The Health Leadership Circle Retreat

What we aspire to achieve as a learning circle:

• Connect our current and ongoing learning
• Share resources, tools, information and successful approaches to supporting, developing and connecting health leadership
• Build new relationships among health leadership programs, funders and researchers that support individual and collective efforts to create health

How the retreat is designed:

There will be several components to the retreat.

• Foster Relationships: We believe in building relationships across organizations and issues. We will spend time exploring the ways in which our visions, values, and leadership work converge. We will make use of structured vision and values activities along with unstructured time to foster trust and sustainable connections.
• Skill Building: We hope to introduce participants to new and useful tools to support the work we do together as a group and that will have value to participants in their own work. At this first meeting we will draw on new tools and methodologies. We will send a more detailed agenda next month.
• Knowledge and Resource Exchange: We have begun the work of mapping our skills, assets and needs. We will discuss how to share resources and create a system that better supports the exchange and utilization of our resources.
• Learning Agenda: We will identify those common areas of question, concern, and innovation that we can collectively pursue over the next couple of years to push the edge of our leadership thinking and practice.

How to prepare:

• Survey Results (PDF): Please take a few minutes to download and review the synthesis of our survey results. Our hope is that the findings of the survey will begin to orient you to who is interested in the Circle, what programs they run, who they serve, what issues they address, what networks they are in, how they hope to benefit from participating in the Circle, what they have to offer, what motivates them to participate, and what they think the most pressing health issues are. We believe sharing this information will create a stronger foundation for working together when we get together face-to-face in March.
• Preparation Questions: After the first of the year we will also ask you to respond to three questions that will be used to focus our learning in March. A synthesis of responses will be provided to you in advance of the meeting so that you can have a deeper sense of what others are doing, thinking, and feeling.

Who should attend: We encourage all health leadership program staff, funders, researchers and consultants who believe that they will benefit from and contribute to the health circle. We will have some space and design limitations that are part of creating a retreat environment so if you are interested please try to be among the first 50 registrants.

How to register: The actual retreat costs (staffing, research, planning, preparation, out reach, facilitation, meeting documentation, meals and space) are over $400 per person. With a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation we will be able to half of the cost of offering this retreat. We are offering registration on a sliding scale of $100 - $200. This will include all meals (2 lunches, breakfast and dinner). Please fill out the registration form (PDF) and indicate the amount you will be able to contribute to registration.

Equity support: We hope that all who would benefit from joining the Health Learning Circle will be able to attend. We have a small equity fund to distribute among participants who would be unable to attend without additional assistance. Priority will be given to those with higher travel costs since the fund is limited. We will be able to provide up to $500 towards air and hotel costs with receipts. Please contact Bella Celnik to talk about your needs.

Hotel and Travel: We have reserved a block of rooms at the Doubletree Sonoma in Rohnert Park, CA. The guaranteed room rate for Health Circle Participants is $115/night. When you call, please indicate that you are with the Leadership Learning Community. The number to call is: 1/800-222-8733 or 707/586-4655. The hotel is about 50 minutes from both the Oakland and San Francisco Airports depending on traffic. The hotel provides shuttle service from both airports for a cost of $28/each way.