Special to the AmNews
Darlene Mungin works for the Department of Education and has a deep passion for helping women and young people. She is the president and co-founder of Invest in You Incorporated. Invest in You consists of enrichment retreats, symposiums and activities to help individuals become better people. It began with a journalistic program called Voices, in which young people can have their ideas expanded published worldwide.
Mungin began Voices at a troublesome time. She shared, “I remember sitting at my mom’s kitchen table in tears. I had three children, and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t stay [at her current job]. I didn’t want to stay there. I had this idea, because I had done some volunteer work previously after school, tutoring and helping kids with little things. We did a little newsletter. I said, ‘I just wish I could do something like that all the time,’ and my mom was like listen, ‘If you never try, you never know.’ I went back to work and turned in my two-week resignation.”
Mungin was fortunate enough to discover her passion and pursue it. Now she wants people, especially women, to be able to discover their passions. Invest in You conducted a retreat where women were guided in seeking their passions.
Mungin said, “The retreat last year was the first annual. The theme was relax, relate, release, and a group of about 30 womEn came together and we had a session called ‘Finding Your Passion’ because one of the things I’ve learned is that as women, sometimes we put what we want on the back burner, and when we do that, sometimes we’re lost.”
She continued, “Sometimes we have to reprogram people to think, ‘What is your passion?’ So we had a lot of programs to bring that out in people, and they were excited and appreciative of the experience. A lot of people walked away energized, inspired and ready to start fulfilling their passions.”
Mungin finds personal fulfillment in helping others. She took a class with poet Sonia Sanchez while attending Lincoln University that inspired her greatly. She expressed the desire that Sanchez gave her to give back to others. She also explained that Sanchez helped her to think deeper. She makes that clear in what she pursues and why.
“I’m passionate about young people, and we need to create a platform for them to be able to voice their opinion about things. And we need to make sure that they understand that they matter and their voices matter at a young age, so that we can make sure that they become proactive citizens. How can you do that if you’re not giving them a voice?”
Mungin understands the importance of women and young adults being heard, and she wants to make that happen. The next Invest in You retreat is in April and the theme will be “Never Stop Improving.”
The retreat is open to the public. More information about Invest in You can be found at Investinyouinc4.wordpress.com.