Portrait: Harvest Couple

PORTRAITURE

Here is another sneak peek from the Harvest Fields Leadership Photo Shoot.

Meet Amy & Giezi.  I love how the stool and the guitar help take this pic to a whole other level.

Portrait

Portrait: Couple

PORTRAITURE

I had the distinct pleasure to photograph the leadership at Harvest Fields Community Church last week.  The four setups we had were great. 

I decided to give a sneak peek of one of the couples, Dolores & Eli.  These two were hilarious during their shoot.  And their pictures were gorgeous.


Portrait

City of Truth: Class #12 of 12

LEADERSHIP

At the beginning of this year, I was rocking my brain studying and preparing for a Leadership program I was calling "City of Truth" which I was creating from scratch for a group of young adults in the Bronx. Most of them attended the same church I did. Two of them didn't even attend a local church. Interestingly enough, this was not a church class, this was a Leadership class. My desire was to assist these 17 to 24 year olds in their transition from teenagehood into adulthood.

God was gracious and surrounded me with three adult friends who joined me in this endeavor. Big shout-out to Tasha, Terri & Damaris for their trust in me and all their hard work. Many times they had no clue what I was doing. Sometimes they even questioned whether they should be working with me. :)

But with a whole lotta faith, and a shear desire to please God with what He placed in my heart, I creted a curriculum and begun our first class on April 4th.

Classes continued basically once every three weeks. In the beginning I stayed pretty close to the curriculum. As time passed and the group of six to twelve young adults grew closer to each other, the curriculum began to change and grow. It was amazing.

I'm not going to make this post long, but I will say over the past eleven classes, teaching these young adults has blessed me tremendously. I really feel I have grown as man and a leader. Teaching about leadership brought leadership out of me.

So as I approach this last class this weekend, I pray City of Truth accomplished its goal of training and equipping young adults to be world leaders. A part of me is slightly melancholic at this point. COT has truly been a labor of love. Working with this group has changed my life.

I'm not sure when the next set of COT classes will begin. However I am sure that when God allows, the next group will be just as amazing as this one was.

City of Truth Leadership Academy

LEADERSHIP

I had so much fun shooting these photos and organizing this slideshow.

City of Truth Leadership Academy from Joseph D. Martinez on Vimeo.

The photos in this slideshow were taken at the Lord Stirling Outdoor Education Center in NJ by Joseph Dominick Photography.

Leadership Oasis

Are you thirsty? Are you in a desert? Sometimes the heat of leadership can leave you dry. What you need is to be refreshed.

This need for refreshing is a main thrust for a FREE Leadership Conference taking place on September 26th at the Glory of Christ Church in the Bronx, NY.

Save the date and come find a Leadership Oasis at the "Setting the Gold Standard" conference.

City of Truth - "Poverty" with Cynthia Irizarry

Here is another beautiful writing from one of the participants in the City of Truth Leadership Academy. This is a reflection on the class, "What is Poverty?"

Introducing our guest blogger, Cynthia Irizarry:


The walls of my reality slowly crumble as i look upon their faces

the suffering crying silently through their eyes.

Mother, Brother, Sister, Father...

Person.

Made in the image of god just like me each one made

with a purpose just like me.

My inner being torn to shreds as my spirit weeps for theirs.

As i look at the faces of all the almost me's i see my blessings.

I see all the places and all the faces i could have been and i am angry with myself

how could i have ever let them fade into the background.

I remember that they are put here for a purpose and i wonder if their purpose is to suffer

and for a moment i am angry with god why would he choose these people to suffer?

Then quickly i realize it is so that he can be known because in our weakness he is glorified.

I close my eyes and as the images are imprinted in my memory i say a prayer......

My lord may i never take another blessing for granted, comfort the hearts of your children and may they know that they are your glory

In Jesus name i pray

Amen.

- Cynthia Irizarry

Reproduction

"We can teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are." - T. Winston

CITY OF TRUTH

This Saturday is the first City of Truth Leadership class. Wow, time has flown by so quickly. We are about to go from Pre-production to Implementation. :o)

Based on the response from the pre-orientation and the orientation, we have about 12-15 young adults slated for the program. I am really excited.

Well, let me get out of here so I can work on this Saturday's lesson plan. I will post back to tell you how it went.

Laters!

Class Act

I got the word yesterday the Acting class I will be teaching is officially going to take place at Harvest Studios (via G-City Films). They will be getting back to me regarding the exact starting date.

This is very good news. Now I can begin my research. I always enjoy reading a great deal on a topic before I teach it. I want to refresh my mind, consider some new things for class instruction, as well as organize some good reading assignments for the students.

I haven't taught a series of acting classes in about two and a half years. Mostly I have been brought in as a consultant to do a workshop or to give notes during tech/dress rehearsals of plays. I am looking forward to teaching an 8 class course to Teenagers and a 12 class course to Adults.

