Monika Steen has been volunteering with Eastside Pathways since the organization was in a conceptual stage. She has seen it change and evolve and celebrated its successes. After ten amazing years, Monika is leaving to move to Germany with her family. She shares the journey of her years volunteering with Eastside Pathways.
The one thing that has defined my journey, both living here and volunteering with Eastside Pathways, has been constantly learning.
I came to the country with my perspective, and when I started living here in the community, I realized the problems that existed here were not something I expected to see. I saw a very wealthy community, but I also saw kids who were struggling in different areas, and I didn’t understand how that could be. It was shocking. The other surprising factor was the issue of racism. I wasn’t born here, and therefore didn’t have the perspective, so for the first many years, I was in a complete learning curve.
The introduction to Bill Henningsgaard, Eastside Pathways’ founder, was, I would say, a turning point for me. My husband and I were involved with Social Venture Partners, and someone connected us with Bill. He was forming a group, and it was about education and better outcomes for kids. It seemed interesting and something good to get involved with. I had some skills from my work experiences and thought I could contribute.
Thinking back to the early days, things were always shifting and changing. It took a while to get things done. I feel it was Bill’s vision and passion that kept the organization and us going. I loved Bill; he was incredible and very passionate about education equity. It was such a tragedy when he passed away. Then, Stephanie stepped in, and she’s done an impressive job. Her commitment continues to drive the work of Eastside Pathways.
Two things that helped in my work with Eastside Pathways were the Adaptive Leadership training and the Pacific Educational Group training around Courageous Conversations (that was an incredible eye-opener for me!).
Adaptive Leadership training helped me because I was coming from a management consultant background. In that arena, you have a certain amount of time to fix a problem, and you use all your management skills to make sure things happen. The environment we work in is very different. The training helped me understand that not every discussion leads to a big outcome. That if numbers change slightly or if you help share knowledge or shift minds even a little, that’s a result.
These new skills helped when I started facilitating the Career Pathways Collaborative in 2016. Our group worked together to define the scope of that collaborative, and we continue to have a very engaged and dedicated group of people. Developing the program Pizza with a Purpose has been incredibly satisfying, because we have seen some progress toward the outcomes we are trying to achieve. When a student got an internship in the medical field as a direct result of that opportunity, it was wonderful!
Leaving Eastside Pathways fills me with sadness. I’ve been part of it for so many years, and it’s the people who have kept me engaged and going. People with a passion for helping kids have better outcomes. People getting together because they want to and not because they have to. People building personal connections. I hope those personal connections continue.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for supporting me on my journey in Eastside Pathways.
Stephanie Cherrington, Executive Director of Eastside Pathways, thanks Monika for her years of dedicated volunteer service:
Monika has been instrumental in helping carve a pathway, making it easier for multiple community stakeholders to work together to create better systems. Because of her diligence, the children and youth in our community are better off.
“Monika, we can’t thank you enough for your passion and contributions and wish you the best of luck in your new adventures!”