1. Creating a Legacy:
Starting a Sustainable Student Organization
KEVIN VALLIERE, MIZZOU LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 2011

2. Fill a Need / Find a Passion
• Create a VISION
• Ask yourself the following questions:
• What do I care about? On what do I want to focus?
• If I could have it my way, what would the future look
like?
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the
world.” – Anne Frank

3. Network, Network, Network
• Get the following information:
• Name
• Email
• Hometown
• Interests
• Involvement
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

4. Network, Network, Network
• Peer contacts and professional contacts are both
important!
• Find similar organizations and ask what they did
to succeed
• Collaborate with peers
• Find your counter-point
• Take everything with a grain of salt
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

5. Choose Wisely, Act Slowly
• Take your time
• Get an advisor
• Expect the unexpected
• Remember: you’re competing with 600+ orgs for
students’ attention
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” –
Epictetus

6. Think Globally
• SMART Goals vs. S-t-r-e-t-c-h Goals
• Champion a cause
• Have a healthy disregard for the impossible
• Be a billboard for your organization
“Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access
to the sum of all human knowledge.” – Jimbo Wales, founder of Wikipedia

7. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
• You can’t fix everything
• Membership drop-off
• Ownership
• WIIFM
• You’re the face of the organization
• Haters gonna hate
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else
is more important than fear.” – Ambrose Redmoon

8. Transitional Success
• Transition is a constant process
• Be genuine
• Be supportive
• Delegate
• Communicate
• Don’t check out when you’re done
• Leave a plan! Put in writing!
“There’s a period in life when we swallow a knowledge of ourselves, and it
becomes either good or sour inside.” – Pearl Bailey

9. Questions?
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to
become what they are capable of being.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

10. Thank you!
kevinvalliere@missouri.edu
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to
become what they are capable of being.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe