Stepping Forward with Our 5-Year Vision
by Hannah Jang, Chief Blogger
As I walk into the room, I am greeted by Nevada Jean Lane, our graphic facilitator for our one-day visioning retreat in San Francisco. I am the first to arrive. I locate my name tag and proceed to find a seat. I take one quick glance at the agenda and think to myself, "This is going to be one jam-packed day!"
Just as I am starting to anticipate the day's schedule, Michelle Lapinski from the San Francisco Chapter walks in. Given that this would be the first time I am meeting the women from the different YWSE chapters, I get ready for a handshake. Except, Michelle flashes a huge smile, hugs me tightly and excitedly says, "It's so great to finally meet you!" Minutes later, the other women quickly trickle into the room. Before I know it, we are all greeting each other with hugs. I quickly learn that this is the "YWSE Way".
From that moment on, I knew I was in for a treat.
Eleven creative minds gathered from all parts of the U.S. - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, New York, and DC - to take on the challenging task of developing a 5-year vision plan for YWSE. To start, we are reminded of the "YWSE Values" and how our core values are the key principles that guide our conduct and our relationships. They connect us to each other and make our successes possible.
The empty canvas is eventually populated with our brainstorming and mind mapping. Nevada was able to beautifully capture our thoughts and ideas through this visual representation:
Our vision inspires us to dream bigger, reach higher and expect more for the future.
While the visioning retreat accomplished the immediate goal of bringing Chapter leaders together to develop a shared vision for YWSE, it is important to understand that the retreat itself was merely the first step in a process. The key to its impact is in the follow-up. The work that remains is that of empowering and supporting Chapter leaders to implement program ideas and of monitoring progress through regular check-ins and follow-up meetings.
An important outcome of the YWSE Visioning retreat is the visual reminder of the stepping stones that will allow us to reach our 5-year vision.
As we continue to serve our local members with excellence, we will need your help in building national community and external visibility through increased and improved means of our funding model and technology.
If there is specific "stepping stone" that you are interested in learning more about and/or would like to serve on a committee, please email us at [email protected].
Great post, Hannah! I'm constantly inspired by the driven, creative women in NYWSE and am happy that we are making an effort to bring more cohesion to the national contingent so our Chapter can be inspired by like-minded women around the country.
Posted by: Kari Litzmann | February 07, 2012 at 06:52 AM