Environmental Leadership Program: ELP News: Summer 2002-Retreat Highlights

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newsletter Summer 2002

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ELP News:

ELP NEWS: Retreat Highlights

ELP Class of 2002-2004 gathers at April 2002 retreat

In April, ELP welcomed the class of 2002-2004 during a five-day retreat at the Trinity Conference Center in West Cornwall, Connecticut. The retreat featured intensive diversity training, discussions of leadership and "followership," reflections on personal leadership attributes, and small group sessions on specific environmental topics. During a day of "open space" sessions, fellows gathered in interest groups to discuss a broad range of issues, from corporate responsibility to community-based resource management. Additional activities encouraged fellows to share information about their work and to discuss new approaches to leadership.

2002-2004 fellows at Trinity Conference Center in W. Cornwall, CT.

Diversity training conducted by Nelson Baez and Associates allowed fellows to explore the role that personality plays in potential conflicts, and share stories about their experiences with different types of social discrimination. The sessions raised awareness of the diversity within the group and fostered a sensitivity to the experiences of each fellow.

Through group discussions, team building activities, and personal interaction, the retreat aimed to create a sense of community as well as begin discussions of important issues facing the environmental field. At the end of five days together, participants went home with energy to continue to build relationships and develop the leadership skills started at the retreat.

Vallecitos Mountain Refuge Retreat

During the six-day Vallecitos retreat, participants celebrated the summer solstice with singing and music.

In June, 16 ELP fellows and one staff member spent a week at the Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in the Carson National Forest in Northern New Mexico. This optional retreat, led by Grove Burnett and Wendy Johnson, was an opportunity to interact in an entirely different setting from the four required ELP retreats. At Vallecitos, participants focused on meditation practices, dialogues exploring the core values that inspire their work, and appreciation of the peaceful natural setting in the mountains of New Mexico. The retreat offered a slower pace and activities to reenergize and revitalize participants' personal and professional lives. The inward focus of the Vallecitos retreat encouraged participants to reflect on their goals and challenges and to talk openly about their fears, pains, frustrations, and hopes. The group observed periods of silence each day to deepen the process of reflection, and also had time for music, getting to know each other, and contemplative practice. The retreat offered a unique opportunity for personal reflection, learning, discussion, and appreciation of the present moment and natural surroundings.

August 2002 Retreat

The August 14-18, 2002 ELP Fellowship retreat marked the first time three ELP fellowship groups gathered together. Along with ELP staff and several Board members, fellows continued conversations on diversity and leadership; networked and built relationships; engaged in discussions about environmental issues; and pursued potential Activity Fund project collaborations. During a day of diversity training, participants worked both within their fellowship classes and as a large group to identify tools and actions to take back to their communities and workplaces. Other sessions focused on targeted skill training; discussions on such topics as environmental politics, corporate social responsibility, and public health and the environment; opportunities for collaboration; and exchange on a personal and professional level. The retreat culminated with a recognition ceremony for the Class of 2000-2002, the members of which will become ELP's first alumni at the end of this year.