The 6-week re_action for impact program has been an invaluable opportunity to develop critical leadership skills and gain insights that will stay with me in my future studies, career, and community service. Through cultural activities, design thinking and project management trainings, we were empowered to create impactful community projects benefiting populations in Mexico City from an authentic, human-centered perspective. 

A key takeaway has been the importance of open-mindedness in collaborative leadership. While each scholar brought valuable expertise to ideate projects, we understood that combining our perspectives would lead to greater innovation. During the brainstorming sessions, everyone actively contributed opinions while also listening intently and incorporating others’ suggestions. This willingness to engage with each other’s ideas taught me that effective leadership is not about isolated decision-making but collective creation through compromise. 

Beyond the scholar team, I realized open-mindedness is also vital when working in unfamiliar cultural contexts. Visiting the marginalized Mazahua community was incredibly eye-opening. Carlos from the Mazahua community shared that more than sympathy, they want acknowledgement from others for their effort in preserving their own culture against immense odds. This experience underscored that my role as an outsider is to approach local communities with humility, meet them at their level, take time to understand their realities, and elevate their voices. Imposing external assumptions or quick solutions often unintentionally replicates unjust power dynamics. I must remain deeply conscious that communities know best how to uplift themselves in ways that align with their values.

While my other takeaway from the program is that leadership requires courage and faith in own believes. For instance, I sometimes hesitated to propose unconventional ideas and was anxious about judgment or pushback. However, seeing other scholars’ enthusiasm upon sharing an idea that initially felt risky to me was incredibly empowering. It grew my confidence in speaking up with creative solutions, despite lingering fears of criticism. This program taught me that truly inspiring, transformative leadership does not allow naysayers or norms to stifle innovative thinking. Real progress depends on trailblazers who believe fiercely in their vision and unite others through shared purpose. 

I am profoundly grateful for the chance to develop emotional intelligence, cross-cultural competency, creative courage and other leadership capabilities that I will carry through my studies, career and community impact work. The empathetic mindset and willingness to push boundaries I cultivated will shape my approach to complex challenges in dynamic environments, allowing me to drive change with both compassion and conviction. Most importantly, I learned the only true judge of my leadership is my own conscience. If I stay true to my ethical principles, any external critique is just outside noise. This experience has lit in me a lifelong commitment to fomenting change through bold, unifying and conscientious leadership.

The skills I built in design thinking, project management, public speaking and stakeholder engagement will also continue guiding my approach to purpose-driven work and innovation. I’m excited to apply these tools to surface creative solutions, maximize resources, motivate teams, and evaluate outcomes to amplify impact in the future.

Finally, my biggest lesson was leadership is not a position of authority, but the act of bringing people together around a shared vision of a better future. Anyone has the potential to be a leader. It simply requires courage, empathy and a commitment to the greater good. This program reinforced my passion for empowering communities and confirmed my life’s purpose is to be an agent of change.