Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachariah Fisher.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Zachariah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always had a deep love of working with kids. In my early 20’s I was the youngest PE coach in all of LAUSD. I left after being drained by the traditional school systems limitations on what I believed was best for the children in terms of free play and self-directed learning. After 8 years in Corporate Sales, I would drive passed schools on my way to work and tear up knowing that my heart yearned to be out there with the kids and not stuck behind a cubicle. I finally mustered up the courage to put an event together with kids that included many of the modalities that greatly impacted by life… Yoga, Qi Gong, Mindfulness, Nature, Smoothies and a little Yoda. The event was a huge success and ignited my fire so much that I left my job less than 6 months later and dove into working with kids full time.
From there, our organization picked up momentum and built a strong core leadership team with aligned values and vision. We continue to fine tune our model so that it best suits the self-directed learning that we at our very core believe is the best way to allow children to learn and grow.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There has been multiple challenges on this journey of less than 2 years. Primarily as a startup youth organization, we have had to constantly sharpen our focus on vision. Getting the organizations core focus pointed in the same direction has taken a tremendous amount of trial and error. It’s one thing to want to empower youth, it’s another to be disciplined enough to carry that mission forth in a clear, cohesive way. It is still a work in progress, but we have come leaps and bounds in our short existence and one thing we are not afraid of, is to take risks, push the envelope and truly embody our core belief, that children are the leaders.
Peace Guardians – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our reason for being is to catalyze a global movement of youth led peace ambassadors. We do this through self-directed, youth led problem solving of community and global peace issues. What sets us apart, is we we believe children are the masters, we provide a container for ancient wisdom teachings and we make problem solving fun and playful.
The way we do this is called the Way of the Guardians.
1. Get to know student’s interests/values/skills 2. Determine real world problems they are passionate about solving 3. Form teams of likeminded people with complimentary skill sets 4. Steward self-directed learning/problem solving environment with our core values and tools 5. Provide support/direction as needed and requested directly by the students 6. Engage in the learning process with the students 7. Solve Real World Problems through collaboration and innovation.
In a nutshell, we center our unique learning and problem-solving experiences around children by carefully stewarding their play based instincts.
We are proud of many things but would have to say the launch of our youth ambassador program sponsored by Sunwarrior is at the top of the list. We selected one boy (Akida) and one girl (Cali) with the intention of launching this program with a variety of businesses that put people over profit. The vision of the program is to offer children a platform to share their visions and ideas with peers, and to serve as role models in their communities.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success as surrendering to our higher calling and following it no matter what obstacles may come our way. I believe Joseph Campbell summed it up best “Follow your bliss”. When we follow our bliss, we live in the ultimate state of success moment to precious moment.
I do not believe success is linear. Meaning that it’s all about the journey and not destination. This doesn’t mean to not have clear objectives and mountains to climb, it simply means that the greatest measure of success lays in the knowing deep in our heart that we are living in our purpose and making the most out of life in the here and now.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.peaceguardians.org
- Phone: 818-859-8597
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instragram.com/peaceguardians
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/peaceguardianstribe
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/peace-guardians-topanga
Image Credit:
Anayalisa Love
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