Matuor Dot Alier Log 1

June 2020 – Since the day I found out that I was selected for the fellowship, I connected with my personal coach. She asks me to take IDI’s test, and we went over my fellowship plan and IDI’s test results. She was a great guardian in steering me in the right direction to achieve my leadership goals. I was able to cut down on my in-kind/volunteer time and cut down from serving on other boards to focus on my leadership journey. My wife stops working to care for our children and me while I pursue this leadership journey.
I was able to sign up for classes at Harvard. Kennedy School- on the program of public Leadership credential referred to as PLC. I registered for Evidence for decisions part A: from Descriptions to Decisions and Leadership and Ethics part A: MoralLeadership in Personal Practice. I was appointed the Chair of the Fargo Human Relation Commission. The commission works to promote acceptance and respect for diversity and discourages all forms of discrimination. One such way the commission achieves this is through the support of the annual MLK celebration. July 2020 – I was able to bring together eight communities-based organizations to form Essential Self-Help Alliance for Refugees Assistance(ESHARA) – Which also means lead the way in (Somali, Arabic, and Kirat). They mobilize resources needed to respond to the COVID-19 challenges for New American communities in the Fargo-Moorhead Area. Like – translation of Covid-19 materials into 10 different languages, they hire nine-team members, who can provide emergence food assistance, academic supports, and help with unemployment benefit applications and rent assistance applications for needy members of our community. August 2020 – I read three books – Including Leadership on the line, met with my coach monthly.  September 2020 -Start taking two classes at Harvard Kennedy School – Public Leadership Credentials courses. Taking classes to build and sustain my leadership goals in the hope of creating a more significant impact on my community.
Evidence for Decisions Part A: From Descriptions to Decisions, this course is essential to understanding the issues and making decisions. It will equip me with the methods and skills to understand the world from descriptions to decisions. In this class, I have learned to leverage descriptive evidence to understand issues better and make informed decisions—use analytical methods for complex problem-solving and weighing the net benefits of decisions. Apply systematic methods to analyze choices and trad-offs of policy options.

Leadership and Ethics Part A: Moral Leadership in personal practice – In this course, I am learning about redefining leadership as moral and applying the concepts and frameworks of moral leadership, including adaptive leadership, rights, and the good, moral foundations, interrogating personal and community values, normative frames, and making moral trade-offs. October 2020 – In Evidence for Decisions, you will harness the power of evidence and use it to understand the dimensions of a problem, measure the policy’s effectiveness, and update assumptions that lead to effective policymaking.  Effective leaders are constantly trying to understand how change can occur to impact the public good. In Leadership and Ethics, individuals can acquire the skills necessary to begin moral leadership practice to instill change that has a lasting impact on their community. These learning experiences have intersected with the work that I am doing in my community. As a chair of the Fargo Human RelationsCommission, I can apply what I have learned in my daily duties. November 2020 – I started a new job as a Director of Equity and Inclusion for Moorhead Area Public Schools. This position will give me a chance to push for an early equitable educational system in our communities, where all will be treated fairly.  I have enrolled in my second semester in Public Credential Courses at Harvard Kennedy School, taking two courses to build my leadership capacity.
Evidence for Decisions Part B: Causes and Consequences – The course’s big idea is to get people to think carefully and systematically about how policies and programs impact the world. A truly evidence-based policy considers what has worked and not worked in the past and can be evaluated for its impact.
Leadership and Ethics Part B: Moral Leadership in Organizations and society -This course will introduce you to a specific kind of moral leadership: mobilizing people to promote the public value and pursue social justice, creating positive moral change inside organizations and society.