SUNY Student Leadership

“I took away so much from SUNY Sail! I have a whole folder of notes from each session. Learning that being your authentic self gets you a long way, developing the understanding of that fact that you can’t pour into others unless you’re full, lifting people up while climbing, being realistic, learning to flex the skills of storytelling, and understanding that the more you practice whatever you do the better, you become at it! I learned so much about life in general, that I was so oblivious to before and with the help of Sail, I am on the path to bettering myself to assist others. Although the program ended, leadership goes on forever as these many mentors have shown me. I’ll be doing personal research and reaching out to any of the guest speakers who may be useful to me, many left their contact information. I love SUNY Sail!”

Alfred State College

“The program brings leaders together and expands their horizons of leadership in many ways. On top of that, it helps build a strong sense of community and allows some personal reflection. In short, this program is AMAZING!”

SUNY Buffalo State College

“Thank you to the SUNY SAIL Institute for creating a program such as the Student Leadership Academy. I am grateful for having had the opportunity of experiencing this program. There is a clear ‘before-and-after’ of who I was as a human and leader before the academy to who I am now. I hope to carry with me all that I have learned about leadership, and apply it and share it as I go throughout the world.”

SUNY Westchester Community College

“I loved being part of such a diverse group, racially, age-wise, and people with a wide range of experiences. It really helped me to assess every situation with a more holistic mindset and become more confident in my ability to maybe not fully understand, but sympathize with others.”

SUNY Cortland

“I think the biggest thing I got to walk away with was the realization that I was already a leader. This academy helped to plant my roots and through all of the wonderful speakers and meetings, we realized that WE make the mold. There are specific ways to communicate but we all have a unique way of doing it. Through our acceptance of diverse cultures and conversations spanning across several intersectionalities, we learned how to become flexible and how to appropriately approach many scenarios.”

Stony Brook University

“One take away I have from SUNY Sail is that leadership must be adaptable in all situations. COVID 19 is a perfect example of how “adaptable leadership” is necessary. Many leaders worldwide were tasked with leading amid a pandemic, and in ways that some thought was impossible. If someone can stay grounded by core principles and rise to the occasion in times like this, anything is possible, in my view. The speakers were phenomenal, and after listening to all of the speakers, I feel like “adaptable leadership” was a common thread I took away from everyone.”

SUNY Polytechnic Institute

“Leadership is taking on a new meaning to mean more connectedness vs. being above somebody, and our speakers consistently reinforced this!”

Fashion Institute of Technology

“I think one thing that resonated with me was something that was said: You’re not defined by the environment around you, but by the environment within you. That’s something that I will always keep in mind, not only in leadership positions but beyond that as well.”

SUNY Upstate Medical University