Concurrent Sessions

A schedule of the concurrent sessions will be available soon.

CASE STUDIES give you a look at how an organization is using systemic tools to take wiser, more effective action, and offer insight into how you might apply those skills in your own setting.

SKILL-BUILDING WORKSHOPS offer practical, hands-on tools for developing and acting on foresight through disciplines such as systems thinking, storytelling, scenarios, simulation and dialogue.

 

Building the Future by Hand: The Soweto Mountain of Hope Project
Bongile Funani Mkhize and Kelebohile Marjorie Maleka, Soweto Mountain of Hope Project

In the early 1990s, a community project in Soweto, South Africa, was launched to address poverty and pollution by turning waste into an economic asset. With no funding, unemployed men and later women and children began creating beautiful pieces of art out of newspaper, glass bottles, and wood cut-offs. The project expanded to include after-school sports and environmental education programs. In August 2001, community members cleaned up a garbage-strewn area to create a community space, the Soweto Mountain of Hope. Hear from members of this thriving learning center, and participate in “upcycling”—turning waste materials into usable items.

Marjorie Maleka is the manager for the Artist Proof Studio’s Nhlanhla Xaba Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a printmaker, her work focuses on human rights, with a particular emphasis on the rights of women. She has participated in group exhibitions locally and abroad, combining printmaking, photography and collage in her work

Bongile Funani Mkhize is an award winning artist who has exhibited extensively in South Africa, Europe, and the US. With a degree in fine art from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and a certificate in printmaking from Artist Proof Studio, she has turned her creative energies to community building and leadership development through her work as a facilitator and community activist.

Building Theories of Change: Prospective Systems Thinking at the Kellogg Foundation
Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning; Kathleen Albrecht Zurcher, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; with contributions from David Stroh of Bridgeway Partners

While typically employed retrospectively to solve problems, the strengths of systems thinking can also be powerfully applied to create desired futures. When the Kellogg Foundation wanted to define its funding strategies in the areas of developing sustainable food supplies and reducing child obesity, planners used a systemic approach to build theories of change that guided their decisions. Drawing on methods used by the Foundation, learn to build theories of change in order to anticipate the consequences of proposed actions and shape more effective solutions. Discover new ways to design strategies for your organization, utilize resources more productively, and develop sustainable solutions.

Michael Goodman is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and practitioner in the fields of systems thinking, organizational learning, and leadership. Many of his innovations in systems thinking have made the field more accessible to organizational leaders. Mike has published widely and served as the primary contributor to the systems thinking chapter in the acclaimed Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. He is the principal at Innovation Associates Organizational Learning.

Kathleen Zurcher, director of program learning for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, develops staff organizational learning capacities and designs organizational learning strategies. Previously, she administered family medicine at Regions Medical Center in Minnesota. For 15 years, Kathy led organization development for the University of Minnesota’s Extension Service. She earned an A.B. in English/secondary teaching and an M.S. and Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Illinois.

David Stroh is a founding partner of Bridgeway Partners and was a co-founder of Innovation Associates, the pioneering consulting firm in the area of organizational learning. His primary areas of interest are visionary planning, leadership development, systems thinking, organization design, and change management. David has worked with business, public, and social sector organizations around the world over the past 25 years and has a master’s in City Planning from MIT.

Changing the Future by Changing Our Conversations
Leslie Becknell

In our everyday conversations, we create the future moment by moment. How we listen and speak to each other shapes our vision of what is possible and guides the choices we make. In this practical, interactive workshop, assess your current conversations to understand how they—and the ones you are not having—are determining your future. Discover how to shift from past-based reactive conversations into future-oriented generative conversations. Learn to bring more conscious intention, curiosity, and commitment to your interactions. Choose conversations that generate new possibilities and promote coordinated action to reach a new vision of the future.

Leslie Becknell provides training and coaching to leaders to help them have “conversations that matter.” She combines experience at IBM, Procter & Gamble, and the Coca-Cola Company with a deep understanding of personal development gained at the Center for Authentic Leadership and Andover Newton Theological School. Leslie earned an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is currently pursuing a master’s of divinity.

Creating Common Desired Futures Through Storytelling
Robert Dickman, FirstVoice

Successful leaders must know how to engage and mobilize their audiences in order to create positive futures. Recent research suggests that storytelling is the most powerful form of human communication, and specific elements of narrative structure can increase its effectiveness. A truly compelling story reaches into our body, heart, mind, and spirit and persuades us that now is the time to act. In this session, learn how to create stories about common desired futures and communicate them to tough audiences. Also, put a five-element narrative structure into practice and get feedback from the group about how better to move your audiences to action.