As far as the Leadership class I will be teaching for the Young Adults (City of Truth), we still have one more meeting left with the administration. We need to clear up some issues regarding dates and location.

I have spent the last few months doing research on Leadership and Mentorship. It will be nice to begin working on the lesson plans for this when I return from vacation.

Tsvangirai sworn in as Zimbabwe PM

I am very happy to see some kind of progress in Zimbabwe. For the past 4 or 5 years I have been following the demise of this beautiful African country. I pray the new unity government actually helps the people and the land.



"Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe Wednesday as part of a new unity government that Zimbabweans hope will signal an end to the political and economic crises that have gripped the nation for months.

Zimbabweans and outsiders alike are hopeful the new government will help heal the country's crippling economic crisis and eroding humanitarian situation, both seen as the worst since the once-prosperous nation gained its independence from Great Britain in 1980."

Read more here.

Introverts Influence 10,000

I read an interesting note regarding leadership and mentorship:

"Sociologists tell us that the most introverted of persons will influence an average of 10,000 other people during his/her lifetime."

10,000 people? Influenced by the most introverted of persons? Wow!

We really do touch people's lives. We really can/do influence others.


Hypothetical example = 50 years of influencing lifetime

10,000 people divided by 50 years = 200 new people per year

200 people/yr divided by 365 days = 0.5 new people per day

So it is possible the most introverted of persons over the span of his/her life could influence 1 new person every two days.


Dare we do more?

What could that number look like if we were active/intentional about positively influencing the lives of new people every day?

Perhaps it may be our niece or nephew, our cousin or our next door neighbor, or maybe our own child or student.

The first challenge I propose to you is: Would you be willing to positively influence at least one new person every day?

...

The second challenge I propose is a little more intense: Would you be willing this year to intentionally pour your life into five people in a mentorship capacity?

...

Positively influencing one new person every day is a simple enough task.

As for mentorship, it could be once a week, twice a month, or once a month. Whatever your choice give back to those who are coming up, especially youth and young adults.

In 2009, I am intentionally mentoring one youth, three young adults, and three adults. There are others I am intentionally influencing, but these seven I am spending one on one time in order to pass on some of the things I know and/or have learned. It is a part of establishing a legacy. It is also being more like Jesus Christ.

Are you ready for the challenges?

What say you?

Designer Genes

I love to design concepts and ideas. It's the creativity in me.

So I am presently designing two programs. One is an Acting program (12 week course for adults and an 8 week course for teens). Class will be once a week. My goal is to design this like a college course, including reading assignments and course work. I believe this will be highly beneficial for the students. I am really excited to be working on this

The organization who invited me to teach this acting class is a church in the Bronx, NY, called Harvest Fields Community Church. They are big supporters of the arts and have music and theatrical presentations throughout the year. This Acting Institute will be open to the local church, churches in the area, as well as to the local community. It should be interesting to see the first class which is slated for April.

The second program I am developing is a Leadership Development Initiative for those aged 17 - 24. This is that critical age where they go from teenagehood to adulthood. And who is walking with them along the way to help them to see the world they are being thrust into. The purpose of the curriculum being designed is to develop/encourage/empower young emerging leaders so that they may become global leaders and world changers. This is a 12 class course as well.

I have spent the last three months doing research and partial design on the Leadership Academy. Next month I will switch and focus on the Acting Institute which I have basically sketched out.

What I always find interesting is when I have to leave the Design stage and move in to the Implementation stage. Wow, anxiety kicks in a little. This has been my experience over the past 5 years with various projects/programs I have designed. The anxiety kicks in like, "O wow, you are actually going to do this." In time, the anxiety subsides and I flow in to work mode.

I look forward to teaching this year. It is a gifting God has graced me with. It truly is a privilege to work with people and help prepare and develop them. I find the labor very satisfying.

Day One

I am calling this blog PARALLELS. In my life I see many parallels between something going on in one part of my life and how there is a consistency in another part. This observation has proven quite helpful when talking and sharing with other people. Often times, a mundane task like me watching someone drive a car allows me to see a Parallel on how they may be in other areas of their life. I wish I was joking but this Christmas I drew a Parallel between how a friend was driving in certain conditions and what their relationship life was like. Within two weeks, exactly what I said in the Parallel came to pass. It is quite strange that who we are shows up in our behavior whether we are aware of it or not.

So I say all that to introduce you to my life, my journey, my walk. God has been very good to me and I look forward to what lies ahead.

From time to time I will be blogging about some upcoming projects, most namely a Leadership Development Curriculum (City of Truth) and an Acting Class Curriculum I am developing (through G-City Films). This year I will be doing more Leading and Teaching. I will also be doing some Mentoring of some young men.

Please feel free to leave your comments. Until then, I will chat with you laters.

- Joseph Dominick