The University of Nevada, Reno hosted the first Wolf Pack Rising Youth Leaders Conference on March 24, bringing more than 80 middle and high school students from the Reno/Sparks area to its campus for a day focused on leadership development.
The event aimed to help young people build confidence, develop leadership skills, and foster a sense of belonging. Organizers said the conference was designed so that students could envision new possibilities for their futures by engaging with university faculty and staff and participating in hands-on workshops.
Michael Flores, vice president of Government and Community Engagement at the university, said, “Our goal was for students to leave more confident in their ability to pursue opportunities they may not have previously imagined for themselves. By bringing them to campus, introducing them to faculty and staff, and letting them take the lead, we offered them access and a vision into what their futures could be.”
Students attended interactive sessions such as vision boarding exercises called “Build Your Vision,” communication workshops like “Tell Your Story,” and financial literacy lessons under Financial EQ. The conference was developed over three years by Flores’s team in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows.
Lucy Ramirez, a student at Coral Academy of Science who participated in the event, said she wants “to be a trauma doctor” and hopes “to show my family that I can be a leader.” She added: “I came to learn more communication skills, interaction skills and leadership skills. I want to make hospitals better.”
Osvaldo Jimenez-Estupinan, director of Hispanic Latinx community relations at the university observed changes among attendees during the event. “By the end of the day, you could really see the shift in the students’ confidence,” Jimenez-Estupinan said. “Many shared that they hadn’t thought about themselves as leaders before but after sessions…they started to see that potential in themselves.”
Executive Vice President and Provost Jeffrey Thompson addressed participants about teamwork: “A wolf pack is strong because no one does things alone. Wolves look out for each other. They learn from one another. They move forward together.” He continued: “Leadership is not about being the loudest person in the room. Leadership is about how you treat others.”
Organizers concluded that by attending this inaugural conference—held during spring break—students had already taken steps toward becoming part of what Thompson called “the Wolf Pack.”
