OVERVIEWThis Inaugural
Liberation of Leadership Program will engage a cohort of Cambridge OST leaders in a liberatory approach to leadership development. The Program responds to the need communicated to AFCOST by program and executive leadership in the Cambridge OST coalition that effective leadership is essential to shaping an equitable OST system that responds to the realities of young people, families, and staff in our OST community. In addition, as our OST community moves into a post-pandemic new world, preparing leadership at all levels to re-imagine and then create the OST future we want for our Cambridge youth and families has never been more important.
The design of the program is rooted in the following priorities:
- Creating with and for participants a dynamic living “lab”, in which participants experience freedom to experiment and practice leadership qualities they want to realize more fully in themselves and what they bring to other contexts
- Deepening self-awareness, understanding of self in relation to and collaboration with others, and analysis of personal, interpersonal, institutional, and systems contexts
- Maintaining a shared sense of mutuality and interconnectedness, and being present and available for each other with a shared responsibility for each other’s experiences and success within and beyond the program sessions
- Supporting a sense of accomplishment, growth, and skill development – with a readiness to pull toward shaping and creating, individually and collectively, a reimagined future for OST.
The priorities will provide the foundation and be braided throughout the program elements, including:
- Leadership, Purpose, & Visioning
- Change & Transformation in OST
- Communications Styles
- Dialogue & Listening Skills
- Conflict, Difficult Conversations & Feedback
- Power/ Power Dynamics & Privilege
- Teaming Across Cultures
- Emotional Intelligence, Multiple Intelligences & Ways of Knowing
- Trauma, Healing, & Resilience
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Leaders across the Cambridge OST system are invited to apply (application forthcoming). We take an expansive view of the notion of leadership, and invite applications from anyone that is committed to the above priorities, and is interested in deepening their own leadership awareness and skills in service of transformation at the individual, organizational, and systems level; this includes people in traditional leadership roles (e.g., upper executives, executive directors, and program directors), who recognize and want to grow their leadership skills to engage, inspire, and align others.
Participants must be able attend all sessions, complete a few hours of work between sessions, and commit to bringing their “learning and doing” back to their organizations and systems.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
The program schedule is as follows:
March 31st: Information Session, 10:00-11:00AM
April 15th: Orientation session, 9:30-11:30AM
April 29th: Session 1, 9:00AM-1:00PM
May 27th: Session 2, 9:00AM-1:00PM
June 24th: Session 3, 9:00AM-1:00PM
July 15th: Session 4, 9:00AM-1:00PM
September 23rd: Session 5, 9:00AM-1:00PM (tentative, awaiting CPS schedule for 2021-22)
October 7th: Closing Session, 9:30-11:30AM (tentative, awaiting CPS schedule for 2021-22)
OUR FACILITATORSThis Series will be facilitated by Sharon Bueno Washington and Daniel Michaud Weinstock, two seasoned consultants who have considerable experience in the areas of transformative leadership, change, and building system cultures that embody and generate through the lens of anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. Sharon is new to our community, and Daniel is well-known to all of us. Their bios can be found by clicking on their images above.
Learning Goals and "Takebacks"Create with and for participants a dynamic living “lab”, in which they experience freedom to experiment and practice that which they want to realize more fully in themselves and what they bring to other contexts; this includes:
- Grounding in the practices/ processes/ relationships within this space
- Timely and direct application of learning and implementation of new ways of being/ thinking/ feeling/ noticing/ doing/ reflecting
- Increased engagement with, and activation and integration of and between head/ heart/ body/ spirit/ ground – including opportunities for play, fun, joy
Deepened self-awareness and understanding of self, self in relation to/ collaboration with others, and deepened analysis of personal/ interpersonal/ institutional/ systems contexts; this includes:
- Grounding and ongoing reflection on, naming, and practice with different ways of knowing (broad definitions and application of data and assessment)
- Development of here-and-now “case studies” based on participants’ experiences
Sense of mutuality and interconnectedness, and being here/ there for each other and shared responsibility for each other’s experiences and success within and beyond this space/ time together; this includes:
- Recognizing/ understanding social conditioning
- Orientation toward holistic connection/ collaboration (beyond silos/ containers/ borders) and a systems lens/ approach
Sense of accomplishment/ growth/ skill development – with readiness to pull toward the future individually and collectively; this includes:
- Ongoing reflection and closure at the end – how am I/ have I been transformed/ changed as a result of this experience?
- Attention to and recognition of broad definition of outcomes that includes tasks/ skills/ results, and relationships, and process/ how we spend our time together
