Leadership Preparedness

The Junior Firefighter Youth Foundation believes in preparing students to become future leaders.  Our Leadership Series of conversations assists our young people in preparing for the next steps in life.  We believe in meeting the student where they currently are and helping them to grow into a confident and self-motivated young leader.

Our principles come from military and prominent political figures throughout history.  There are many men and women that have left an indelible mark throughout history.  We expose our students to these great leaders.  We challenge our youth to really take a deep dive into discovering what they would like to be and where they see themselves in the next few years.  We want them to become the leader we know they can be rather than emulate being someone else.  

Captain Burton provides an opportunity for students to learn from him personally through one on one guidance and mentoring.  Captain Burton served 37 years as a firefighter with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, with 28 of those years as a leader of professional fire service personnel.  

Captain Burton’s journey as a leader started with him at the age of 14 when he promoted to the rank of sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Youth Explorer program.  He was thrust into a position of leadership where he was in charge of a platoon of 25 explorers.  He was responsible for providing direction and guidance to his subordinates while maintaining a “B” average in his personal school work.  Captain Burton received many commendations for his leadership and example setting and he was the recipient of the Explorer of the Year award of 1981 as an Explorer Lieutenant from the Westside Optimist club.  

Knowledge of self, compassion for others and decision making are just a few of the tenants a good leader should possess.  Captain Burton is an excellent mentor and he works hard to provide the direction to our future leaders that they are in search of.  To learn more about leadership