TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo swimmer Kennedy Lovell was selected by the Mid-American Conference to attend the 2023 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum, which took place on April 13-16, in Baltimore, Md.
 
The NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum is designed to enhance the leadership capabilities of student-athletes, coaches, and administrators across all three NCAA divisions. The four-day event provides an opportunity for attendees to build a leadership toolkit while developing self-awareness that allows them to realize their potential. Over 5,000 student-athletes have attended the forum since it was first held in 1997.
 
Lovell is a senior on the Toledo women's swimming & diving team and president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She applied to attend the forum in January of 2023 and was selected by the Mid-American Conference office as the conference's female student-athlete representative. Over 250 student-athletes, coaches, and administrators attended this year's forum, which focused on the theme "Beyond the Box."
 
"Everything was centered around that idea," Lovell said. "We especially focused on inside-out leadership, which is having awareness of who you are, what your core values are, and how you can take what's inside of you to lead in those ways. It's very much being authentic to yourself and going beyond the box."
 
Participants listened to keynote speakers, spoke with mental health experts, and engaged with members of the Baltimore Ravens front office. Additionally, they spent time in small-group settings as part of color teams. Color teams consisted of about 30 attendees and involved small-group discussions about emotional intelligence, identifying personal values and strengths, relationship management, and more.
 
"We really dug into who we were as leaders, the different ways you can be a leader, and how leadership influences the choices you make," Lovell said. "It built from knowing who you are inside to knowing how you can work with others around you, especially since we all have different values and different ways of leading."
 
The color team discussions allowed Lovell to pinpoint her core values and leadership strengths while also understanding the strengths of others. "It really opened my eyes on how people approach the same things differently," Lovell said.
 
Lovell returned from the forum with a toolkit of ideas to share with her team and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
 
"I will be more aware of where I'm coming from, my own biases, and how I can improve my relationships with my teammates and athletes in other sports," Lovell said. "It showed me the importance of setting ground rules, making sure people are on the same page, and why that's important to communicate effectively."
 
Lovell's experience over her four days at the forum helped her find comfort in viewing herself as a leader.
 
"I felt like I was in the right place," said Lovell. "As the week went on, I was like, 'I can do these things. This isn't out of my wheelhouse.'"