{"id":55843,"date":"2026-11-04T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=55843"},"modified":"2026-11-04T15:33:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:33:40","slug":"future-global-leaders-summit-inspires-students-to-envision-their-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/future-global-leaders-summit-inspires-students-to-envision-their-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"Future Global Leaders Summit Inspires Students To Envision Their Potential"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Nearly 100 area high school and first-generation college students gathered on the Tarleton State University campus today for the Future Global Leaders Summit, featuring leadership development, networking and personal growth opportunities presented by the Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Tarleton Texas Leadership Scholars participated in the Future Global Leaders Summit, which featured leadership development, networking and personal growth opportunities for area high school and first-gen Tarleton State students. Shown left to right are Lucas Azua, John Paul White, Juan Hernandez, Carley Carter White, Vice President for Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives Dr. Sherri Benn, Vanessa Pantoja, Lidia Martinez Cruz, Kayle Lawless and Stephanie Meza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The summit featured inspirational speakers, breakout sessions and opportunities for students to envision themselves as future Tarleton State students through exercises designed to boost students\u2019 confidence, leadership potential and understanding of their future possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn bringing high school students and first-generation college students together we hoped to encourage personal growth, celebrate individual experiences and help students envision the opportunities ahead of them, including a future at Tarleton State,\u201d said Dr. Crystal Martinez Smith, Assistant Vice President for Global and Community Connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keynote speaker Mr. Gwangi Shipp, Scout Executive and CEO of the Texas Trails Council, shared his perspective on what it means to be a leader in an increasingly interconnected world and how students can begin developing leadership skills even before they hold a formal leadership title. Tarleton State faculty, staff, students and community leaders led sessions that inspired students to explore their strengths and envision themselves as future college students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separate breakout sessions were tailored for high school attendees and first-generation college students. For the first-gen students, the focus was on individuality and the unique experiences that shape each student\u2019s journey. For the high school juniors and seniors in attendance, facilitators aimed to broaden their understanding of what leadership looks like and help them recognize their own potential to make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarleton State\u2019s Texas Leadership Scholars also brought their unique perspectives to the summit, taking the opportunity to put the skills and knowledge they have gained through the program into practice while serving as role models and mentors for the attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope students\u2019 takeaway is that leadership is not limited to a position or role but is demonstrated through initiative, service, relationship building and a willingness to learn from others,\u201d said Johanna Leduc, Assistant Director for Student, Global and Community Connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Martinez Smith said the success of the Future Global Leaders Summit is reflected in the confidence, inspiration and connections students gain from the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is for every student to leave recognizing their leadership potential, embracing their individual journey, and understanding that they do not need a title to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Nearly 100 area high school and first-generation college students gathered on the Tarleton State University campus today for the Future Global Leaders Summit, featuring leadership development, networking …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":55845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":422,"footnotes":""},"categories":[422],"tags":[462],"class_list":["post-55843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morestories","tag-lozano-long-division-of-global-community-and-first-gen-initiatives"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"ehellmund@tarleton.edu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/ehellmundtarleton-edu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/11\/Future-Global-Leaders-Summit-1-300x200.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_morestories<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_morestories<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 22 hours ago","modified":"Updated 22 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 4, 2026","modified":"Updated on November 4, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 4, 2026 3:35 pm","modified":"Updated on November 4, 2026 3:33 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55843"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55851,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55843\/revisions\/55851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}