Extended Family Leadership Academy was the vision of Extended Family Board President Tony Monroy and was based on the idea that every person’s story has value.  In the groups we lead, this idea is brought to life in two distinct ways.  The first is encouraging each student to share their story, whether with the entire group or just written down and preserved for themselves.  It is so important for each student to recognize the value of their story, and to hear the stories from others that make us all feel connected in our human experiences, to know that we are not alone. 

The second way we show the value of each person’s story is to bring in guest presenters from the community.  We carefully select speakers who have careers that our students are interested in and have them share the journey each has taken to get to where they are today, both the triumphs and the lessons learned.

We have been inspired so many times by the stories we have heard from our students and our guest presenters and have long dreamed of finding a way to preserve them to benefit others.  Last year, we were awarded a grant to create a series of videos highlighting speakers and students from Extended Family Leadership Academy, a project supported by Subgrant #2024-JF-C1-56 awarded by the Law Enforcement/Traffic Safety Division of ADECA and the U.S. Department of Justice. 

We are so excited to share these videos with you, beginning with our video featuring Tony Monroy as he talks about his story and the satisfaction he has from seeing his dream realized.  Tony is a regular presenter for our groups and enjoys sharing his message of hope with our students.

See Tony’s video at the bottom of our home page at www.extendedfamilyhelp.org.  We plan to feature a different video every month and introduce the people who inspire us as we work to fulfill our mission, “To offer help and inspire hope,” one story at a time.  

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