Minsu Longariu

Michigan Nightlight: What does being a leader mean to you?
ROC Michigan Executive Director Minsu Longariu: The core part of being a leader is supporting the development of other leaders so they can really flourish. Our entire organization is really organized around the core belief of leadership development being a fundamental part of both achieving change and being engaged in change. It’s not just an outcome, but also a process. Leadership development is really important even in the way the organization is structured; we have very intentional ladders. You can come in as a restaurant worker and through our Leadership Development Institute. Getting involved in activities, you can become a mentor and a peer leader, and even become a member of our local and national

Although they don’t seem themselves in a leadership role, they become someone who can give an incredibly exciting keynote speech, or hold their ground in front of a policy maker.

boards. I’ve seen members come in from off the street and work with policy and social change that they really care about. Although they don’t seem themselves in a leadership role, they become someone who can give an incredibly exciting keynote speech, or hold their ground in front of a policy maker.
 
What is your dream for kids?
I would like them to have the opportunity to pursue their dreams and not to feel like their futures are restricted because of something completely out of their control, like where they are born, how much money their family happens to have, or what is the color of their skin, or whether or not they’re born in this country.
 
What is one concrete thing that could be done to improve the environment for social sector work in Michigan?
I see efforts that are not linked, and are not really building power in the communities that are directly being affected by inequality and injustice in poor communities, immigrant communities and in communities of color. Building power and self-determination of those communities is really important. That stuff doesn’t happen enough.
 
How do you know you’re making progress?
Part of knowing how you’re making progress is not becoming too complacent about what the definition of progress is, and

...on a personal level, it’s something of a life lesson for me, to be both anticipating barriers and holding another space in my mind to maintain openness to what is really possible.

continuing to think about that question on multiple levels. For example, the concrete deliverables and data point outcomes that we set for ourselves in our strategic planning, we do take those really seriously and we strive to meet them. At same time, we also try and not have those types of outcomes wholly define our definition of progress. We try to actively engage with the question of how our work is connecting to the longer-term efforts for social change and transformation, and how we are working toward supporting the development of leadership at our membership and community levels that will carry the work forward beyond this or any one particular organization or even beyond what we truthfully understand or can hope to understand in our lifetimes.
 
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of how many times I have been proven wrong. Because, as someone engaged in a larger organization and larger community, I sometimes take on challenges that are really huge and really daunting. I get that voice in my head: “wow, that is going to be a really hard one” or “I don’t know if we can do X, Y or Z.” That’s a part of life, and you really just need to push forward. I am proud of us that as a collective our organization proves why we all need each other in order to accomplish big goals. Every time I have felt that way, somehow, by coming together with the larger community we’re able to do what seemed really hard and that little voice is proven wrong. I’m proud of that and, on a personal level, it’s something of a life lesson for me, to be both anticipating barriers and holding another space in my mind to maintain openness to what is really possible.
 
What role have networks played in your professional career? How have those networks, both personal and private, affected the work you are able to do?
That is how I’m able to do the work that I do. It’s inherently something that is collective, something that people do with one another. Without that foundation of personal relationships it would be impossible to do anything.