Robert Dickman is the founder of FirstVoice, a coaching and consulting firm. FirstVoice helps clients improve speaking, writing, and non-verbal communication using narrative techniques developed from Western rhetorical and dramatic traditions. Robert has coached in and developed workshops for clients at the United States Naval Post Graduate School, Ford Motor Company, Mattel Toys, and Shell Oil, among others.

Dynamic Scenarios: Anticipating the Future of Work
Anika Schriefer and Michael Sales, Art of the Future; Rick Karash

From outsourcing and off-shoring to virtual teaming and unprecedented diversity, many aspects of work and the workplace are in transition. These changes have profound implications, including the possibility of transforming work into an integral, sustaining element of life. In this session, learn about the dynamic scenario learning process. Dynamic scenarios are built on events, patterns, and causal relationships to develop stories of possible futures in the domains that matter most to you. You then use these scenarios to generate robust strategies for action. Take away strategies for overcoming uncertainty and using this process to create strategic advantage for your organization.

Anika Schriefer is a widely published strategic planner and futurist. She is a distinct and original voice in the field of scenario planning with a systems thinking approach. Anika’s experience as director of Strategic Planning at FleetBoston Financial and her background in architecture provide her with a unique perspective into the dynamic intersection of work and environment.

Michael Sales is an organizational learning consultant to corporations, educational institutions, and nonprofits. He coaches clients on how to use a future-focus to achieve their goals. Michael holds a doctorate in education from Harvard and is a graduate of Wharton. He has published articles on scenario planning, contributes to Future Survey, and has been published in The Systems Thinker.

Richard Karash is a preeminent authority on systems thinking. He is a contributor to The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, a regular presenter at the Systems Thinking in Action Conference, and a contributor to The Systems Thinker. Rick was a senior staff member at Innovation Associates and spent nearly 20 years as an executive in high technology. He has a B.S. in Physics and an MBA from MIT.

Finding a New Path: Renewing the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Through Collective Foresight
Jen Hunter, The Learning Catalyst; Don Owen, National Park Service; Morgan Sommerville, Appalachian Trail Conversancy

Having achieved its goal of creating a footpath from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy now finds itself on a new threshold. Like many organizations that must renew themselves, the ATC has engaged its members to both honor its legacy and create bold new possibilities for the organization. Drawing on this experience, learn how to benefit from the collective wisdom of both the old guard and those headed for new frontiers when choosing a future course. Explore the key elements of a highly participative process designed to create a vision of what comes next. Also, learn to apply elements of the ATC approach to renewing your own organization.

Jen Hunter, master facilitator, has for more than 11 years focused her passion and work on ensuring that strong human process is combined with organizational strategy to produce real and sustainable results. She is a member of the board of directors of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and leads the Pegasus Conference Team Program. Her energy and creativity serve organizations and leaders who seek to understand, appreciate, and tap into the collective wisdom of their system. Jen is also the founder of the Learning Catalyst.

Don Owen is currently the acting park superintendent for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, responsible for environmental protection, cultural resource programs, and the federal land acquisition/corridor design. After short stints with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in Colorado, Don has spent the last 22 years working in a variety of capacities in the National Park Service's Appalachian Trail Park Office.

Morgan Sommerville joined the Appalachian Trail Conservancy staff as Deep South regional representative in 1983 and has served as regional director for Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee since November 2004. He holds a degree in conservation from North Carolina State University and is a former National Park Service ranger. Morgan works with hundreds of volunteers, ATC staff, and agency partners to facilitate the maintenance, management, and protection of the southern end of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Forging Generational Alliances: Laying the Foundation for a Lasting Leadership Legacy
Deborah Gilburg and Alan Gilburg, Gilburg Leadership Institute; Leslye Fraser, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA

Is your organization walking backward into the future when it comes to leadership succession? Are you ill-prepared for the brewing crisis promised by the imminent retirement of the Baby Boomer generation? This session will shed light on the reasons for today’s leadership legacy dilemma and provide a practical model for leveraging the characteristics and inter-generational dynamics of the Baby Boom and X generations to better prepare for tomorrow. Discover breakthrough ideas for moving toward more fruitful, powerful relationships between the two generations. Also, learn how one FDA center is focusing on the future despite enormous budget cuts and agency downsizing.

