We were lucky to catch up with Ann Anaebere-Aneke recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ann , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

As a doctoral student at UCLA School of Nursing, I had opportunities to attend lectures and receive instruction from wonderful faculty in nursing and the health sciences. During my time as a student there, I was surrounded by innovation and amazing research. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to continue to work clinically as a nurse during my doctoral studies. It was during this time that I started to desire to work for a health care organization after graduation, rather than transition into an academic/faculty role. When I started my first position in quality improvement for a state hospital/health plan after completion of my doctoral studies, I could not wait to apply all the concepts and innovative ideas I learned and even piloted in my doctoral studies. However, because of the complexities of the patient population we served, I tabled many of those ideas or some of those ideas were not immediately prioritized. I was reminded in staff meetings, that innovation is wonderful especially when systems are not working, but of upmost importance, is doing the basics well and getting the basics right. I was reminded that innovation does not always ensure that the basics are delivered well. In fact, you can have all the technological platforms, system enhancements and innovative marketing tools, but if the basics are not delivered well and if the foundation of your organization is not strong, the services delivered may be jeopardized, no matter how cutting-edge or innovative you try to be. This lesson definitely stayed with me, and so in all I do professionally, I try to stay consistent, reliable, respectful, knowledgeable in my practice area and think about the essential needs of those I serve first, before I ever think about moving up the innovation hierarchy. It is this principle that I also hear over and over again in my role as a nurse care manager and that I keep in mind when engaging in various community service activities. For example, when starting our community service group Omenala Service Learning Collaborative, our focus was to get started, be dependable, as well as learn and serve in our everyday lives. For us, there has been no service activity too simple or too small. Our thought is as long as we can do it, as long as it can help someone else or help an already existing organization meet a community need, we will add that service project to our activity list.

Ann , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born and raised in Inglewood, CA and moved to Denver, CO some years later. I currently live in North Dallas with my husband and children. After completing my undergraduate education in psychology and graduate education in African Studies at University of California of Los Angeles (UCLA). I went to nursing school at Mount St. Mary’s University, where I completed my Bachelor of Science in Nursing and became a registered nurse. After beginning to work professionally as a nurse, I had a better idea of the next steps I wanted to take in my nursing career. I pursued a Master of Science in Nursing and thereafter obtained my Ph.D. from UCLA School of Nursing in their Health Disparities and Vulnerable Populations Research Program. Since becoming a nurse, I have had a number of different nursing roles. I have worked in the hospital and clinic setting, worked as a nurse researcher, nursing faculty, and worked in health ministry. Currently, I work as a nurse care manager. It was my professional interests in health, community and service that have further led to the development of our family service club Omenala Service Learning Collaborative (OSLC).

Before Omenala Service Learning Collaborative (OSLC) started, I was looking for opportunities to engage in community service with my family and to create a giving circle that allowed us to give back to our community in a consistent way. As we started connecting more with different groups and organizations, we wanted to create a platform for our small giving circle and to continue to share about the benefits of service learning. I truly love the accessibility of family service learning as a tool to strengthen both communities and families. More and more, we see how communities are being affected because families and healthy human connections are being upended. I feel that family service is a unifier for families with different make-ups, opinions, challenges─you name it. Family service allows a family to come together on one accord to contribute to a goal that is outside of themselves or that is bigger than themselves. It can allow each person involved in the service activity to work on those soft skills from accountability, adaptability, understanding and teamwork. These soft skills can help forge sound human connections and as a result strengthen communities. Family service also helps the community because by serving your community you form a sense of connection to your community which I believe encourages community preservation, community pride and respect for your community. When I hear family service, I hear an open invitation to any family, no matter the journey, challenges, etc., to serve, connect, give back, offer what you can and make a difference. There are so many community and personal wins when you engage in service.

Currently, our family service club has three arms that include our giving circle which seeks to support the Anthony Ihedoha Anaebere, Sr. Memorial Scholarship, in honor of our late father. This scholarship is something my siblings and I launched after our father’s passing in 2015. For each scholarship cycle, a $1000 scholarship has been awarded to one Nigerian-born or first-generation Nigerian American student pursuing engineering studies in the United States of America. For scholarship details please feel free to visit: https://aiascholarship.com/

The second arm of our family service club is our writers’ group which seeks to provide health ministry through inspirational books, devotional texts, articles, journals, and other written resources. As part of our “simple acts of everyday service” goal, OSLC donates select texts and written resources to organizations, ministries and community service groups that serve diverse populations.

The third arm of OSLC is our quarterly service highlights where we feature online some of the simple ways individuals can incorporate service into their family unit. Each quarterly highlight includes details of the selected service activity that we have engaged in with our young children as well as brief reflections on the service experience.

I have seen community service groups run as nonprofits, giving circles or clubs (either incorporated or not). I have also seen community service groups run as a form of social entrepreneurship or as a group that merges with a fiscal sponsor. I have seen really small service groups that may just have one cause they focus on annually and I have seen super large organizations that have ongoing service activities weekly. I do not think there is one way of doing it. I just think you should research, be clear on your goal, understand your capacity/limits and streamline it in a way that allows you to carry out your activities as planned.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

You know, when I was younger, a pivot for me was the equivalent of giving up. So, I often buckled down even harder when I felt nudged to pivot, rather that critically appraising where I was being pulled or directed. Mottos like “don’t give up,” “stay the course,” “keep going” are so powerful and so important, so to me making a pivot felt more like choosing second best or selling myself short. I did not rightfully see that a pivot could be realignment, shifting or a personal correction that could help position me where I am meant to be. Don’t get me wrong, yes absolutely there are those instances where, yes, you stay the course, buckle down and don’t give up. Having faith and staying committed to what you discern as God’s plan for you is so important. But, there are also those instances after deep reflection where the next step may not be to stay the course, but to pivot and move in another direction. And if pivoting is the right next step after much soul-searching and reflection, I think bring that same degree of excitement and passion to the new area or path that you are going to embark on. Sometimes making a pivot is the healthiest and most courageous thing you can do.

I would say my professional journey has been full of pivots. As, I mentioned, I was born and raised in California. So, I never imagined I would move outside of California and live permanently anywhere else. As life would have it both myself and my husband got great opportunities after graduate school that landed us in Denver, CO. We had never envisioned ourselves in Denver, but opportunities shifted us elsewhere, so we pivoted. My career in nursing was a pivot from my initial career plans while in college. When I entered my doctoral studies, I thought I would enter a career in academia, only to find I enjoyed working for a health organization more. Pivoting can be a good thing professionally and personally in fact. For many, the desire to pivot often comes from having more information about ourselves, our circumstance and where we can thrive most.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I am often unlearning and learning things. I think part of personal development is learning and unlearning things so we can make healthy progress in our lives. One of the things I had to unlearn, was believing that my personal concerns or challenges had to be solved according to my own agenda. When I was younger, I would often feel like how can I enjoy Y if X is not resolved the way I want it to be. However, with time I became more confident in God’s promise as is written in the bible that says, “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). So, the older I get, I have learned to believe that nothing we go through, whether the ups or downs, is ever wasted. To me, as long as you are willing to learn from it, use the tools at your disposal and get back on track, some good can come from it. I have learned to be less moved by the optics of a situation and remember that life will always have its peaks and valleys. I think remembering this can allow us to have peace, set goals, celebrate, laugh, plan, etc., even when things don’t happen how we want them to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://omenalaservice.weebly.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omenalaserve.learningcollab

Image Credits
Onyeka Christopher Aneke