Reflecting on their first retreat, which concluded August 7, Leadership Academy fellows were asked to use one word to describe their experience. The carefully selected words told us a story of a retreat that was incredibly rewarding while also being challenging and intense. The mix of workshops and trainings provided fellows opportunities to bond, learn and challenge each other while growing as professionals.

After being welcomed into the program on the first day, each fellow set individual learning goals for the retreat. Trainings kicked off with bonding exercises and a workshop called “Ideology 101” that examined the spectrum of political ideologies at play in our country. Another workshop focused on personal sustainability and introduced fellows to an important tool called the Wheel of Sustainability that helps chart the amount of time fellows spend in four distinct spheres of their life: work, tradition and culture, self, and family. The weekend also featured an intensive anti-oppression training where fellows examined how systemic power imbalances play out on an individual and institutional level. The retreat closed with fellows joining together for an exercise called “Rain of Love” where each fellow entered a circle of their peers for one minute and received words of praise before their journey home.

Here are some reflections from the fellows:

“The best part of the retreat was laughing, crying, and growing out of conflict with ourselves and within ourselves. I really liked the way we were able to mentally and emotionally grow with one another — especially through the anti-oppression training.”

“I feel incredibly peaceful. I have several proactive steps I’m about to take in the movement to widen my skill set, and I have a more concrete vision.”

“I feel more in touch with my values, my history, and my purpose. I feel much more prepared to put together a plan of action for the rest of my career.”

You can read more reflections on the blog.