Deborah Gilburg is a communications and facilitation expert, accomplished leadership development consultant, and experienced mediator and facilitator. She leads groups in addressing controversial organizational change issues. As an attorney for the state of Massachusetts, Deborah facilitated the creation and implementation of agency environmental compliance protocols and organizational management systems. She earned a J.D. at Suffolk University Law School and a B.A. in psychology at Trinity College.

Alan Gilburg is an organizational development consultant in both the public and private sectors and a true elder in the consulting world. He is an experienced coach, facilitator, and team builder and has taught and written extensively on communication and intergenerational relationships (Baby Boomers and Generation X). Alan is an expert in the interpretation of Jungian typology. His book, Deep Type, is a key resource for accurately determining type.

Leslye Fraser is the director of the Office of Regulations and Policy at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She leads the development of FDA’s regulations, guidance documents, and policies related to foods and cosmetics. Leslye also chairs the Leadership Development Board, which is implementing the Center’s Leadership Legacy initiative.

From Black Sheep to Blue Ribbon School: The Team Arroyo Vista Story
Julie Jennings, Arroyo Vista Elementary School

How did an elementary school known as the black sheep of the district transform itself into a National Blue Ribbon School? Not just by focusing on testing! Hear how Arroyo Vista Elementary School transformed itself and simultaneously improved student performance. Inspired by systems thinking, the school community embraced core values, promoted team learning, explored mental models, and articulated a shared vision of the future. In this session, hear how the community learned to think and act like a system and achieved remarkable results. Learn strategies, techniques, and "ways of being" to guide your own journey beyond the horizon.

Julie Jennings is the principal of Arroyo Vista Elementary School, a National Blue Ribbon School (2005) as well as a California Distinguished School (2004). For the last eight years, she has been responsible for staff development, instructional leadership, public relations, and day-to-day operations of the 600-student school as it has gone through a striking transformation.

From Knower to Learner—Preparing to Engage the Future
Brian Hinken, Gerber Memorial Health Services

To paraphrase Eric Hoffer, “In times of change, learners will inherit the earth, while knowers will be perfectly equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” Knowers operate from a position of certainty; they are successful in situations that are static, definable, and knowable. Learners operate from a position of uncertainty; they are successful in situations that are dynamic, complex, and interdependent. In this workshop, participants will assess their position along the continuum from knower to learner, recognize how they might avoid the “secrets of a knower,” and adopt the “learner stance” to better engage the future.

Brian Hinken is the organizational development facilitator for Gerber Memorial Health Services in Fremont, Michigan. He is responsible for leadership development, process facilitation, and making organizational learning practically useful for everyone in the organization. Brian has more than 19 years of experience in facilitating collaborative groups and has helped international development organizations, regional cooperatives, grassroots community-based organizations, and hospitals achieve their goals.

From Worst Fear to Greatest Insight: Causal Learning at Shell Oil
Greg Stockholm, Shell Oil; Glenn Bucholtz and Sloan d'Entremont, Shell Chemical; Nathalie Salles, Learning as Leadership

Last year, a serious incident happened at a Shell chemical plant with a history of premier performance. Shocked that this kind of event could happen in their plant, the leadership team embarked on a journey to gain a deeper understanding of its causes and explore their part in the system that enabled the incident. Putting their egos aside, the team combined causal learning, systems thinking, and personal mastery methodologies to learn about and shift the mental models and behaviors that had contributed to the crisis. This session will challenge you to learn from your own past to provide better insight to create the future you want.

Greg Stockholm, causal learning manager at Shell Oil, has drawn upon 30 years of experience to develop causally reasoned methodologies that promote complex problem resolution and sustainable organizational performance improvement. He assists senior managers at Shell to improve performance in global manufacturing. Greg has presented at the Society of Organizational Learning, National Petroleum Refiners Association, and the American Society of Training and Development.

Glenn Bucholtz, chemical site manager for Shell Chemicals, is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada in Chemical Engineering. Glenn joined Shell Canada in 1980 as a process engineer. He held positions at various refineries, including superintendent of Innisfail/Olds Gas Complex, before joining the Scotford plant in 1990. Glenn held the Styrene and Refinery Operations manager positions before being named the Chemical Site Manager for Shell Chemicals in 1997.

Sloan d'Entremont is a chemical engineer at Shell Chemical who, since 2001, has applied root cause analysis at Scotford and other Shell locations globally. Previously with Dow Chemical Canada, she joined Shell Canada in 1997 as a process engineering coordinator at the Scotford plant. Sloan received her bachelor of engineering from Queen's University, Ontario. She has participated in Learning as Leadership since 2004.

