What it Takes to do Political Advance: Community One Gives Students the Inside on a Possible Career Path

Wednesday a group of Arlington, VA teens at the Buckingham Youth Brigade had the chance to hear from Community ONE Founder, Jason Wallace about his work as an Advance Site Lead for the White House and other officials.  Working in advance, he often travels ahead of, or with the President (and other officials) and handles all of the details prior to an event to ensure that it runs as smoothly as possible.

The session started out with an ice-breaker activity, and then Wallace jumped right in to explaining his day-to-day duties, how he discovered his career, and even the challenges he had on the way.  From being homeless in the 8th grade to a successful career handling logistics for a Presidential Administration, Wallace conveyed that with hard work and determination, the students could make it happen for themselves too.

The night ended with a fun activity to give students a taste of what preparing for an actual Presidential event is like.  The group was divided into smaller sections that represented the Press Advance, Secret Service, and Staff Advance who had to negotiate with each other to address their specific concerns and still run a seamless event.  In the end, the students realized it wasn’t as easy as they may have thought, and learned about a possible career path in the future.  A win for them and for Community ONE!

 

Written by Courtney Battle