As CEO, I’m the visible face of the Untapped Potential Project. But I’m surrounded by a volunteer team of extraordinary talented and accomplished people, many of them who serve on UPP’s board. On occasion, I want to feature those people on this blog.

It is only fitting that I begin with UPP’s board chair, Karin Norington-Reaves. Karin, a Chicago native, is a visionary leader from whom I have learned and continue to learn a great deal. She serves as the CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, the largest non-profit workforce development system in the nation.

I could go on and on about Karin; her brilliance, her empathy, her ability to boil tough and complex questions down to their crystal-clear essence. Rather than do that, however, I’m going to link here an installment of a documentary that aired just last week on WTTW, Chicago’s public television station. “To Be Determined” follows three young people in their 20s as they cross the country in a green RV that belongs to Roadtrip Nation, a national career exploration nonprofit that connects young people to inspirational leaders.

The fourth and final installment features Karin. She speaks openly and honestly about her upbringing, the challenges she faced as a young woman of color, and how she surmounted those challenges.

One moment in the 25-minute episode particularly struck me. Yasmine Tolbert of south suburban Harvey asked Karin about her experience as a Teach for America corps member in Los Angeles. “What’s the biggest thing you learned being a teacher?” Yasmine asked Karin. 

“Wow. I really learned about potential,” Karin answered.  “And how we tamp down the fire within kids if we don’t listen and believe and encourage. But I’ve seen so many kids discounted.”  She elaborated about one kid in her class “who was kind of a daydreamer. And when I looked at his file there was all this negative stuff about him.” 

It turns out this young man was highly gifted. “He was not engaged. His potential had not been tapped.” So Karin assigned him extra work and challenges.. “And he just thrived. He was brilliant.”

I’m betting Karin didn’t consciously realize she uttered the phrase “untapped potential” during this dialogue. But our mission and vision are so deeply ingrained in her belief system that expresses them and lives them every day.

UPP is blessed to have Karin leading the way. Please watch the video to get a sense of this extraordinary woman.