Nathalie Salles is an executive coach who works with senior executives and management teams to deliver large-scale projects using Learning as Leadership (LaL's) methodologies. Her clients include NASA, the FAA, and Shell. A practitioner and coach in LAL since 1987, Nathalie is originally from Paris, France, where she received an MBA from the University Paris IX-Dauphine.

Honoring the Voice of Young People in our Learning Community!
Les Omotani adn Joyce Bisso, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools

Young people are often more open to what is emerging and less attached to outdated mental models than adults are. Their facility with systems thinking coupled with a natural interest in longer-term outcomes make them vital partners in any conversation about shaping healthy futures. In this session, participants—young and old—will interact with each other and practice hearing the voice of youth in a new way. Explore with students how they are learning about systems thinking and servant leadership. Then consider how the Pegasus Conference can be better structured to optimize youthful participation in a way that benefits the whole conference community.

Les Omotani, Ph. D., is superintendent of the nationally recognized Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools in Nassau County, New York. Les summarizes his life’s mission in four words: “He served. He cared.” Since 1990 Les has focused on successfully implementing systems thinking and the disciplines of learning organizations in public schools and communities. Dr. Omotani believes that the student voice is essential for the creation of a sustainable future.

Joyce M. Bisso, Ed.D., is currently Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in the Hewltt-Woodmere Public Schools. Prior to July 2006, she was the Principal of George W. Hewltt High School. Dr. Bisso and Dr. Les Omotani developed and co-facilitated the Hewlett High School Youth Leadership Forum, a program of student and adult collaborative learning about systems thinking and servant leadership

How Wicked are “Wicked Messes,” Really?
Sheila Damodaran

When organizations try to dodge systemic complexity instead of embracing it, they tend to slide into a state of disengagement characterized by diminished productivity and rising apathy. What if we could see today’s “wicked messes” as if they were the layers of an onion? Would we be able to peel through the complexity to determine our short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans and create a context in which to generate the future we desire? In this session, explore a model for managing complexity by understanding the predictable connections between the multiple systems archetypes at play at any given moment in a complex environment.

Sheila Damodaran is an internal consultant with the Singapore Police Force whose work also includes engagements with businesses, NGOs, and educational organizations throughout Asia. She earned an advanced degree in organizational learning in 2000 and established LOPN, an organizational learning practitioners’ network in Singapore. Sheila works with clients to help them uncover the structures that influence their experience of reality and build skills they can use to create results that matter to them.

Indigenous Wisdom, Inspired Futures: Philosophy and Practice in Asia
Samantha Tan, The Meristem Group; Sheila Damodaran, Singapore Police Force; Stephen Meng, Leadership Dynamics International

Today's global challenges require solutions with indigenous wisdom—simple yet profound local knowledge with global significance and meaningful actions connected to the larger whole. In this session, indigenous systems perspectives inherent to East Asian philosophies will be compared with personal mastery, the process of creating, and sustainable innovation as they're defined within the field of organizational learning. Through the story of an entrepreneurial journey that led to corporate success in China and the case study of a societal intervention in Singapore, experience the power of indigenous wisdom and envision how you and your team might integrate perspectives from different traditions and methodologies to co-create inspired futures.

Samantha Tan has a passion for intergenerational and intercultural conversations that call forth our collective wisdom. She actively seeks to learn from and connect with Asian voices that are shaping organizations and communities of the future. She is a founding partner of The Meristem Group, a leadership education and consulting practice that works with those serving the public interest.

Sheila Damodaran is an internal consultant with the Singapore Police Force whose work also includes engagements with businesses, NGOs, and educational organizations throughout Asia. She earned an advanced degree in organizational learning in 2000 and established LOPN, an organizational learning practitioners' network in Singapore. Sheila works with clients to help them uncover the structures that influence their experience of reality and build skills they can use to create results that matter to them.

Stephen C. Meng is a managing consultant with Leadership Dynamics International. He has been active in China through International Business & Economics Education since 1988. Stephen is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and has an M.S. in Management from North Carolina State University.

Insightful Leadership: A Coherent Vision for Dutch Schools
Guus Geisen and Jan Jutten, Sustainable Learning; Wiel Botterweck

Innovative Dutch educators, inspired by the work of Peter Senge and Michael Fullan, are radically shifting the system’s capacity for moral leadership and sustainable educational practices. In this session, hear from a school leader who will tell the story of how one school is collaborating with partnering organizations, such as preschools and health care services, to achieve meaningful change.

