From Our Team
REALIZE Executive experience helps emerging leaders to transform our region
Posted on March 17, 2020 by Dr. Michael Kelly
The dean of the UTEP School of Nursing, the Executive Director of the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence and dozens of other leaders are transforming the Paso del Norte region.
And their professional transformations were spurred on with REALIZE Executive, the Paso del North Health Foundation’s world-class leadership experience created and tailored specifically to our region in order to inspire and train its top-level and emerging management professionals.
“We worked with coaches and the cohort on thinking – specifically strategic and visionary thinking with a global view,” says Leslie K. Robbins, Ph.D., who was part of the first REALIZE Executive cohort in 2011 when she was Director of UTEP’s nursing program. She was appointed dean of the College of Nursing in 2020.
“But my biggest takeaway was moving more into strategic planning mode. I’m using all of those skills – being, thinking and doing – in my current position as dean,” she said. “I learned about myself and my skills, taking an assessment and inventory of my leadership and using that to improve.”
REALIZE Executive was created with people like Dr. Robbins in mind, leaders who are going to the top level and want to hone the skills to take them there.
Sandra Nevárez Garcia is another agency leader in our community who took the skills she gained in REALIZE Executive to help move into her new role as Executive Director of the Center Against Sexual & Family Violence (CASFV).
REALIZE Executive is a 12-month experience that includes a 360-assessment of strengths and weaknesses, personality dimensions and executive coaching.
“Not all leaders are the same and what works for one individual may not work for everyone else,” says Nevarez Garcia. “But every individual has leadership skills. The more you learn about yourself, the better you are at noticing your own traits that make you a good leader. The Executive Coaching helped discuss goals, set a plan and come to the conclusion yourself.”
Creating transformational leaders in all sectors of the community – from healthcare to government agencies, schools and business – is key to improving health policy, providing services and promoting wellness. And not only is having these skills important but connecting leaders with those skills can be even more dynamic.
“As more cohorts come out, talking the same language, having some of the same common experiences, it creates a community vision for how healthcare can look in our community and how we can become a caring, quality healthcare environment and aspire to be better than we are today,” says Dr. Robbins.
The Health Foundation is launching its fifth U.S. REALIZE Executive experience this year.
“REALIZE Executive is a significant investment in yourself and if you’re thinking about doing it, you should,” says Nevarez Garcia. “We don’t invest in ourselves enough. The experience provides structure and skills and leads you to the vision you aspire to achieve.”
The cohort will be limited to 20 individuals. Nominations must be submitted by Friday, April 17, 2020. We invite you to submit a nomination by emailing the nominee’s name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and a brief paragraph regarding the nominee to: REALIZE@pdnhf.org. A full application will be mailed to the nominee.
Dr. Michael Kelly is vice president of programs for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. He may be contacted at 218-2619 and mkelly@pdnfoundation.org.
Dr. Michael Kelly
Dr. Kelly joined the Foundation in 1999. In his role as Vice President of Programs, he provides leadership for the Health Foundation’s health priority areas and supervises a talented program staff. Dr. Kelly plays a central role in Health Foundation leadership, including staffing the Allocations Committee and overseeing grantmaking. He also is instrumental in designing, implementing, and evaluating Collective Impact initiatives and leading special projects. His philosophy is for all people to have the ability, environmental support, and freedom to pursue health and quality of life. He has an unsurpassed ability to predict and navigate the many complex vicissitudes in the philanthropic and population health. A native of Houston, Dr. Kelly received a Ph.D. in health education from Texas A&M University. He also holds a Masters of Education in Health Education and a B.A. in biology. He now lives in El Paso with his wife Nethia and their two sons.
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