Dr. Vreeland: Can you share about your first experience with An Achievable Dream? What were your impressions or takeaways from that experience?
Dr. Maxwell: During my first encounter with An Achievable Dream, I was preparing for my annual InTouch Basketball event to unite the police and the community. I met you and asked if New Beech Grove Baptist Church could host the event at An Achievable Dream. The InTouch Basketball Tournament was beautiful. Everyone felt welcome and the volunteers felt the hospitality from An Achievable Dream. It was simply an amazing experience. An Achievable Dream also had the Men in the Making program in our church building.
LV: We held the Men in the Making camp at New Beech Grove Baptist Church because we wanted to broaden our outreach to the northern Newport News community. An Achievable Dream students are primarily from the southeast community. We thought it was important for An Achievable Dream to expand our reach beyond our students.
WM: Those are a few of my many experiences with AAD, and we’ve continued to work together to make sure that we sustain the community and create a safe environment for the students. So, I’m always glad to partner with your organization.
LV: How would you describe your leadership from your perspective, through your ministry, your roots in education, and your service in the community?
WM: In regard to my leadership in the community, I work heavily with the Newport News Police Department. I’m a volunteer Police Chaplain because I believe that you can’t make a difference if you don’t build relationships. I also serve as the NAACP president and a member of the Police Foundation Board. In my community roles, I’ve been able to have tough conversations with the Newport News Police Department and work to bridge the gap between the African-American community and the police. I believe you have to be engaged in the community to be a community leader. I also work with Newport News Public Schools and I often communicate with Dr. Parker, the NNPS Superintendent. When the shooting violence occurred at Heritage High School, I made sure I was present to offer support. Because of my educational background, whenever crises occur at Newport News schools, I ensure that I am present because I am always concerned. Also, because I am the NAACP president, I work to forge relationships with those in the community, even when we have to have tough conversations.
LV: It sounds like you approach leadership from a partnership standpoint.
WM: Yes, I believe that my leadership is built on partnerships, and my church offers many different partnerships. Leadership is not about who receives credit for the work, as long as the work gets done.
LV: How would you approach programming from a community perspective to ensure that leaders are coming together instead of working independently to solve issues?
WM: I’ve always been in the community and I think more people are becoming involved in the community because of the pandemic. I love working together with other people because I believe in the collective IQ. Together, all of us are smarter than any one of us. So, when you bring all the different minds and ideas together, the result is always better.
LV: Can you talk about some of the biggest challenges, whether through COVID or other concerns you have faced as a leader?
WM: As a leader, one of the biggest challenges I face is change because people don’t adapt well to change. You have to have enough humility to know that when people are familiar with you as a leader, they may perceive you differently than other leaders. Church leaders, in particular, have to understand their congregation and lead them in a way that makes them uncomfortable. Oftentimes, the challenges of leaders are stretching people without pulling them apart and allowing them the momentum to grow without impeding you as a leader. That is my greatest challenge as a pastor — helping people accept change and want to move forward.
LV: Can you talk about your background in education, and how it serves you in your career now?
WM: I began my educational career as an exceptional education teacher. I majored in exceptional education at Georgia Southern University and began my first year as a teacher in 1997. After serving as a teacher, I became an assistant principal and then a principal. In order to be an effective leader, you have to be a great follower. You have to understand and submit to authority, as long as their practices are not unethical. I’m glad I experienced serving as a principal and a real estate broker before becoming a pastor because those administrative skills gave me my business acumen and taught me to hold myself and those I’m leading accountable.
LV: What’s next for Newport News? How do you see us moving forward as a city?
WM: I see us hopefully working together and becoming more cohesive. I accept people for who they are, and I try to find the similarities between individuals to bring them together. Whether I’m working with the City Council, Mayor, or Newport News Public Schools Superintendent, my goal is to unite everyone.
LV: What are you most looking forward to for the future?
WM: One of the things I’m looking forward to for the future is my run for Newport News City Council. I’m always working in the community, and I believe that I can unite City Council without focusing on politics or personal agendas, but rather, putting the citizens of Newport News first. For example, I faced some criticism because the NAACP partnered with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Often, these organizations are viewed as partisan, when they’re meant to be nonpartisan. These organizations are not Republican or Democratic; they were created to help people of color, minorities, and other marginalized groups who continue to have their rights infringed upon.
LV: As you are aware, politics are more divisive than ever in this country, and we know that united, we’re stronger. As a council member, what would be your role in helping to bring people back together?
WM: My role would involve working together with other council members to ensure that we take care of the citizens of Newport News, our schools, economic development and the broader community. I want to make sure that we are taking care of those who are currently in Newport News and those who are soon to come. We need to make Newport News a place where everyone will want to live.
LV: How do we advocate for leaders to focus on what’s in the best interest of our community?
WM: It’s better for leaders to focus on the community as a whole because as Dr. King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So if we are not creating equitable opportunities for members of our communities, we are not doing them justice. We must educate each other about the inequities that are prevalent in our communities and provide enough opportunities to level the playing field.
LV: One of the things that Walter Segaloff, the founder of An Achievable Dream, said to me that resonated with me the most in this role is if everyone is happy with you at the end of the day, then you’re not a good leader. As a leader, that is difficult to accept, but ultimately you recognize that change takes place when you aren’t focused on pleasing everyone.
WM: Exactly, because if you aren’t just focused on taking a stance on something, then you can understand, learn from, and learn to speak from different perspectives.