Explore Class 2 recently traveled to Mesa, where participants had the chance to learn about the community’s focus on arts and culture, affordable housing efforts, economic development and immersive media experiences at the ASU MIX Center!
Explore Class 2 took the program’s first trip to South Phoenix last week for a day of farming and learning about the city’s education structures, economic development, and broad community outreach.
Explore’s second trip spent two days in Ambos Nogales (Spanish for “both Nogales”), which refers to the two cities with the same name: Nogales, Arizona, United States, and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
Daisy Talavera, Valley Leadership’s new Director of Strategic Learning, dives into her experience with Explore Class 2 and their trip to Yuma! She describes learning about Yuma’s thriving agriculture industry, focus on education, widespread immigration and water issues, and community-oriented values.
Explore takes participants out of their comfort zones to get to know the great diversity of the state and how our most pressing issues show up in rural, urban, suburban and Native communities. If you are a VL Alumni with a passion for forging connections while experiencing Arizona’s many diverse communities, this program is for you! Learn more about what participants can expect.
107 Arizonans have been selected for the second Catalyze class. During the 6-month program, participants grow their connections to the people and issues that impact Arizona, while gaining new skills and experiences. By the end of the program, each participant leaves with a commitment and a plan for how to get more engaged in the community.
Last year was an exciting year for Valley Leadership as it brought the launch of two of our newest programs, Catalyze and Explore. The Impact Maker also saw lots of growth with the launch of three new teams. Thank you to all the alumni and community partners who have made all of these accomplishments possible!
The inaugural year of the Valley Leadership Explore program was many things: challenging, unexpected, thought-provoking, disruptive, life-changing, fun, enlightening, and full of emotion from laughter to tears. Read more about the experience.
Explore’s last trip was to Navajo Nation, one of the largest tribal governments of the North American Indian Nations. We met community leaders and learned about how they continue to work on maintaining their cultural heritage while planning and forging ahead into the future.
Explore’s fourth trip was to Buckeye, which was once considered a rural, farmland community and is now one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.
Added to cart!
Applications for Explore Class 4 are now open! If you’re a VL alumni who is ready to step out of your comfort zone and travel to different communities across Arizona, we encourage you to apply today!