What inspired you to join Young Life and be part of its mission?

If you’ve ever walked the busy halls of a high school or even looked into the bleachers at a high school sporting event, you’ve seen a sea of teenager faces. Some of those faces were joyful, some mischievous, others sad, anxious, or just blank. Each of those faces represent a story, many of which involve a great deal of pain, brokenness, and loneliness that are all masked by perfect-looking Instagram posts. I was once a lonely high schooler carrying around a great deal of pain, wondering if there was someone out there who might see me and want to know me. My life completely changed after learning that I was seen, known, and loved by the God of the universe. I believe every single high school student deserves the chance to hear the truth about this love from a trusted friend. Young Life is the best tool I’ve found that offers this chance to as many teenagers as possible! 

How do you build meaningful connections with teenagers in your community?

In Young Life, we have a saying that “A kid doesn’t care what you say until they know that you care about them.” As a Young Life leader, I communicate that I care about teenagers by caring enough to step into their world instead of requiring them to come to me. This looks like going to their gymnastics meets, driving to see their cheer competitions, and going to their chorus concerts. Proximity communicates that we care. Young Life leaders show up consistently in high schoolers lives, learn their names, and want to know about their lives. I try to listen more than I talk. We all desire to be known and teenagers are no different!

What resources would you recommend to help young people grow in their faith and navigate life’s challenges?

My dream is that every teenager would have a caring adult, outside of their parents, who loves them and wants to listen through the joyful and painful times. (I really wish they could all have a Young Life leader!) This is probably the most important resource for young people to walk through life and grow in their faith. For the readers, I’d recommend a devotional called Being With Jesus by Jim Branch.

What impact have you seen Young Life camps make in the lives of young people?

At Young Life camp, teenagers hear the message of Jesus in a way specially catered for them to understand, in a place where every detail is designed for them to experience firsthand the joy and belonging that comes with life with Jesus. Over the years, I’ve seen many high school girls come to Young Life camp just because their Young Life leader loved them and promised it would be the best week of their lives. Throughout the course of the week, they realize that what they’re actually looking for is the truth that they’re loved unconditionally. This truth changes everything.

My friend Jessica learned that despite the pain she’d experienced as a child, God was with her and wanted to heal her. My friend Noel realized that all of her relationships with boys were cheap substitutions for the ultimate love of God and she decided she wanted the real thing. My friend Christina believed for the first time that God’s love for her didn’t depend on her performance, and she began to love the girls on her gymnastics team in such a way that their lives were changed. Camp has been the catalyst that changed my friends’ hearts, career choices, spouses. My friends Ashlyn and Olivia and Molly just recently learned that God’s love for them is what they’ve been missing. They’ve made the decision to live their lives for something bigger than themselves. I can’t wait to see the plans for their lives.

About Tracy

I’m a Virginian through and through! I grew up on a farm in Louisa, received my Master’s in Elementary Education from the University of Virginia, and have loved calling Richmond home for the last few years. After working as a third grade teacher in Albemarle for five years, I felt God’s call to go on full-time staff with Young Life. I had the chance to be a Young Life leader in my hometown, at the high school I graduated from, for four years and those were some of the best memories of my life. I’ve now been a Young Life leader in the Richmond West End for eight years and God continues to amaze me! When I’m not coaching JV lacrosse or drinking Starbucks with high school girls, I love cooking, going on walks at the James, and spending time with my niece and nephew.

How is Virginia Works collaborating with businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations to create opportunities for Virginia’s workers?

Virginia Works is uniquely responsible not only for the workforce programs and services provided by the agency but also for convening and coordinating a broader workforce ecosystem across the Commonwealth. There are a multitude of organizations providing much-needed services of all kinds that work together to support Virginians at work – we know that it’s not just career coaching that job seekers need, but also childcare, housing, transportation, Internet access and digital skills, and more. One of our goals at Virginia Works has been to catalog these programs and services – at least those funded at the state level – and we’re beginning an effort to digitize that catalog and make it easier to access and navigate in real time, not just for job seekers, but for anyone working in the ecosystem who would benefit from knowing about other programs that individuals can take advantage of. We also established Commonwealth-wide “workforce town halls,” for workforce-focused staff from other agencies to connect with one another, share best practices, and learn together, and are kicking off a series of employer-focused webinars on talent-related topics & relevant business services, in partnership with VEDP and the Virginia Chamber Foundation. It’s all about the three C’s – communication, coordination, collaboration – and we can never have enough of that!

What message would you share with individuals seeking to reenter the workforce or pivot to a new career path?

There’s no time like the present! Employers need you and are demonstrating a willingness to consider more unique experiences, less linear career paths, and skills-based hiring approaches more than ever before. Your experience is valuable, your skills are transferable, and with the breadth of opportunities out there, you have more options to consider. I love hearing success stories of Virginians who pivoted to very different career paths utilizing skills they had already gained or who successfully reentered the workforce after extended time not working. They inspire me and prove that any of us can do it.

What do you believe are the most impactful steps we can take to support women and girls in pursuing meaningful careers and leadership roles in today’s workforce?

It starts with supporting every girl to believe they can be anything they want to be, and that includes seeing role models and having mentors who are balancing their work with whatever else fulfills them, like having a family. I am proud to be the only daughter of a woman with an accomplished career who also raised me well. It’s not easy, but the examples we set are critical to inspire and mentor the next generation. It’s also worth mentioning the programs across the Commonwealth that specifically support women at work and the effort and focus by this Administration on some of the most prevalent needs we have – for example, support for the many women who are military spouses to more easily get employed upon moving to Virginia via things like universal licensing, and the Building Blocks initiative that has increased our capacity around childcare and early childhood education, which we know is a barrier to the workforce for many women. There is always more to do in this space and it will continue to be a focus area of mine.

