It feels really good to connect with other people who are leading and dealing with their own challenges, you know every challenge is different, but I feel like there's similar threads you can learn from. It is the connection and the space to not feel like you have to show up as just a leader, like you can just show up as a human, and talk about the challenges of leadership. I also appreciate intentionally carving out the time. You could do a whole bunch of different learning opportunities, but those things fall off when you get busy. I like the pace of doing it once a month throughout the year. And I love my cohort - with the variety of work and lived experiences and the ways everyone showed up. And I enjoyed the extra learning sessions each quarter too!
The benefits for me have been listening to people as they bring up their leadership challenges. When I think about the folks I work with, a lot of them have been in the same organization for a long time. It's been a great way to get outside perspectives. And hear what other folks are doing. It's great to see that some of the struggles are the same. But it's also great to hear some of those other strategies and even, even hearing bold action folks can take in their positions... the different perspectives have changed how I think and challenges how I think.
Note: Clear Harbor membership is fully online to support community building across geography and to allow for ease of access.
I had never been in this kind of leadership program because it's coaching and it's a small group, but it's about leading, it's not training, so I wasn't fully sure what to expect, but it exceeded my expectations from the beginning. One of the biggest things that I think has been really helpful is developing the competence in my leadership skills. I feel like one of the really amazing things that Clear Harbor has given me is the confidence in what I bring to the table and the way that I show up in this work. I really love the the cross sector piece of it. I already have a network of fundraisers that I go to - a really amazing group of fundraisers of color. There's something about folks who have no idea what it's like to fundraise, being able to give their insights in a really different way.
There was just this reciprocal relationship of giving and receiving and giving and receiving. These are other real leaders facing real challenges that are being vulnerable enough to say, I need help. And here's my challenge. And helping someone else to process their issues, and come to a solution - being solution oriented just was amazing. And then for that to be reciprocated such that when it came my time and it wasn't fluff. What I received in the moment I actually implemented and got results. They were things that resonated in me, things that were actually doable and real. It was significantly high level, well thought out feedback.
Cohort Facilitator
Wesley (he/him) is a dedicated coach, facilitator, community organizer, chaplain, and internationally recognized leader. His work for more than a decade with the Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, home of the nation’s first “Community Truth and Reconciliation Process” uniquely positions him to guide those interested in intergenerational learning, historical archiving, and community organizing. Currently, he is the Associate Director of Southern Vision Alliance, a justice-centered values-based “grassroots intermediary” organized to provide capacity building, coaching, and technical assistance to frontline organizing projects, leadership programs, and collaborations led by directly-impacted communities in the US South.
In high-pressure situations, he pulls from his formal training and practical experience to unlock clarity for those who are seeking to change the world we live in.
Wesley graduated from North Carolina Agricultural Technical State University and Union Theological Seminary (NYC).
In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, writing, listening to his vinyl record collection, playing basketball, and watching live sporting events.
Cohort Facilitator
Annie (she/her) is a strategic and organizational development consultant, executive coach, and social worker. Annie is the founder of Vessel Strategy & Consulting. Vessel’s consulting work supports small businesses and organizations in building engaged teams, efficient systems, practical strategy, and more equitable & inclusive cultures to implement effective community change.
She is a diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator for Social Design’s diversity & leadership firm. For five years, she was a part of the national youth facilitation team with the White Privilege Conference, an annual anti-racism conference.
Anchor Down Wellness Session Facilitator
Sashya (she/her) is a clinical social worker and therapist. She works to forge genuine connections to help clients and students feel valued, cared for and heard. She has a warm and relational style and integrates mindfulness, nurturing compassion for self and others, and deepening her relationship with intuition into her counseling work. She employs an integrative therapeutic approach using humanistic, collaborative, and feminist & multicultural perspectives. Sashya hopes clients can find healing through connection with others and with their authentic selves and inner wisdom.
Sashya received her MSW from the University of Washington.
In her free time, Sashya loves spending time with her partner and two children and is blessed with a robust and beloved community. She rests and heals through connection to nature, dancing, singing, yoga, reading, tarot, and knitting.
Jada is an engaging facilitator and speaker who has trained thousands in how to communicate clearly, how to become more efficient members of a team and how to implement inclusive policy and practices. Her specialty is catalyzing the growth of individuals and organizations. She serves as the lead consultant of Social Designs Consulting and is the author of three books.
Andrea has facilitated workshops centered on racial equity, managing for bias, building cultural capacity, and transformation for the past 16 years. She has dedicated her life to supporting leaders who are committed to creating extraordinary results for a just + equitable world. She is also certified by the International Coaching Federation. She offers Equitable HR, procedures, and practices Q&A sessions.
Roberto specializes in facilitating creative conversations and healthy intercultural dialogue. He is a poet, performer, group facilitator and veteran master teaching artist.
In 2007 he co-founded local nonprofit FEEST: the Food Empowerment Education Sustainability Team.
Sara brings 20+ years of leadership experience to support organizations and individuals with big dreams and ambitious goals. She is passionate about the role that mission-driven organizations and socially conscious businesses have in strengthening communities.
She is co-founder of Shorthand Consulting.
Alessandra helps organizations develop insight into operations, workload, and performance and then use those insights to make smart, meaningful change for better results. She enjoys building sustainable and continuously improving systems and coaching individuals through every stage of the data and analytic life cycle.