Leadership Spotlight: Alexis Beltran
In this leadership spotlight, we would like to introduce Alexis Beltran. Alexis is entering his senior year of high school at Brophy College Preparatory. Alexis is a bright young man that has an incredible story and has overcome many obstacles in his life to be where he is today. With an impossible situation before him, Alexis was introduced to a non-profit, Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona (BHGH), that helps academically motivated students rise above disadvantage situations and become successful throughout high school and college. Amazingly, they do this through a stable family-like home setting for boys and girls to live in that are managed by house parents whose sole purpose is to help bring this to fruition for each child.
Not long after Alexis moved in the BHGH boys house, he was introduced to the Valley Guardians Executive Leadership Program. He submitted an application and was accepted with a small cohort of 10 other students from the BHGH organization.
With high hopes for Alexis, his BHGH counselors soon began to recognize that he was going through a tough time transitioning living with other boys his age. He struggled to maintain his motivation for good grades and active involvement in BHGH. After his first semester, he strongly considered leaving the program and going back to live with his older brother.
As part of the Valley Guardians Executive Leadership Program, Alexis was paired with a success coach to help him work through his stress and understand what will help him find success. Through this program, Alexis’ coach:
• Met with him two times per month.
• Talked about his life, future, and frustrations, and discussed accurate concepts of reality and success.
• Talked about what it means to be professional, which helped him realize the importance of being responsible and why it was in his best interest to treat others with respect.
• Helped him use his resources to build more confidence and see his own self-worth.
• Met with BHGH counselors to better understand Alexis’ needs.
After a few months of being in the program, Alexis began to show major improvements. He changed his attitude about the resources afforded to him in his life. He realized it was his responsibility to be professional, responsible, and motivated to succeed. He began to improve in his grades (from C’s to A’s). He opened up about his interests and explored new career possibilities. In no time, his BHGH counselors reported that Alexis was becoming an incredible leader:
“ Alexis was facing challenges with online classes and being bored at home during the pandemic, we noticed how helpful it was for him to have mentors at LSA to talk to and keep him motivated. He has blossomed and become a great leader and role model for the younger kids in the house.” – Jose Hoyos
Because of his tremendous success and newfound motivation, Alexis was chosen to present at the Valley Guardians Executive Program Closing Ceremony. When asked how the program has impacted him, Alexis stated:
“Upon joining LSA, I thought of it as program that would allow me to learn leadership skills while being socially interactive, however that wasn’t the whole picture. Mentors play a huge role in the whole experience. From creating goals, talking about current and future events, your mentor provides you with their wisdom and gives you insight based off that. I’ve had countless times that my mentor helped me solve or settle out a problem I was dealing internally. I never would’ve thought that LSA would have an impact as big as this in my life.” – Alexis
