049: A House of Possibilities speech to NextGen Under 30 Oklahoma class of 2018

049: A House of Possibilities speech to NextGen Under 30 Oklahoma class of 2018

by Garland McWatters | Oct 4, 2018

The NextGen Under 30 Oklahoma movement continues to gather momentum across the state.

The eighth class gathered for a Day at the Capitol October 1, 2018. NextGen Under 30 founder, Don Swift, told the class that they were selected as the best of the best nominees from across fifteen business and organization categories. Swift said they even received an international nomination and had to tell the nominator that the honor was limited to residents of Oklahoma.

I have been privileged to be associated with this program since 2015 as a leadership consultant and as the coordinator of retreats and workshops. I have also interviewed several of the previous honorees on the Spirit of Leading Podcast.

This year I was asked to join a distinguished platform of speakers to address the gathering at the State Capitol. Governor Mary Fallin, Chancellor Glen D. Johnson of the State Regents for Higher Education, Dr. Marion Paden, Executive Director of Leadership Oklahoma, and Brenda Jones, CEO of Jones PR also greeted the honorees.

I chose the theme, “A House of Possibilities” to guide my comments. The capitol building is undergoing an extensive facelift, and the noise prevented a clean recording of my presentation, so I recorded the speech as close to the original remarks as I could remember.

I know from getting to know these talented young adults that Oklahoma is in good hands.