The ongoing education center "The Institute of Salesian Studies at Don Bosco Hall", located in Berkeley, California, USA, is the entity responsible for the development of this transversal module, considered of vital importance by the RASS, as it offers alternative formation aimed at strengthening Salesian leadership within social works and services, generating innovative experiences that have relevance and impact in different contexts, and that can bring about a social transformation for the benefit of children and young people at risk, people with whom members of RASS share life, mission and work on a daily basis.
Fr Rafel Bejarano, Coordinator for Social Works of the Youth Ministry Sector, together with James Areiza Bolivar, Delegate of the RASS coordination team, and the operational team of the Network, gave a cordial and fraternal welcome to the 64 consecrated Salesians and lay people of the Salesian Works and Social Services of America, representatives of the 15 Provinces of America who committed themselves to participating in this formative space through synchronous digital meetings on the Zoom platform.
To encourage participation and the exchange of experiences among the participants, the sessions take place in two groups of 32 participants each, with a duration of two hours, for 7 consecutive Fridays and at different times.
The objective of this module is to provide knowledge and tools focused on transformational and authentic Salesian leadership models, so that they are effectively applied in the social and organizational field on the basis of innovative evidence and experiences that have already testified to have generated a significant impact in different contexts and which have therefore achieved a social transformation.
“We are moved by the hope of being able to make a contribution to the task of fostering Salesian leadership. We are convinced that this is an elementary and essential theme for working as active agents of change and establishing structural changes to reduce the social inequalities that we live in our continent, especially those that our children and young people face,” say those responsible for the Salesian Social America Network.
