Nick Hernandez
Role within Lincoln TeamMates:
As a Community Outreach Specialist, I connect prospective mentors with the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young people by focusing on their strengths and showing them how to build a hope-based mindset. My work adds to the bank of goodwill in Lincoln, Nebraska and helps perpetuate the positive ripple effect of TeamMates.
Top Five Gallup Strengths:
- Connectedness
- Maximizer
- Futuristic
- Strategic
- Positivity
Who was your mentor? What lessons they taught stuck with you?
I feel grateful for many mentors who have helped me become the person I am today. My high school principal sent us into neighborhoods to work on service projects and taught a leadership class where he introduced us to Victor Frankl’s proposal that a meaningful life is grounded in purposeful work, love, and courage in the face of difficulty. While I was an undergrad, another mentor made a community engagement internship possible for me. This internship led me to make a lifelong commitment to youth development and to adopt Robert K. Greenleaf’s servant leadership values: “Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to [serve]? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society?”
What is one of your favorite memories of your own TeamMates match?
One of my favorite memories was when we learned about his strengths. His Competing strength helps explain why he usually wins at basketball and his Relating strength helps explains why he is so good at comforting me through my many defeats.