FAYETTEVILLE -- Tommy Van Zandt and Scarlett Lewis have different stories, but both led them to use tragedy to spread messages of strength and love.
Van Zandt, a founder and managing partner of commercial real estate firm Sage Partners, was paralyzed after falling from a ladder while cleaning up in the wake of a January 2009 ice storm.
Elevate Performance
Tim McFarland started Elevate Performance in 2006 and has about 60 members spread across five forums.
Three CEO Forums meet monthly with 12 members each. Recognized Tuesday as “super mentors” were Mike McFarland, Rick Barrows, David Roth, Jeff Amerine, Dr. Scott Bailey and Scott Van Laningham.
The Emerging Leader Forum is a nine-month group that meets for three hours each month. Graduates from the third class were Brett Amerine, Cap Vick, Edgar Cilio, Kim Davis, Megan Behrends, Mike Meeks, Sarah Gordley and Tim Knouff. The fourth forum is in session and the next one starts in the fall
Elevate Forum started last year and provides an arena for Emerging Leader Forum graduates to continue meeting.
Quartlery costs are $1,400 for the CEO Forum and $1,000 for the Elevate Forum The Emerging Leader Forum is $2,500.
Source: Staff report
Lewis is the mother of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, one of 26 people shot and killed Dec. 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
"Love is the word that comes out of both our stories. It's amazing how loves comes from tragedy," Van Zandt said.
The pair spoke Tuesday at an Elevate Performance speaker series event. Elevate is a peer-to-peer mentorship business. The event also recognized eight graduates of the Emerging Leader Forum and six "super mentors" from the CEO Forum. Elevate also has a group called Elevate Forum for emerging leader graduates.
"It's not about how much we know, but it's about the process," said Tim McFarland, Elevate CEO.
Van Zandt told the group of about 30 people gathered for the event he felt like he preaching to the choir, but reminded them to make sure they and everyone around them were living up to their full potential.
"Be in the arena," he said. "Be somebody people can come to with whatever issues they may have."
He said before the accident he was always going 100 mph and feels blessed he survived his injuries.
A positive attitude is something Van Zandt had before his accident, and now points to family, friends and his work as keeping him lifted.
"I have a different perspective today," he said. Now he spends more time with people one-on-one and has become a good listener.
Lewis is daughter of David Lewis of Fayetteville, a member of one of the CEO Forums.
"Scarlett, like Tommy, woke up one morning thinking everything was the same, then everything changed," David Lewis said. "You can chose love instead of anger."
Lewis is sharing her message of love and forgiveness across the globe as she shares from her book, "Nurturing, Healing, Love." Those are three words her son wrote on a kitchen chalkboard shortly before his death.
"When you suffer, you experience a lot of growth," she said. "In my mind forgiving was the only way I was going to survive and survive well."
She formed the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation to help spread her message and with the help of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on April 13 introduced the Jessie Lewis Empowering Educators Act. It would provide funding to educate teachers and principals social and emotional learning skills. She's looking for a republican to co-sponsor the bill
Lewis said social and emotional learning is the proactive mental health initiative and stops mental illness before it starts. She said children need to learn compassion, and it isn't the same thing as empathy. Both are responses to someone's emotions, but compassion requires a person to take action. Lewis said that could be as simple as listening to someone or a smile.
"When you actively do something to ease someone's pain, you get healing yourself," she said.
A new approach is needed in schools because anti-bullying programs aren't working, Lewis said, adding there have been 126 school-related shootings since Sandy Hook, or one a week.
"It takes courage to be kind," Lewis said.
NW News on 06/24/2015