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Camden Dempsey is a sophomore in the Leeds School of Business studying finance and accounting, with a minor in leadership. He is also a member of the CU Football team. In the future, Camden would like to either start or join a business with operations in China. His hobbies include swimming, skiing, scuba diving, traveling, and lifting. An Eagle Scout, in March 2018 he led an international group service project of 34 volunteers (16 from the United States, 18 from China) to plant 100 trees in Inner Mongolia, China, with the Nature Conservancy; the project was considered an ecological success and cultural foreign exchange between the USA and China. Also active in DECA, which prepares emerging leaders in several areas in high school and college, he was a Colorado DECA District 13 State Representative and two-time DECA International Career Development Conference qualifier and Lakewood High School's chapter president. Additionaly, he is a current member of the Robbie's Hope Foundation Board, focusing on teen suicide prevention and mental health awareness. 

Camden took these previous leadership experiences and dove headfirst into getting involved and expanding his abilities through programs at CU Boulder. He is currently involved in six leadership programs on campus: Presidents Leadership Class (PLC), Boettcher Scholars, Leeds Scholars (LSP), Leeds Honors, CU Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and Pac-12 Student Athlete Leadership team (SALT).

How would you say your involvement in these leadership programs have impacted you?

“I would say that my involvement in these programs has taught me how to not only think like a leader, but apply my leadership skills and reflect on my leadership experiences as well.  One of my favorite parts of being in these programs is being able to bounce from one to the other and apply my experience across athletics, business, and academics.  For example, I love learning about a leadership concept in class, and then seeing its application in the real world, either at a football practice or in the business world.”

What are the different lessons you have learned from each leadership program and how have you been able to apply them?

“I would say that I have learned so much from all of these programs combined that it is impossible to attribute one lesson or experience to a specific program.  What I will say, is that being able to pull from all the programs has definitely changed my approach as a leader.  For example, I will learn about the different methods of leadership in my PLC class or about methods for leading amongst people who may seem very different than you, and then go to a football practice and try and implement those ideas and test and see which work and which don’t.  By that same token, I will come from a football practice and walk away with an understanding of leadership application in the real world and how some things simply don’t translate from the book to the field.  Most of all, I have learned how to reflect and appreciate the opportunities and experiences I have had, and how to contextualize them to apply later in life."