DALLAS, Tx. - This past week, the Banana Slugs participated in the Student-Athlete Leadership Forum with Lili Loney (Women's Soccer) and Ryan Williams (Men's Volleyball) representing UC Santa Cruz along with Cayla Neipris, who serves UCSC as the Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation for Compliance, Student-Athlete Services, and Internal Operations. Hosted by the NCAA leadership development staff, the four-day event aims to provide learners with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their core values, develop emotional intelligence, embrace vulnerability, grow their personal network and develop leadership skills.

The forum, held in the Dallas area, served 184 student-athletes, as well as nine coaches and 52 administrators. Division I and II conference offices and Division III schools nominate select student-athletes and administrators to attend the forum, which is hosted annually.

"Each year I am blown away with the engagement, energy and impact that comes with the leadership forum," said Mark Trumbo, NCAA director of leadership development. "The amount of growth that happens with our learners over four days is immeasurable and immediately felt on each campus and conference office as soon as they depart."

"Being part of the Student-Athlete Leadership Forum was an amazing and immersive experience where I had time to redefine my core values, dive into my strengths and build connections with other students, administrators and coaches. I am very proud of Ryan and Lili who did a fantastic job representing UC Santa Cruz what it means to be a Banana Slug!" - Cayla Neipris

Building relationships was a key focus of the program and was encouraged through small group activities. Learners were each assigned to a color team with about 30 other student-athletes, coaches and administrators, as well as two trained facilitators, who serve as college athletics administrators on campuses throughout the NCAA membership.

"This was an experience I will never forget. I learned a lot about my leadership skills and how to better them. There are definitely a lot of takeaways that I will be bringing to my team, the athletics community, and my life. I'm just super grateful for the opportunity to attend this forum and to represent UC Santa Cruz." - Lili Loney

Facilitators guided learners through a series of workshops that encouraged introspection and discussion about leadership. Attendees also had the opportunity to take part in division-specific governance sessions, a community service activity to support domestic violence survivors, and well-being sessions.

This year's program theme, "Adjust Your Sails," aimed to equip student-athletes with leadership skills and empower them to take on greater responsibilities and apply the lessons learned when they are on campus and out in the world.

The program featured the following speakers:
• Felicia Martin, NCAA senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement, spoke with learners about the role that values play in decision-making.
• Lamarr Pottinger, CEO of Determined To Be Great Consulting, facilitated an interactive workshop with administrators and coaches on the leadership pipeline framework, addressing different levels of leadership. These levels help attendees understand their primary responsibilities as a leader and how that changes based on changes in roles.
• Angel Brutus, president and CEO of Synergistic Solutions, talked with student-athletes about the importance of monitoring their well-being and overall health.
• Nyaka NiiLampti, vice president of wellness and clinical services for the NFL, led coaches and administrators through discussions on maintaining their mental health.
• Keynote speaker Will Baggett from Emergent Executives closed out the program by speaking about the best ways to overcome adversity and about being resilient.