For Virginians seeking new job opportunities or career development, what resources or programs offered by Virginia Works would you recommend they explore first?

For starters, I want everyone to know that you can receive free job search support and resume review – as well as accessing training support and other educational opportunities for those who qualify – by visiting any Virginia Career Works center across the Commonwealth. And even if you don’t go in person, the Virginia Workforce Connection allows you to search for open jobs near you and complete a skills assessment that helps you focus on great job opportunities for you. It also will allow you to register for upcoming virtual job fairs and other events to engage with employers directly. And if you haven't considered an approach like an apprenticeship to start your career or pivot into a new field, I want you to know that you can. More and more, Registered Apprenticeship and similar models that allow you to "earn while you learn" are available in emerging, high-growth industries and fields, and you might be surprised how varied the opportunities are.  There is a wealth of support available and we’re working every day to make it easier to know about these opportunities and access them. No one should feel left alone or unprepared in preparing for their first job, navigating a career transition, or returning to work – that’s our goal.

About Nicole

Serving the Commonwealth fulfills a lifelong dream of public service for Nicole. Previously, in over a decade spent with Deloitte Consulting in Northern Virginia, Nicole incubated and scaled the firm’s Future of Work practice for government, nonprofits, and higher education, spoke and published frequently on workforce & workplace trends, was named to Consulting Magazine’s “35 under 35,” and worked with public and private sector clients across the nation. She then joined the Youngkin Administration first as Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development prior to her role at Virginia Works. 

Nicole holds two degrees from Johns Hopkins University. In her free time, she can be found exploring places she hasn’t been before across Virginia and beyond. 

What has been the most surprising or unexpected source of strength during your journey?

I realized, as I lay in my hospital bed this past summer, that I was experiencing something special— Something most people will never have the pleasure and joy of experiencing. I was able to have a celebration of life while still alive. This revelation and its continuation throughout the duration of my hospital stay, gave me incredible strength of Will to recover. From the moment of learning, I’d been attacked by a shark, family, and friends alike flock to my side. My father and eldest brother immediately flew across state lines to physically be by my side. Each brought his Bible and read verses of strength to me. My youngest brother and his wife drove south to pick up my children. They took them home to his house as the next steps for my care were planned. I received phone calls, texts, cards, and prayers galore! This continued throughout  my hospital stay of 67 days. with each card, I was uplifted, with each visit from a friend or family member. My focus became healing, with each prayer I was renewed in spirit. I had known I was loved, but to see the intense outpouring all at the same time was an experience I shall cherish until I pass on to heaven. There, perhaps, will be another celebration of life, but I cannot imagine it matching the one I have already received.

How has the support from friends, neighbors, and even strangers impacted your recovery?

One thing that most people are not prepared for is the crippling cost of an unexpected medical catastrophe. Health insurance certainly helps, but as most of us know, it only helps so much. We must endure out of network costs and exclusions in our policies to name a couple of headaches. Healthcare is exceedingly overpriced, $5 for an aspirin (I’m not kidding!) and  reform is necessary—but that is for another dissertation. What has quite literally brought me to my knees in prayer of thanksgiving is the never-ending well of financial support from family members, friends, and strangers alike. Knowing that I had a cushion of financial support, I was able to focus my efforts and prayers on thanksgiving and recovery.

Can you share how your faith and family have supported and uplifted you throughout this life-changing experience?

I believe that having a firm faith in the goodness and never failing love of God and being able to scripturally back, this faith up was pivotal as I grappled with the question of “why did this happen to me?” and later dealt with the physical handicaps that would become my new normal. Not only did I have my faith, but I had my family to carry me through the storms of self-pity and depression that seeped through the seams of my wounds. My husband was my rock as he handled the administration of my care, parented our three teenage children, and held down a full-time job. All of this, and he never left my side in spirit and each night in body as he slept next to my hospital bed until I was discharged. He has had to see and do things for me that might send other husbands packing. But he did for me all that was necessary and more, and all with unflinching care.

What message do you hope to share with other women and families who may be facing their own unexpected challenges and use?

It’s impossible to know how life‘s stories will play out. I don’t spend a lot of time trying to imagine the “what if” scenarios in my life. I meet each challenge as it comes; so to tell you that I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined being attacked by a shark and subsequently imagining what the days and months following would bring, is the understatement of the decade. If given the option, obviously I would have declined the experience. But we are not allowed to choose our life‘s experiences fully. Of course we make choices, but we cannot protect ourselves from tragedy, injustice, or adversity. As citizens of the fallen world, we can know that we will not escape hardship. But how can we cope? I will tell you how I would recommend coping— by relying on the goodness of God, remembering that he promises to “strengthen and help us”Isaiah 41:10. 

God allows hardships to befall us, but he does not leave us to go through the fire alone. So much of getting through the difficulty is staying positive and finding the blessings just outside of our despair. Remember that if you are struggling through a challenge, it is in part because the Lord knows you can't handle it, B.) grow into a stronger person for it, and finally C.) use your experience to assist others facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. Let God use you. “Pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God‘s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1st Thessalonians 5:17-18

About Elisabeth

Elisabeth Karry Foley, 51, has been a resident of Ashland, Virginia, since 2013, where she lives with her husband of 20 years, Ryan, and their three children, Laurel (18), Lyla (15), and Dominick (13). She grew up in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and later Richmond, Virginia. Elisabeth is a Furman University alumna and a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City, reflecting her love for cooking. She works as a barista at Starbucks in Ashland, where she enjoys connecting with her community. Elisabeth cherishes time spent with family and friends, gardening, and cooking, and draws strength and gratitude from her faith as a devoted follower of Jesus. Her warmth and dedication make her a beloved part of the Ashland community.

Elisabeth's Recovery Instagram.