Get to Know Myra Nagy, the First Lived Expert Leadership Award Winner
Myra Nagy received the first-ever Lived Expert Leadership Award at our annual Voices & Visions event in May. Myra has been involved with Elevated Denver from the beginning. In fact, she shared her journey from being housed to unhoused and then finding the resources she needed to get back into stable housing in Season 1, Episode 2 of the podcast. Ever since, she has continued to activate her lived experience to help and inspire others through her leadership at Elevated Denver and beyond.
We recently sat down with Myra to learn more about what this award means to her and how Elevated Denver has helped shape her into a leader.
Elevated Denver (ED): How do you see yourself as a leader in the community?
Myra Nagy (MN): I am using my voice to educate people and help them understand how important it is to have someone at the table with lived experience. You need a person from the community you’re serving there; people can’t know everything from books and statistics. Homelessness is an umbrella term, but it’s so individualized – every person’s journey is unique.
ED: How has being part of both the Collaboratories and other programs with Elevated Denver shaped you as a leader?
MN: Being able to share my story was the beginning of my journey. The Elevated Denver team helped me do that in a comfortable way, and taught me that it’s ok to be vulnerable. Working with Elevated Denver is a way for my story to help others, not just people on the street, but also to help housed individuals understand what it is to be homeless from a different perspective.
Every opportunity I’ve had with Elevated Denver has helped me grow as a public speaker, allowing me to feel more comfortable sitting on panels, facilitating workshops, and sharing my story – not just with Elevated Denver, but in my art circles as well.
ED: What does receiving the first Lived Expert Leadership Award from Elevated Denver mean to you?
MN: Wow, it was a shock! I didn’t expect an award or feel like I deserved one. It’s just my responsibility to help others and to be that voice, to show it’s possible to improve your life. I feel like I need to pave the way for others. I feel honored to get the award, but also know that I’m just one of many who have used their voice, and we don’t have enough in Denver. That’s why I’m working to help and encourage more leaders to pop up. I see this award and the work with Elevated Denver as a way to duplicate the process of becoming a leader so we can spread them out all over town.
ED: What are your hopes for The Wisdom Collective, a new leadership development program that you helped create during the most recent Collaboratory?
MN:I hope more than anything that someone will come out of this leadership program feeling more confident in who they are, and learn how to apply the lessons in their everyday life and whatever community they’re in. I want the Wisdom Collective to have a lasting community after it’s done, where people can network and stay connected. I’d love for this to be a national program so that everyone gets the same benefits. Personally, I would love to help build the curriculum and serve as a mentor. I want to be a lifeline for others for whatever they need.
ED: Why do you stay connected to Elevated Denver and its work?
MN: I continue to work with Elevated Denver because I know that my voice matters and it’s just as important as anyone else’s that they seek input from. You feel like you’re worth something when you’re part of Elevated Denver. As a lived expert, it makes a difference. With some organizations, I feel tokenized, marginalized, and overused. I don’t feel that way with Elevated Denver.
One of the prizes Myra received with her award was a portrait session with Lynn Townsend of Illumine Photography, which offers authentic brand photography and transformative portrait experiences for women. Before Myra’s photoshoot, Lynn asked her questions to help her capture Myra’s authentic essence in the pictures. Here are a few of Myra’s responses:
What are 3 words that you feel beautifully describe you?
Honest, understanding, artistic
What are 3 things that you deeply love about yourself?
Spontaneousness, happiness, resilience
What does your soul long to express?
Let’s all find beauty, joy, and creativity in life.
If this portrait session were a gesture of becoming, what would it honor or celebrate in you?
Becoming the woman I should be. A woman with wisdom and gratitude.
Lynn took photos of Myra with two of her most treasured possessions: her bike and sewing machine. Myra expressed how good it made her feel to know that she could buy a luxury sewing machine herself and explained that it represented that she is doing well and has transitioned from one place to another. Myra also shared that her artwork and sewing are like her therapy; these activities relieve stress and take her out of whatever hardship she’s going through. Her bike represents many things that she loves, too, and gives her the freedom to go where she wants.