Social Good and Politics Meet in Denver
Posted by Kath Delaney, Founder and Chief Executive Officer on August 27, 2008
This post was written for the Care2 Election ’08 guide
On the bus last night to hear Senator Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, I met a young City Council member and nonprofit executive from Albany, New York. Corey Ellis, a Barack Obama delegate, is the Program Director of Trinity Institution’s Family and Neighborhood Resource Center. The institution serves the poor in his city, for example providing a successful program tutoring young adults who want to receive their GED (General Education Diploma).
Corey understands that for many young people in his district, a GED can be one of the only gateways to a job rather than prison. I was moved by Corey’s passion and positive influence in his community. Corey is knocking down barriers that for many of his parents’ generation were concrete and absolute.
Corey left a successful consulting practice in New York City to go back to his hometown of Albany to serve his community—a path in many ways similar to that of Barack and Michelle Obama. After hearing Michelle Obama’s speech at the convention Monday night, Corey realized he had internalized his own barrier—could he too become President some day? In his work, perhaps a greater number of young people, who see a role model in Corey, will be motivated by his leadership to achieve their own personal goals.
Corey is one of the most dynamic young leaders I have met at the convention this week, during a week overflowing with unprecedented inspiration. If Corey is an indication of the kind of unified civic leadership Barack Obama will attract throughout American cities and rural areas in the next administration, the country has exciting times ahead.
