In her fifth year with the Project, Patti Welander serves as the Chief of Operations for the Project.  She assists the Project Director, Jeff Schwartz, with day-to-day activities, including design and maintenance of the Project's web site.   Patti can be contacted at chief@mcleancountydiversity.org

Patti is also a freelance writer.   Her volunteer activities
include teaching technology safety to groups around the state and volunteering with community organizations, particularly those involved with helping children.

Patti and her husband Jim have four children, including a Rookie Scholar with the Project.  Here is what Patti writes about the Project.

"When strangers ask how many kids I have, I’m tempted to answer "32." While I have only four children by birth and adoption, the 28 teens in the McLean County Diversity Project feel like part of my family, too.

I first met the Scholars in 2007 when I asked to accompany the group to New York City as a freelance writer. I was confident I understood the Project and its Scholars. After all, I had attended some of the training sessions, read the group’s funding brief, and interviewed Jeff. What more was there to know?

I quickly learned that words cannot fully communicate what the Project and its Scholars accomplish. It’s something I still struggle with nearly five years later.

The best way to understand the Project it is to experience it firsthand. And, boy did I experience it that year, as Robin Roberts herded us on and off subways and through the streets of New York City.

Shortly after the trip, Jeff asked me to take a more active role with the Project. Again, I thought I knew what I was getting into ...

I have seen the Project and our Scholars grow in incredible ways over the past five years, but I think I have grown more than either.

I’ve learned some new technical skills. I can now create a web site and sometimes I can figure out why it crashes. And, fortunately, although I’ve learned some new medical skills, I’ve never had to use them - at least not on the students.

Perhaps the most valuable skill I’ve learned is one that is benefiting me as a parent as well. It’s hard to see kids hurting emotionally. It’s hard to let them learn lessons the hard way. It’s hard not to intervene to try to make things "all better." It’s hard for me not to interject my opinions. (I’m still working on that one!)

However, as I have learned, without adult intervention, teens often come up with better ideas than adults, and they learn valuable skills in the process.
My first experience in "letting go" was in Wyoming. We let the Scholars elect leaders, who were responsible for our trip to Yellowstone National Park. I fully expected them to fail, and had all sorts of backup plans to bail them out. Not only did they not fail, we had an awesome time.

The Smoky Mountains presented the biggest challenge. The Scholars decided to tackle the subject of racism and asked if they could do it without adults. They wanted to solve that problem on their own, and I think they made great progress.

I envy those kids.

They don’t know the word, "no." They can tackle any problem, and I am often simply amazed at the results.

They can raise hundreds of dollars for Special Olympics by taking a plunge in Miller Park lake in February. They can build dozens of ramps for disabled citizens. They can convince people to support disadvantaged children in other countries. They can solve accessibility issues at polling places.

As I sat listening to The Diary of Anne Frank cast successfully learn to sing Hebrew in one hour, I began to wonder.

What could I accomplish if I had their attitude?"