Leading Together: Turning Ideas Into Real Impact

Emily Riordan is a junior at Newton North High School in Massachusetts. She started Opening Doors, a student initiative that supports people facing housing insecurity, especially those displaced by environmental factors. She also helps run STEMentors, a math and science mentoring program, and she serves on the Project Green Schools National Youth Council.

None of that started because she saw herself as a “natural leader.”

Early on, Emily tried launching projects in spaces that didn’t always feel receptive. “I realized maybe this wasn’t the receptive community that I was looking for, but I did learn a lot through those first steps,” she explains. “I learned how to plan events, how to connect with people, and how to work with different people. That taught me a lot.”

STEMentors is one place where those skills show up. Through their tutoring and leading science events at local elementary schools and at private events such as birthday parties or Girl Scout events, high school students learn to organize with parents, set up meetings, and coordinate volunteers. Emily has helped STEMentors get more people involved. Last year, they made 100 matches between high schoolers and disadvantaged elementary students.

For Emily, leadership is not about one person in charge and everyone else following. “With my clubs, I try to make it as collaborative as possible. I might be planning things behind the scenes, but, ultimately, it’s going to events with a group of people or speaking with other people that have helped me really make an impact.”

Group discussions are part of that. When people who are coming regularly suggest ideas, contribute, and speak up, “other people see that they are not the president and they are sharing their ideas, so I can share mine too,” she says.

With younger students, she focuses on listening first, hearing their ideas, and making them feel comfortable. “Their ideas are just as important as mine or anybody else’s. That’s what helps them feel almost like a leader in the club.”

To Emily, when a group takes action together, titles matter less than the mission. “It’s not like you need to be leading everything. Everybody’s working together. When we go somewhere, we’re all working towards the same mission, so we’re all leading.”

Stepping into that kind of leadership meant stepping out of her comfort zone.

“I used to be so afraid of public speaking. I used to be so intimidated by it,” she says. After her first speech, that changed. “After seeing the audience after my first speech, I was like, oh my God, this is so amazing. The more I’ve done it, the more comfortable I’ve gotten with it. I found that by stepping out of my comfort zone, I’ve been able to do things I never thought I would be able to do.”

Perseverance shows up in quieter ways, too. Emily knows it can be discouraging when it feels like adults or organizations aren’t responding. “It can be easy to be brushed off, especially when you're first starting or have to send any follow-up emails. You keep trying to connect with different people and feel like you’re getting nowhere.” Her reminder to other students: “Students have a lot more influence than they realize.”

Her advice is simple: “Take it step by step; don’t look too far into the future, but focus on what’s next for you, and what you want to accomplish in the immediate future. Taking it bit by bit, you’ll find that you were able to accomplish a lot more than you ever thought you could.”

Through Project Green Schools,  Emily serves on the National Youth Council. This offers her opportunities to advance student-led environmental initiatives, collaborate with policymakers, and empower the next generation of changemakers through education, advocacy, and action. “Knowing that I’m doing that and other people are doing that across the country helps make such a bigger impact.”

You are already a part of that bigger impact. In your cafeteria work, every meeting you organize, every announcement you make, every new student who joins your effort is leadership in action. Cafeteria Victories is here to help you keep building those skills, connect with other student leaders, and scale what’s working in your school.

We invite you to Spotlight Your School at CafeteriaVictories.com, share how you and your peers lead change together, and learn from what other teams are trying across the country.