The Power of YES: A Sneak Peek at the 2011 Asset Awards

It was May 13th, 2010, when I first truly learned the power of “yes.” I had yet to become an employee at EARN and was simply attending the organization’s annual Asset Awards luncheon. It was so inspiring to hear Dametra and her daughter Yvonne tell their story. I wondered what could propel a family to overcome homelessness and create such a dramatically different future.

In case you don’t know the story I’m referring to, Dametra joined EARN to save for her daughter Yvonne’s education, and in the meantime she got inspired to go back to school herself and attain her degree. Yvonne is now on the path to college, too. I still get goosebumps thinking about Dametra’s story and all the stories out there like hers.

Now, a year later, I’ve had the absolute honor to work with this year’s awardee, Julia Orellana. Julia is an incredibly strong individual and a loving mother who has made many sacrifices to ensure that her daughters will have more opportunities than she did growing up. Most importantly, through EARN, Julia was finally given a chance to say “yes” to those dreams she held so quietly for her daughters.

That’s what I’ve found so inspiring about my work here at EARN. There are so many people like Julia that I’ve spoken with over the last year who’ve also had this “yes” moment, when they realized that their dreams weren’t at all impossible or ridiculous. In fact, they were visionary. What EARN does is give life to those dreams and show our Savers that “yes” is actually a very powerful word when it’s put into action.

I hope you’ll join me this year at the Asset Awards as we honor Julia’s remarkable achievements. I’m ready to be inspired yet again. And most of all, I’m ready to say YES! 

Until next time,

Matt Silva
Levi Strauss Fellow