Good Leaders: Are you ready to enjoy rare air?

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Across a crowded business celebration last Thursday, a tall handsome character stood out because he was radiating magnetic energy. He responded to my adoring glance by waving me over with a come meet my friends greeting. The room was enjoying the rare air of world class soccer player turned local hero: Tony Sanneh.

This Friday at the Good Leadership Breakfast, we’re all going to share the rare air: Tony Sanneh will tell his local-boy-made-it-big story…and help us celebrate going over the $100,000 mark in donations from the Bucket of Good Will.  Are you planning to be there?

“My story is the story of so many kids today: my mother is white from Wisconsin and my father is black from West Africa,” Tony explained. “Around here I’m black, but when I visit Africa, I’m considered white!” It’s that simple ethos that lays the foundation for every interaction – on and off the field.

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“I found soccer because of summer school,” Tony shrugged. Then, at age 12, he was chosen out of 6 million kids in a lottery to attend a soccer camp hosted by the world’s most famous soccer player: Pele’. It was there he learned a kid from St. Paul could play on the world’s stage. That led to 17 years in professional soccer and scoring a winning goal in the World Cup. Today he’s helping kids on the playgrounds of St. Paul, Minneapolis, Haiti and the Virgin Islands work toward their dreams.

“Everything is about hard work,” he shares with a magnetic smile. “But I believe hard work should also be about “play!” It’s about making the choice to enjoy the hard work as part of the journey to your own happiness and success.”

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The centerpiece of the The Sanneh Foundation is the Dreamline program. By partnering with St. Paul and Minneapolis schools, students and volunteers are united in advancing a supportive triangle for success: athletics, academics and leadership.  Students earn play time by working hard on academics and their personal leadership. He’s helping the kids make their own rare air.

That’s why he’s the perfect speaker for a historic Good Leadership Breakfast.

Good Leaders create rare air by having fun while they work to make big dreams possible. And they commit their lives to building good leaders who have the skills to chase their own dreams.

Tickets to the Good Leadership Breakfast will be sold out by the end of the day today.  If you don’t have a ticket, please consider donating on line to the Bucket of Good Will. With more than $95,000 collected and donated through today, we need your help to exceed $100,000 on Friday. Will you please help?[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]