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Meet the Class of 2027 Baldwin Leaders of Lancaster County

Join us in welcoming the Class of 2027 Baldwin Leaders. Over the next 18 months, seven leaders from across Lancaster County will build leadership capacity, deepen relationships, and complete personal projects supported by a $5,000 grant. The Baldwin Leadership Program is a unique grant opportunity that nurtures personal growth and meaningful community connections through a guided series that centers self-reflection, bridge building, and joy.

Participants commit to monthly cohort meetings where they learn together, challenge assumptions, and translate insight into action that benefits Lancaster County. Each project is personally designed, but the journey is shared, creating a network of leaders who champion equity, creativity, and a hopeful future for our community.

Learn more about each Baldwin Leader’s project:

1

Adam Hosey

Planned Parenthood Association of Pennsylvania

The Myth of Authenticity in the Korean Adoptee Experience

Since the Korean war began, over 150,000 Korean infants were adopted. Due to imperialism, patriarchy, and policy, one out of every 100 babies born in Korea were adopted. Adam is one of them. His project seeks to reclaim lost identity by traveling to South Korea and LA’s Koreatown– the Korean American mecca. Through food and personal connection, Adam will reclaim his own lost identity and explore the concept of authenticity in cultural and social justice movements.

2

Amanda Griffin

Lancaster County Academy

Cultivating Resilient Leadership: A Nature-Based Approach to Wellness

Through hiking trails, practicing yoga, and participating in mindfulness retreats in the Azores or Torres del Paine National Park, Amanda will explore the healing power of nature to build personal resilience, address the effects of secondary trauma and grow as a transformative leader. The experience will enhance her professional leadership skills to design wellness initiatives and models for trauma-informed practices.

3

Ariana Garcia

ASSETS

Reclaiming Roots: A Solo Healing & Creative Journey Through Puerto Rico

Ariana is a first-generation Puerto Rican entrepreneur and mother living in the Diaspora. She carries both the legacy of generational trauma and the responsibility of building a new future rooted in joy, wholeness, and justice. Ariana will embark on a 28-day solo journey through Puerto Rico designed to facilitate deep ancestral healing, creative expression, and cultural reconnection. This experience will support her  personal growth and long-term community impact.

4

Angel Sanchez

Music For Everyone

El Barrio en Clave: My Journey to Build a Latin Jazz Pipeline

Angel will travel to Puerto Rico and Cuba for a month-long music intensive focused on Latin jazz, bomba, plena, salsa, boogaloo, and Cuban rumba. With this knowledge, he’ll pursue a longtime dream: to create a youth Latin jazz ensemble in Lancaster. Throughout this journey, Angel will document oral histories and film lessons. Angel seeks to deepen his technical skills and role as a storyteller and bridge-builder.

5

Jennifer Diaz

Leadership Lancaster

Walking Into Someday

Jennifer will walk 200 miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago. From a young age, Jennifer followed the script: college, marriage, children, career. She had watched her mother do the same, always saying, “I’ll get to that someday.” But at 52, her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and all the things she’d saved for later never came. Now, at 51, Jennifer is reclaiming her own “someday,” asking: What do I want? What dreams still whisper to me? Who am I beneath all the roles I play? She’s walking the Camino to find out.

 

6

Shianne Hargrove

LancasterHistory

Discovering My Roots and Womanhood Through My Grandmothers’ Stories

The laughter, warm hugs, and deep wrinkles of her great-grandmothers are what she fondly remembers. Shianne only knows fragments of their lives and the lives of their foremothers. However, these matriarchs are inseparable from her identity as a Black woman. Shianne will embark on a journey to look beyond the confines of Lancaster and retrace the powerful line of women in her family tree. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, she’ll uncover the northern branches, while in the Carolinas, she’ll explore the southern roots. This endeavor is not just an exploration of Shianne’s ancestry, but also a path to discovering herself.

7

Tabitha Benitez

Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster

I am Because They Were

Tabitha will travel to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to trace her family’s history on both sides. A genealogist and therapist will help identify her family’s lineage to uncover and document ancestral roots. As she gathers these stories, Tabitha will write an autobiography to serve as a living archive for future generations. This project preserves her family history, centers on personal healing, and creates intergenerational storytelling.

 

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Grant Awards and Summaries

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