Alumni Spotlight: Josh Goldman

What YR programs were you involved in?
TEENPOWER: Participant, Youth Staff, College Staff, Adult Staff

Did you form any lasting relationships or networks through your involvement? Who were some of those peers or adults that you connected with?
Certainly! There were so many supportive role models for me within the YR/TP world. From the staff (Phylis Kincaid, Terri Wedding, Ann Burnworth, Krista Perkins-Decker), early adult staff mentors (Brad Ellsworth, Lisa Seif, David Yates, Allison Wirtes) to my contemporaries I mainly connect with on socials due to living out of the area now (THE Ben Early, Jeopardy famous Sandy Hall, Disney entertainment wonder and puppet-builder Doug Blemker, TP roomie Jonathon Siebe, Lexus “borrowing” Kelly Wikman) and many many others!
YR was also instrumental in my early career and network. When I started college at Indiana State, former YR executive director Phyllis connected me to the executive director of C.H.A.N.C.E.S. for Indiana Youth, where I joined her Youth As Resources (YAR) team as an AmeriCorps member and administrator to two Indiana county boards that issued youth-service grants in their communities.

I went on to be a part-time program manager for that seven county AmeriCorps program, to create and co-found and then staff the first teen court program in Indiana (Vigo County Teen Court), and was appointed to help the state of Indiana “clean-up” a wayward AmeriCorps program under investigation by the attorney general. This was all before I graduated college. I attribute those experiences to a huge amount of support and guidance from various YR friends and mentors.

Do you have a favorite YR memory that comes to mind?
It’s difficult to pick a single YR memory, I would probably pick the broad memory of being able to watch others grow into leadership roles that you know makes the YR mission both real, effective, and sustainable. I was that young student that was able to grow personally and help the mission and vision, and then I got to (hopefully contribute, and) see others come through and continue to carry on the mission.

Do you have a funny YR memory that comes to mind?
I have plenty of funny YR memories, but one sticks out. My first year on TP youth staff was also the first year Brad Ellsworth volunteered for Adult staff, and we were paired up. This was just a few years before he was Sheriff Ellsworth and a while before he became Congressman Ellsworth. The entire small-group just had a great relationship in large part to his personality and style. We decided to prank Brad one night. The old Brentano and Morton residence halls that we used in the 90’s had telephone boxes that were shared between rooms. You could open your side of the box and pivot the mounted phone in your direction. The boxes shared the wall above a slide out bed on each side of the wall. There was just enough room to get a skinny high schooler’s arm holding a can of shaving cream in it through the side of the pivoted phone when (allegedly) Brad was sleeping. Hilarity ensued, and later, we could say we shaving creamed a sherrif and a congressman.
Side note: I sound ancient. Reminder. Those residence halls were built in the 60’s. 😊

Looking back, what do you think was the most rewarding aspect of your involvement in YR?
Personally, it was developing my leadership skills and interpersonal communication as a teen, plus the nuances of what we now might call emotional intelligence.
Generally, it was knowing that we all went back to our communities and tried to maximize what we learned to better ourselves and our communities.

What advice would you give to current students in YR’s programming?
First, take your YR work seriously, but not yourself.
Second, if you can’t be involved hands-on in the future, commit to giving your time, talent, or treasure in some way to support the mission.

If you describe YR in one word or short phrase, what would it be?
Empowering

Josh is a 1997 graduate of Crawford County Jr/Sr High School. He has spent 20 years in association management, largely leading education and training initiatives nationally and globally. Josh has done extensive volunteer work with Camp Hendon (a series of programs for children with diabetes and their families) and is passionate about supporting the mission of American Red Cross. He and his wife Emily live in Columbus, Ohio with their twins Logan and Lilly, and rescue beagle Marie.