LEADS Participate in 2021 Virtual National Student Leadership Academy

What is the Virtual National Student Leadership Academy?

The Virtual National Student Leadership Academy (VNSLA) is an annual Jobs for America’s Graduates event which brings together state and local participant leaders from JAG programs across the country. State and local participant leaders come from their respective state’s Professional and/or Career Associations. Within their respective Career Associations, JAG participants hold Officer Positions in the areas of Leadership Development, Career Development, Social Awareness, Civic Awareness and Community Service. They participate in planning for major annual events, such as the Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates Career Development Conference, and inform decision-making processes at the state level. The purpose of the Career Association is to provide opportunities for JAG students to develop and demonstrate leadership and career development skills and knowledge. To learn more about the Career Association, please click here.

VNSLA brings together participant leaders from across the country to network and build their professional and personal skills. This year, VNSLA included six hours of interactive workshop sessions for participants. Workshop topics were as follows:

• Day 1: “First Impressions” & “Navigating Change”
• Day 2: “Sweet Success” (related to recruitment) & “Mastering Meetings”
• Day 3: “Paper Monster” (related to organization skills) & “Plan of Work

VNSLA was held virtually this year, which means that participants attended via Zoom. Each workshop included interactive activities, like Padlets and polls, as well as simulations of conflict resolution and meeting management. Participants from each state’s Career Association were distributed throughout the workshop rooms so that youth could network with peer leaders across the country. The Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates Central Office is proud to report that multiple workshop facilitators shared that Arizona LEADS participants were consistently engaged and enthusiastic throughout the workshop sessions.

What is LEADS?

In Arizona, our Career Association State Officers are called LEADS, sponsored by the University of Phoenix. University of Phoenix links mentors with participating LEADS students to guide them in their leadership development.

LEADS have certain responsibilities associated with their position, like helping to plan the annual Career Development Conference. Over their yearlong officer role, LEADS will participate in a number of different professional and personal development trainings, like VNSLA. LEADS were also some of the first participants in the JAGAZ News Desk project, where students gain public speaking & videography experience building the resource-focused episode series for other JAGAZ students.

To learn more about LEADS, please click here. To read about 2021 LEADS participants and their projects, please click here.

More about JAG

Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates focuses on developing career pathways for students, emphasizing post-secondary education, employment readiness and life-skills training. JAG consistently exceeds the national standards set by Jobs for America’s Graduates, receiving the prestigious Five of Five Award each year since 2003.

Connect with us! If you would like more information about JAG in your school and community, please click HERE or call us at 602-216-9503. To learn more about volunteering opportunities with JAG annual events, please click HERE. To offer direct financial support for JAG programs, please click HERE.