The hardest job you'll ever love." |
What makes her an upstander?Chanel Boutakidis is the CEO of a non-profit organization called Five Acres. Five Acres is a place that helps infants and children up to the age of 18, who do not have parents, find new families. They make sure they are both physically and mentally healthy before they leave. Chanel started as a therapist for teen girls and worked her way up through seven other jobs in 23 years at Five Acres. She decided to become CEO because she wanted to work more closely with local officials and government to make positive change. There are 20,000 kids in L.A who do not have families, and Chanel wants to change that. She works hard every day to make sure these kids get the families they deserve, and have a good future. This job is complicated and rough. I am inspired by her hope and goal to make the number of children in L.A without families decrease. She is changing lives despite the difficulties that come with her job and the pandemic we are all living in. She is proud of her work.
What is an upstander?An upstander is someone who intervenes during a wrong doing, and does something about it. In the face of injustice they stand up and make a difference. It takes grit, hope, and determination. It can be scary to speak out, and change things, since change is something we all take time to adapt to and is not always appreciated. No matter who you are or where you’re from, we are all capable of doing this. It’s the people who actually make change that are the upstanders, the people like Chanel.
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My Exhibit
Video Presentation of Exhibit and Chanel Boutakidis
Five Acres makes a new vision statement every couple of years and this year it is,
"Growing together for a stronger tomorrow."
Chanel responds to this statement by telling me,
"We believe that while in covid we can grow together and figure a lot of things out that are good for these kids. We're going to make a stronger tomorrow for them."
I am very confident that Chanel and her team are well on their way to making a "stronger tomorrow".
"Growing together for a stronger tomorrow."
Chanel responds to this statement by telling me,
"We believe that while in covid we can grow together and figure a lot of things out that are good for these kids. We're going to make a stronger tomorrow for them."
I am very confident that Chanel and her team are well on their way to making a "stronger tomorrow".