we pledged to our supporters to inspire children and youth to become responsible citizens.

Our “Aspiring Leaders” student leadership development program emerged.  We began our efforts in Linden, California, Aaron’s hometown.  We will take this initiative into Fresno County, CA and Bronx County, NY in the future.

In 2019, we were able to provide registration and transportation for 118 students to one of three leadership conferences, including the Modesto Spring Student Leadership Conference, Woodland Fall Student Leadership Conference for high school students and Woodland Fall Student Leadership Conference for middle school students.

These leadership conferences are organized and hosted by the California Association of Directors of Activities (CADA) Area A with assistance from the California Association of Student Leaders (CASL). CASL was developed as a CADA Board project to provide a forum for student expression. Since 1996, CASL has been governed by a regionally elected student board of 14 directors and assistant directors and 3 elected officers, under the sponsorship of CADA with guidance from an adult advisory board. Patty Judge, President of the Aaron Judge ALL RISE Foundation has been involved with CADA since 1986, and was President of the organization in 2009. Aaron attended CADA’s leadership conferences as well as a summer camp growing up.

Here is what one ALL RISE Aspiring Leader had to say about the experience:

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"What an experience this trip to Area A North State Student Leadership Conference has been. This conference was hosted by CADA (California Association of Directors of Activities) and CASL (California Association of Student Leaders) presented several workshops. I got to meet new people and influencers from many other schools. It was enjoyable because it became a fun, interactive, and learning adventure that could bring the great ideas of so many other people from around the area right back to my school. It also taught me information about people I would never think about. It never occurred to me how many people can have personal conflicts that they deal with day to day, yet they keep it to themselves. On the day of the conference, we went to our first motivational speaker before visiting workshop presentations for improving our school. Then, we ate lunch while a DJ played for us. Last, we listened to our second motivational speaker and the leadership conference came to an end.

The influencers gave tips and tricks to make me a better leader for my school and to also make it a more inclusive experience for everyone else attending Linden High School. The speakers gave some ideas on how to get students excited about school events by using posters and promoting through social media.

Another aspect of the conference I really enjoyed was listening to Scott Backovich and Kevin Bracy. They are really good at their jobs as motivational speakers. They spoke about how you can change someone’s life by just showing a little attention. All people really need is someone to talk and to listen to them. School is a place where people need positivity. This is how we can help. We can help to change other’s lives. We just need to show that little attention. The whole trip had become something I really enjoyed and I hope to do it again."

—Cole Nixon, Aspiring Leader