Alumni Spotlight: Tavanesha Shepard

For our 35th anniversary, we’ll be sharing the stories of 35 alumni showcasing the leaders they are today and how 21st Century Leaders inspired and impacted their journey. Alumni will represent the 3.5 decades since our founding in 1989 – the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. Take a read and be inspired!

35th Anniversary Alumni Spotlight

90’s Decade
Name: Tavanesha Shepard
H.S. Grad Year: Class of 1998
High School: Kendrick High School (Columbus, GA)
College: Savannah State University
Current Role: Manager, Talent, AFLAC Inc.

How has your career unfolded and how did participating in 21CL help prepare you for your next steps going to college, taking on a new leadership role in community/college and after?

I have always been a leader but very recently became a people leader.  I don’t tell people often, but I fought the idea of becoming a people leader for a long time.  Even though everyone around me saw the potential and recognized my leadership skills, it’s not a path I proactively pursued.  But God has a way of intervening in our lives and placing us where we’re supposed to be in his timing. 21st Century Leaders prepared me for my collegiate journey by helping to expose me to college life when I was a sophomore in high school.  By having our leadership programs on a college campus, it literally felt as though we were attending college.  I wanted more of that feeling, so there was no question what the next steps were for me after high school.  From there, I was not afraid to take on leadership roles in the organizations I was a part of in college.  21CL allowed me to develop and exercise the skills that I needed to lead effectively early on, and I continue to use those skills today.

What’s your memorable or ‘aha’ moment during your time at 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peer, speaking in public for the first time, etc.)

I remember staying on campus at Middle Georgia State University with a few of my classmates and students from other schools and feeling like, “I’m supposed to be here.”  From the team projects that helped me build my collaboration skills to the nuggets of success that I gained from the leaders in attendance, I suspected that leadership was the path that God was steering me towards.  The networking and bonding that took place with the students from other schools and learning from their diverse backgrounds is also one of my favorite memorable experiences.

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? If so, how? 

I would say my leadership style is more of a servant leader.  I’m of the mindset that I work for my team, and one of my main duties is to explore what they need to be successful in their current and future roles.  I believe I adopted the servant leadership style because of the teachings and experiences I encountered at an early age through 21st Century Leaders. The program taught me the importance of humility and empathy in leadership, which are must-have skills for leaders in the 21st century.

Why do you believe programs like 21CL are important? And what advice would you give to a current or future student?

Programs like 21CL are so important because they allow students to experience what’s possible.  It’s eye-opening when we encounter seasoned leaders who never really grasped foundational soft skills that are essential to leading others.  Such programs allow students to begin developing critical leadership skills and begin putting them into action at an early age.  My advice to current or future students is to become a sponge and soak up all the development and leadership experiences that you have an opportunity to engage in, even when it’s an uncomfortable experience.  Growth happens in uncomfortable spaces.

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Alumni Spotlight: Keyla Cabret-Lewis

For our 35th anniversary, we’ll be sharing the stories of 35 alumni showcasing the leaders they are today and how 21st Century Leaders inspired and impacted their journey. Alumni will represent the 3.5 decades since our founding in 1989 – the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. Take a read and be inspired!

35th Anniversary Alumni Spotlight

1990’s Decade
Name: Keyla Cabret-Lewis
H.S. Grad Year: Class of 1997
High School: Carver High School (Columbus, GA)
College: Columbus State University
Current Role: Vice President, DEI + Talent Development, Aflac

How has your career unfolded and how did participating in 21CL help prepare you for your next steps going to college, taking on a new leadership role in community/college?

I started in corporate America very young -a sophomore in High School- so going into the 21st Century Leaders program was very timely and appropriate development training for me.  Some of lessons that I learned during the program were brand new but more importantly much of the content in the program detailed working in teams, etiquette, etc., and I was already experiencing this at work.  This made the program very applicable and appealing.

What’s your memorable or ‘aha’ moment during your time at 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peer, speaking in public for the first time, etc.)

It’s hard to pick one moment out of the experience…this was my 1st time away from my home overnight and meeting teens from out of town was not common so the exposure to so many different young people of like minds was cool.  That we were all there to learn about being leaders was eye opening too…so many commonalities, many differences but we all wanted to do more for ourselves, families, communities.  Humbling even at that age.

Keyla is third in from right at a 21CL summer institute.

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? If so, how? 

I would say that the fact the organization still exists with the sole purpose to lift young people up and teach them more about leadership and themselves…that’s an effective leadership characteristic that I believe in.

Why do you believe programs like 21CL are important? And what advice would you give to a current or future student?

Programs like 21st Century Leaders are key to the development of young people’s soft skills. Many times, academia focuses on technical skills but does not always spend time on the skills that help young people interact with adults during interviews, during lunches/dinners, communicate with people via email professionally, work as a team…all these skills are critical in the workplace and lead to success.  Why not start cultivating these skills in high school.  I often tell young people that I come across, “find a good internship, co-op, or program that can help you prepare for the workplace”.  21st Century Leaders does that and more.