Building Leaders is a blog series featuring members of the Foundation's Class of 2012 Health Leadership Program.
Cheryl Aglio-Girelli is a leader who likes to mobilize people around an issue.
As co-director of the Strengthening Youth in a United Way Program at the Framingham Public Schools and co-chair of the Medical/Clinical Working Group of the Framingham Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition, she knows a thing or two about working on challenging issues and trying to motivate people to create change in their lives.
It’s for the reasons above that Aglio-Girelli was selected as a member of the Foundation’s
Class of 2012 Health Leadership Program. The Health Leadership program teaches participants, over the course of six months, negotiation, communication and strategic thinking skills.
“As nurses, we don’t typically get those skills so it’s an opportunity to broaden my skills,” said Aglio-Girelli, a registered nurse who specializes in adolescent health.
Aglio-Girelli, who works closely with Framingham High School students on pregnancy prevention and with existing teen parents to provide support services, said she hopes the Health Leadership Program will give her the skills to sustain and expand the Strengthening Youth program outside Framingham High School and into the larger community. Her goal is to have a greater impact on adolescents around other social issues they face including poverty, teen dating violence and communication with their parents.
Sitting at her desk in the high school’s medical office where she’s worked since 1997, Aglio-Girelli talks about how in order to expand her role in the community, and ultimately that of the Strengthening Youth program, she needs to gain insight into what makes her a strong leader.
It was her own boss, Judy Styer, director of school health services, who suggested Aglio-Girelli could realize her vision for the Strengthening Youth program by applying for the Health Leadership Program. Styer was a Leader last year and told Aglio-Girelli it was “life changing.”
Part of being a leader, Aglio-Girelli said, is trying to remain positive about changes that can be made instead of focusing on those that cannot. For instance, she may not be able to change the widespread problem of poverty, but she can help teens make an impact in the cycle of poverty in their family.
That’s what keeps her going.
“Seeing those ‘aha’ moments in students…seeing change happen in young people, even if it takes months,” is the most rewarding part of her job, she said.