can rediscover purpose through mentoring and serving the next generation
• Why Team Kids invested in rigorous research to determine whether its model actually works
• What it takes to move an idea from “cute to critical” and build something capable of scaling nationally
• Why human relationships may become even more important as technology occupies a larger part of children's lives
Perhaps most importantly, the conversation challenges a common assumption about leadership.
Adults have plenty to teach young people. But young people have plenty to teach us, too.
As Julie reflects after 25 years of working with children, they have not yet given up on their dreams. They still see possibility. They still believe they can make a difference. Sometimes adults need to stop trying to shape that out of them and simply give them the opportunity to lead.
This is a conversation about kids, but it is also a conversation about collaboration, purpose, evidence, relationships, and a different way of thinking about leadership.
Because the biggest challenges facing our communities will not be solved by one organization, one institution, or one leader.
Leadership is a team sport.
And if you're breathing, as Julie says, you're on the team.
