Intersectional Social Justice Collaborative

Session 1: October 28, 2026
Session Title: RIGHT NOW: Discovering Your Power to Lead!

Facilitated by Lindsey Moore

To prepare for our workshop, please complete the following pre-work and bring your completed responses with you. We will use your reflections and observations during our time together.

Pre-work: Leadership Field Study
Notice Before You Lead

Leadership is happening all around us, sometimes in ways we don’t immediately recognize. Before our workshop, take some time to observe leadership in your school and reflect on your own experiences.

Part 1: Look Outward — Leadership Around Me

Think about your school and respond to the following:

1. Catch Leadership Happening: Identify a time you observed another student demonstrating leadership. What did they do? Why do you consider it leadership? Did they have an official leadership title?
2. Notice What’s Working: What is something positive happening in your school that students help make possible?
3. Notice Student Experiences: What is something students experience at your school that adults might not fully see or understand?
4. Imagine Possibilities: What is one thing you wish could be different, better, or stronger in your school?
5. Find the Influence: Where do you see students having influence in your school? Where do you think students could have more influence?

Part 2: Look Inward — Leadership in Me

Now turn your attention toward yourself.

1. Do you consider yourself a leader right now? Why or why not?
2. Describe a time when you helped make something happen, influenced a situation, supported someone, or made a positive difference.
3. What are some strengths or qualities you possess that could help you lead?
4. What is something you care about enough that you would want to help make a difference?
5. What is one leadership quality or skill you would like to develop?

Part 3: My Starting Leadership Snapshot

Complete these three statements:

• Right now, I see myself as someone who…
• One way I already demonstrate leadership is…
• Something I want to discover about myself as a leader is…

Bring your completed Leadership Field Study to Workshop 1.

There are no right or wrong answers. Your honest thoughts, experiences, and observations are what matter!

A Note to Advisors

Thank you for supporting your students as they prepare for ISJC!
You can best prepare students for this session by:

• Sharing the pre-work with all participating students and allowing time for them to complete it before the workshop.
• Encouraging students to observe their school environment and reflect on their own experiences.
• Supporting students who may need help understanding the questions or organizing their responses.
• Allowing students to develop their own answers rather than guiding them toward particular responses.
• Reminding students to bring their completed pre-work to the virtual workshop so they can reference it during our activities.
  Students may complete their responses individually, either handwritten or digitally. They do not need to develop solutions or complete a group project in advance.