United Future Leaders Selected for 2019 Gold Medal Award

Center for Adolescent Resiliency Develops Strong Leaders in Lubbock Community

The United Future Leaders (UFL) program in the Center for Adolescent Resiliency (CAR) was selected to receive a 2019 Gold Medal Award by the Lubbock Professional Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications. Gold medal awards are presented to organizations like UFL who have worked to improve the quality of life for Lubbock residents over a period of time.

All programs within the Center for Adolescent Resiliency (CAR) in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies provide a caring environment in which middle-school and high-school students can develop healthy academic, social, and physical habits. Programs like the United Future Leaders are being recognized for fostering youth development through the cultivation of healthy habits, self-confidence, and leadership skills.

UFL and CAR leadership was presented with the Gold Medal Award on April 9 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. The luncheon drew hundreds of community leaders and organizations.

"We are honored to be recognized and fortunate to be a part of a community that partners with us to develop service minded youth," UFL Director Gloria Gonzales said. "This award highlights what the Center for Adolescent Resiliency strives to do on a daily basis with all of our programs. Our programs seek to offer participating youth the opportunities to participate in a wide range of activities, interacting with each other and members of the community."

Assistant Director for UFL, CiCi Nunez, said that the recognition adds credibility and provides the opportunity for United Future Leaders and the Center for Adolescent Resiliency to reflect on the impact made in the Lubbock community.

The United Future Leaders strives to create environments where all young leaders thrive, a vision crafted in the summer of 2016. For the UFL team, this statement has proven to be a guide for all interactions with the community in order to improve lives.

"Our team firmly believes that every individual is a leader. Bottom line," CiCi said. "Therefore, we also do not take on a 'one size fits all' approach to developing youth leaders---we have core values for the UFL program and we build on those values and themes in order to serve the communities we have been invited into."

Since 2007, United Future Leaders has evolved to reach its two initial Lubbock ISD campuses to today's 12 campuses in Lubbock ISD, Brownfield ISD, Shallowater ISD, and Meadow ISD.

"Last year our team partnered with Family Promise of Lubbock to facilitate a leadership program for youth in their program," CiCi said. "This outreach opportunity was taken on simply because the UFL team recognizes that youth leaders need to be developed in all settings—even temporarily homeless families. With the right support and funding, the team wishes to reach youth leaders from all walks of life."

This desire to develop leaders across the lifespan is what is driving CAR and its programs forward. Over the next few years, the UFL program aims to continue helping adolescents build strong relationships with peers, mentors, and other role models in order to prepare and equip them to be great leaders.

"The United Future Leaders program exemplifies the best of what we believe the relationship between a university and a community should be – shared learning, authentic outreach, and mutually beneficial engagement," Director of the Center for Adolescent Resiliency Sara Dodd, Ph.D. said. "The UFL program makes Lubbock a better place for our youth and their families and likewise, expands and enriches the capacity of Texas Tech faculty, staff, and students to 'take it out to the world.'"