Atlas Corps volunteers are essential to the organization for making sure things run smoothly. Today, we would like to talk more about Atlas Corps Group Captains. Our Group Captains facilitate monthly peer coaching groups as part of our new Virtual Leadership Institute, an online learning community for global social change leaders from around the world.
Since launching the Virtual Leadership Institute, 40 leaders became our Group Captains helping Scholars create a productive environment for co-learning, develop leadership projects, and guide discussions about leadership and social impact. Today we talk with Yensi, an excellent Group Captain for the Atlas Corps Virtual Leadership Institute Cohort 6.
Name: Yensi Jacobo Home Country: United States Current Organization: Petaluma People Services Center Social Issue/Interest Area: Education; Equity |
Why did you decide to volunteer for Atlas Corps as a Group Captain?
As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I witnessed the power of relationship-building between individuals from different countries. I learned so much from my project partners in Costa Rica and wished that my community back home could experience what I had. I was drawn to the Virtual Leadership Institute because it would bring individuals from all around the world together. In our coaching group alone, we had 5 different countries represented. It’s incredible to see the support that everyone’s been able to provide for one another. It’s been inspirational to know that throughout the world, we’re all working together to envision, create, and build a better world…
How has volunteering with Atlas Corps impacted you?
Our coaching calls are the highlight of my month! It’s uplifting to see the passion, dedication, and love that the Atlas Corps Scholars have for their community and our world. Because they each bring a piece of themselves into our shared space, we all come out of our calls a little lighter knowing that there are others who are also carrying good work forward.
What message would you like to send to individuals who are thinking of volunteering with Atlas Corps as a Group Captain?
Serving as a Group Captain has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I am so grateful for the energy, time, and vision that these Atlas Corps Scholars have shared with me. It is an incredible experience to be surrounded by such creativity, commitment, and imagination.
Atlas Corps Scholar Eric (Cohort 6, Cameroon) shares, “I will summarize my experience in three words that are fundamental to being a leader: Character, Competence, and Compassion. Building these values has not been without the brilliant facilitation of my Group Captain, Yensi Jacobo, a soft-spoken and cheerful person who stops at nothing to ensure group members do not only attend the peer coaching calls but gain something at the end of each call. Yensi, my experience in this leadership journey couldn’t have been more enriching without your unflinching support. Your open-mindedness, amiable, and down-to-earth attitude added value to my VLI experience. I will choose you to be my Group Captain if I have to retake the VLI any time and I look forward to engaging with you in our journey within and out of the Atlas Corps Community.”
Thank you, Yensi and our hundreds of volunteers who help achieve the Atlas Corps mission every day. Learn more about becoming a volunteer at volunteer.atlascorps.org.
Celebrate 15 years of global impact with Atlas Corps! Join us to recognize this milestone anniversary and partner with our community of 1,100 social change leaders from 110 countries. Support Atlas Corps and empower our global community of changemakers who possess the training, skills, and network to solve the world’s most pressing issues. Will you make your #GlobalImpact with Atlas Corps?
Photo from Yensi’s personal archive