LGBTQIA+
LEADERSHIP
CONVENING
FEBRUARY 21 - 24, 2023
VISION
This convening is designed to bring together LGBTQIA+ Paharans to connect, build community, and organize at the new Lone Rock Retreat campus in Bailey, Colorado.
This retreat emerges in response to a need identified by our community to respond to this fractured and fragile moment for LGBTQIA+ leaders in education. We believe in organizing towards a braver and empowered world for LGBTQIA+ people, especially the young people in our communities, and this convening will be a space where we can bring our full selves, and connect. During the convening, we will engage with readings to provoke discussions, fireside chat testimonials to amplify voices, activities for the mind, body, and spirit, and have space to organize toward personal and/or collective action.
The goals of this convening are to:
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Connect and build trust among Pahara’s LBGTQI+ Fellows;
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Organize toward a world where LGBTQIA+ young people, families, and educators are affirmed in their full identities.
This convening is a 2023 Fellow-led pilot to be hosted at the new Lone Rock Retreat campus in Bailey, Colorado. This is a pilot convening brought to you by Pahara Fellows Adam Falkner, Allen Anderson, Anne Douglass, Michael Duffy, Jason Rohloff, Disha Jain, Godfrey Plata, Steven Toledo.
The Pahara Institute continues to develop pilot offerings as part of our personal and professional transformation programming. Based on the needs identified in the network survey along with 140 calls with Fellows and discussion around the seminar table, Pahara is organizing a series of new initiatives, including virtual consultancies, succession planning workshops, regional socials and convenings.
PARTICIPANTS
We aim to bring together Paharans who identify as LGBTQIA+, and will focus on deep community building and the potential for coalition forging in the field. Significant diversity exists within this demographic, including along lines of race, gender expression, sexual orientation, generation, and political ideologies. This convening will acknowledge and hold space for the range of experiences and identities that will be present in the room.
LOGISTICS
Date & Time
Start: Tuesday, February 21, 2023
End: Friday, February 24, 2023
Location
Lone Rock Retreat
64797 US HWY 285
Bailey, CO 804210
Cost
Pahara will sponsor participant’s lodging, meals and ground transportation. Funding for flights available upon request.
RETREAT
CONTENT
We will engage with readings, workshops, and restorative practices at the retreat. All relevant pre-reading or other materials will be shared with participants towards the end of 2022 before the December holidays.
The initial retreat for RLP will convene the week after Easter at Lone Rock Retreat in Bailey, Colorado from April 19-21, 2022. We endeavor to combine the strengths of the Pahara leadership development approach with a Christ-centered retreat experience. A successful retreat will mean leaders have had the space to share their faith, reflect on ways to bring their faith into their work, find some sense of spiritual renewal from the time together, and initiate new relationships with other believers.
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APPLICATIONLeaders who meet our program criteria are welcome to apply to the Fellowship, with or without a nomination. The application is an essential and required part of the process, and allows candidates to share information about their work and leadership, alignment with our selection criteria, and how they most hope to benefit from participation in this powerful development experience. For applicants advancing beyond this stage, this information serves as rich background information on which to base deep, reflective dialogue during interviews taking place during candidate consideration.
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NOMINATIONNominations are accepted on a rolling basis and, while they are not required for entry into the Fellowship, they are critical to our ability to identify exceptional leaders from across the education ecosystem, including but not limited to experience in nonprofit schools, out of/after school learning, human capital, technology, juvenile justice, political and policy strategy, future of work/workforce development, community wellness and mental health, college access and success, faith-based organizations, community based organizations and philanthropy. Ideally, you know enough about the leader’s work to share your thoughts on why they would be an excellent choice for the Fellowship. We are sensitive to the ways sponsorship practices can disadvantage women and Black, Indigenous, and leaders of color who are less likely to have sponsors. When thinking of incredible changemakers to bring to our attention, we encourage nominators to consider leaders from within and outside of their close circles.
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CANDIDATE CONSIDERATIONDuring this stage, we seek to understand candidates’ motivations and challenges, learn more about their background and leadership journey, and determine candidates’ willingness and ability to negotiate the multiple domains of difference that contribute to the tapestry of Pahara cohorts. We conduct a 90-minute Zoom interview with candidates. This interview is followed by referencing carried out by our team. Given the degree of openness and vulnerability expected in this phase of our process, information shared with us by candidates or in reference interviews is held with the highest degree of confidentiality.
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COHORT CURATIONWe aim for cohorts that are inclusive of the breadth of our humanity across multiple domains of difference, including socioeconomic background, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, religious affiliation, and political ideology. Cohorts are also distinctive in their inclusion of leaders from various organization models, multiple sectors in education, different geographic regions, and various leadership roles. This careful cohort curation is critical, as the cohort is the container within which the personal and professional transformation Pahara is most known for occurs. Cohort dialogue is confidential and both professional and personal in nature. We seek to foster an environment that celebrates the diversity and lived experiences of all of our Fellows.
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SELECTIONWe typically receive many more nominations and applications than we have available seats in each cohort. We strongly believe that creating the ideal blend of perspectives in each group is a vital component of the program’s value and impact on participants. Candidates who are not selected may choose to opt-in to be considered for a future cohort.