"The opportunity to learn about servant leadership at
university was a completely new experience that changed my
life. It gave me a new understanding of the value and
importance of people and people in community." - Kate,
Student at BGKU (Ukraine)
"The servant leadership course has been
like a light in my life for many years now. It helped me to
define my values and to live with integrity, even when no
one is looking. It helped me understand the importance of
having the right people around you - people who support you
and let you find your voice." - Aigerim,
Student at KAFU (Kazakhstan)
Marshall Christensen's Vision
Marshall Christensen, Co-Serve's Founder,
recognized that there is a unique opportunity to help
university students to consider their life, their values, and their purpose. Marshall
also noticed that many
students are never given this opportunity during their time
at university. For Marshall
and for all of us at Co-Serve International, helping someone
consider their purpose is an important part of practicing the
principles of servant leadership. In all of Co-Serve's programs
we actively demonstrate that each student is valuable, their
life has meaning and significance, and that they exist for a purpose.
In 2016, Co-Serve's partner in Ukraine, Borys Grinchenko
Kyiv University, created a "Center for Servant Leadership Development."
The goal of the Center was to promote a culture of servant leadership at the
university by sharing the principles broadly, including operating a servant leadership course
in Ukrainian for every incoming student. As Marshall saw the impact of this Center, he became convinced that similar "Centers of Servant
Leadership" could play a strategic role in helping many more
students consider their life, their values, and their
purpose during their time at university.
In
2022 Marshall spelled out his vision for the work of
University Centers of Servant Leadership. This vision
involved centers that were strategically using training,
mentoring, and internships to help significant numbers of university students
to: 1) Learn about the principles of servant leadership, 2) Consider and
articulate their core values, 3) Share their life story in a safe
environment, and 4) Write a clear statement of
their life purpose. Centers would also promote the values of servant
leadership with the university's faculty and staff, helping them
to embrace and incorporate servant leadership practices in their
classrooms and structures.
Co-Serve's Strategy for Pursuing Marshall's Vision
Co-Serve's
Board and Leadership Team believe in Marshall's vision and
we want to support the development of
Servant Leadership Centers around the world. Our strategy is not to
directly create and fund the operation of centers, but to
support our partners as they develop Servant Leadership Centers that are
sustainable in their context. This includes our continued partnership with existing
Centers in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and working with our
partners in Nigeria, Thailand, Afghanistan, the
Philippines, and the USA to consider how servant leadership centers
could be developed in their context. To support this effort, Co-Serve is
creating the Marshall Christensen Vision
Fund for University Centers of Servant Leadership.
This fund will be carefully used to support the following
objectives:
- Training for Center Staff. We
want to provide training and mentoring for Center staff,
so that centers will operate around our shared values
and practices of servant leadership.
- Exchange between Centers. We
want to facilitate communication, visits, and exchange
between Centers so that they can share ideas and learn
from each other.
- Learning resources and materials. We
want to support centers by providing them with learning
resources, including excellent books and libraries on
servant leadership.
- Staff Assistance. To help centers
get started or in crisis situations (like in Ukraine),
we want to provide temporary stipends to support Center
staff.
- Student Scholarships. For
financial needy students who show strong potential as
servant leaders, we want to provide scholarships to help
them participate in the Center's programs and/or
Co-Serve's global programs.
CONTRIBUTING TO MARSHALL'S VISION
Marshall
Christensen’s life has touched so many students around the
world. We know that many of you reading this were impacted
in some way by Marshall or by the work of Co-Serve during
your time as a student. Or, perhaps there was another person
that played a key role in helping you think about your own
purpose during your university years. By supporting Marshall's
vision through this fund, you can help many more university students
to have the opportunity to think about their life, their values, and
their purpose. Co-Serve is actively working with our partners to help them
consider how to open new Servant Leadership Centers in their context. We
are already working with HALCIA, our partner in Nigeria, to open a new center in
the next year.
The
impact of your contribution will be to greatly increase the number of university
students who are able to learn about and grapple with the principles of servant leadership,
and as part of that, to consider their own purpose in life.
We are setting a goal to help our partners reach and
impact at least 300 more students over the next three years. In this effort,
we see a need to raise $25,000 to support these centers through the
objectives stated above. To contribute to this fund, please choose an option below to make your
donation. Your donation will be shared with Marshall
Christensen and we will keep you updated on the work of our partner
Servant Leadership Centers around the world. If you have any questions, or if you
would like to designate your gift to support a particular
center, please send us an e-mail at info@co-serve.org.