“We are not in the business of developing competitive leaders. Leadership is inherently relational.”
~ Rockwood’s President, Akaya Windwood, Pioneers in Justice: Building Networks and Movements for Social Change
As people come together across the globe to watch the World Cup, I am reminded of the importance of teams, and how essential it is to work well together to reach our social change goals (or goooooooaaaaaaaaalllls!).
Two years ago, Rockwood partnered with Levi Strauss Foundation and its Pioneers in Justice initiative to support the leadership teams of five Bay Area social justice organizations. Working together, we created a custom-designed training that brought together staff from the Foundation and the Pioneers’ organizations through Rockwood’s Art of Collaborative Leadership program.
During the five-day residential Art of Collaborative Leadership retreat, executive directors, board members, and senior staff from each organization gained skills to help overcome challenges, and be sustainable social change leaders for a lifetime.
Training a “trio” from each organization created a new level of trust and partnership within each team and between teams. Participants were able to talk about their organizational and regional roles, and how to best support each others’ work.
Just like in soccer, one person can make a huge impact, but all of the players need to work well together to win the game. If you’re interested in learning more about our organizational leadership trainings for teams, feel free to email me at stacy AT rockwoodleaders.org.
You can learn more about the Pioneers in Justice initiative in the new report, Pioneers in Justice: Building Networks and Movements for Social Change, and watch a short video about our partnership below, or click here to watch:
Paving the Way for Stronger Social Justice Movements from Rockwood Leadership Institute on Vimeo.
