29 September 2009
Latest News
Posted by Admin under: Forum .
Sustainable Leadership Forum Fall Programs (9/24/09)
New posting: Some of the Reasoning Behind the Program Investment Fund (8/21/09)
Member Update and Peer Networking Invitation – August 2009 (8/3/09)
NetImpact Newsletter Posting (7/9/09)
Latest Invitation to Learn about the Forum (7/9/09)
NetImpact Newsletter Posting (7/9/09)
Sustainable Leadership Forum
A new organization, the Sustainable Leadership Forum, has been established in central New Jersey by leaders and for leaders, to provide several kinds of support for member initiatives.
The group’s core program, Transformational Leadership for Sustainability, is a one-day course that will be offered for the first time on Saturday, July 25th.
In addition, the organization has a Kiva-like Program Investment Fund that allows members to provide shared revolving loans to local sustainability initiatives.
An introduction to the program will be offered tomorrow, Saturday July 11, from 9 to noon at the Hartman Lounge in the Mansion at FDU-Madison [ Directions to the Campus] [Location of the Mansion (Hennessy Hall)], followed by a potluck or bring-your-own-lunch informal discussion. The event is free and open to all.
A further introduction will be held on Wednesday, July 22nd, location TBD. For updates and more information, please visit the Forum’s web site at http://SustainableLeadershipForum.org.
Related news items may be found at http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=2297 (though this is currently showing a prior month’s newsletter).
Latest Invitation to Learn about the Forum (7/9/09)
I would like to share with you some of the further discussions we have been having about the Sustainable Leadership Forum, leading up to this Saturday’s event – July 11th at 9 am at FDU’s Hartman Lounge* – and our first one-day course in the same location on July 25.
I’m attaching a couple of documents designed to lay out the organization and its programs, and allow you to sign up for membership if you are interested, or get more information if that’s what you need.
If you are coming to Saturday’s event:
– I’m attaching a parking permit for you to print out.
– I’m inviting you to bring your own lunch, or some food to share with others, for an optional, informal lunch after the Introduction.
– Please allow time to get to the room so that we can start on time at 9 a.m.
This is an initiative that I am passionate about, that several of us think is needed, and which leverages our collective strength to further the change in direction we are all seeking in the world as it is today. You can just show up to find out more, or read further – or both.
The Sustainability Leadership Forum is designed to overstep some of our conventional boundaries, challenges assumptions, and raise unanswered questions. Just to list the most obvious examples:
We are creating a membership organization that is a support structure for what many sustainability leaders, across multiple disciplines, are already actively engaged in.
We are offering transformational programs, drawing on a wealth of models as well as inventing new distinctions we see as essential to sustainability’s goals.
We are launching a Program Investment Fund to lend to projects that contributors want to support, built partly on the model of micro-loan programs, combined with elements from financial permaculture, the Transition Movement, credit unions, credit exchanges, special-purpose currencies, and traditional program and investment funds.
We want to emphasize that this program is not endorsed by Fairleigh Dickinson University, the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, or any other group we’re currently associated with.
While we’re in discussions with a wide range of other groups and individuals, we are clearly “breaking new ground,” and while this can sometimes be inspiring and exhilarating, it can also be confusing and disturbing in some ways. I invite you to contact me if you are interested in being involved, and need to have specific issues clarified.
To start with, our aim is clearly not to compete with or undermine any existing sustainability initiatives and programs. On the contrary, we aim to support and strengthen these programs to the extent that they are contributing to the transition to a more sustainable future. So we are going to really extraordinary lengths to make sure that participation is not incompatible with what people are already doing:
- First, by making sure there is not a cost barrier to participation (the membership fee and program fee can be as low as $25 if you are also willing to contribute volunteer time instead of money)
- Second, we are making our programs available in a variety of formats, and we’re willing to offer them in partnership with other groups and organizations
- Third, we’re open to dialog and experimentation with regard to structures and activities
I think we all recognize the urgency and importance of what we are trying to do, the need to create new models of collaboration, exchange, and support, and the need for thoughtful and immediate action.
We invite you to join with us in this initiative, work through any questions or issues you have, and contribute your time, energy, resources, and wisdom to this effort in order to help make it a success. Please let me know if you are coming on Saturday, I look forward to seeing you or receiving your completed forms, or speaking to you if you need more information or just want to share your reactions to this. Thanks.
*[Directions to the Campus] [Location of the Mansion (Hennessy Hall)]
A further introduction will be held on Wednesday, July 22nd, location TBD. For updates and more information, please visit the Forum’s web site at http://SustainableLeadershipForum.org.