Carmita Semaan says relationships with students, their families, but also their communities, gives organizations like the Surge Institute, a national leadership accelerator that targets leaders of color in the education ecosystem, the opportunity to effect change.

WorkingNation interviewed Semaan, founder and president of the Surge Institute, for #WorkingNationOverheard as a media partner with ASU+GSV’s Virtual Summit 2020, held September 29 through October 1+October 8. You can watch all of the interviews on our YouTube channel.

“COVID has been a forcing mechanism of us getting that window into the true needs, and the true capacity and assets of communities. We are seeing communities come together in ways they never have before,” she says. “This is rooted in the fact that this moment in time provides us the opportunity to really see people, see their needs, but also see their gifts and their assets and make sure we are using our systems and institutions to better meet those needs.”

Learn more about the Surge Institute click here https://www.surgeinstitute.org
Learn more about the ASU+GSV Summit – click here https://www.asugsvsummit.com/
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