Jan Jutten and Guus Geisen have many years of combined experience as teachers and school leaders in the Netherlands. As educational consultants, they now focus on supporting schools and districts to become learning organizations. Initiators of a fast-growing movement toward systems thinking in schools, they have organized conferences for hundreds of Dutch educators, facilitating collaborations with Peter Senge, Michael Fullan, and various Waters Foundation projects.

Wiel Botterweck has been active in the field of education and youth care since 1973. He worked as a remedial teacher, coordinator of student care, and school director before entering the field of special education for children with severe behavioral disorders. Wiel has served as the principal of the special primary school ”The Pallet” in Weert, the Netherlands, since 2003, and currently sits on the steering committee of the Educational and Youth Care service center in the region of Weert.

Introduction to Systems Thinking I and II
Ginny Wiley, Pegasus Communications, Inc.; Kristina Wile, the Systems Thinking Collaborative

Systems thinking—seeing the underlying structures that drive our behavior and the interconnections in our world—is a key management skill for the 21st century. Understanding the power of structure can let leaders unlock their organization’s potential and avoid unintended consequences.

In this two-part workshop:
• Learn why systems thinking is the keystone of organizational learning.
• Through hands-on activities, practice basic causal looping skills and experience the dynamics of structural traps.
• Build a foundation of systems thinking knowledge and explore new ways to address the complex issues in your organization.

For those who are new to the field, this path presents an excellent opportunity to explore the vocabulary and tools of systems thinking and their application to organizations in ways geared to all types of learners.

Ginny Wiley is president of Pegasus Communications, Inc. Prior to coming to Pegasus in 1996, she worked at GKA, a systems thinking consulting company, as a consultant and trainer. Before that, she spent 12 years building the Huenefeld Company, a consulting firm for book publishers. Ginny serves on the Policy Council of the International System Dynamics Society and holds an MBA from Northeastern University.

Kristina Wile is a managing partner of the Systems Thinking Collaborative. She has been using systems thinking and related learning practices to help organizations understand highly complex issues for more than 10 years. Kris has a master's degree from MIT's Sloan School of Management, and prior to that, worked as an electronics engineer.

Loosening the Grip of Polarization: The Public Conversation Project's Approach to Dialogue Design
Maggie Herzig, Public Conversations Project

When deeply held worldviews clash in the public forum, passionate expressions of dreams and fears are typically heard as virtuous by some and as villainous by others. The Public Conversations Project's approach to dialogue invites the passion of the partisans while interrupting the conversational patterns that keep them from hearing and understanding each other. This preventive, invitational approach to dialogue makes room for new relationships, consensus building on areas of shared concern, and hope. In this session, learn about the principles that PCP has developed during 17 years of facilitating dialogues on divisive issues ranging from abortion to the Red-Blue Divide.

Maggie Herzig is a Senior Associate, and a founder of, the Public Conversations Project. She co-authored, with Laura Chasin, the new book Fostering Dialogue Across Divides: A Nuts and Bolts Guide from the Public Conversations Project. Maggie has facilitated dialogues on many topics including abortion, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and controversies over forest management. In 2002-2003, she coordinated The Islam Project-Boston for PBS's community engagement campaign for prejudice reduction.

Making Time for the Future
Marilyn Paul, Bridgeway Partners

We make choices all day long about how to use our time. In doing so, how do we keep an eye on our long-term goals while living a good, rich, creative life today? How do we take actions that meet today’s needs while fulfilling tomorrow’s promise? In this session, reflect with others on what’s working and what needs to be changed about how we manage our time. Learn new ways of thinking about time management that help us focus on managing our energy, moods, focus, and choices. Review a “balanced” model of time management, learn several daily time management tools, and identify one or two habits to change.

Marilyn Paul, Ph.D., a principal of Bridgeway Partners, is skilled in facilitation, organizational diagnosis, systems thinking, leadership development, organizational learning, and coaching. She has a doctorate from Yale and an M.B.A. from Cornell. Marilyn is the author of It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys (Viking Compass, 2003). Her current research focuses on helping people in organizations manage time and workload with greater awareness and clearer intention.

Meeting the Challenge of Perfectionism
Debbie Ramsey and Phil Ramsey

No one can lead beyond the horizon if they’re afraid to take risks and make mistakes. But the reality is that many of us are stymied by the need to be perfect. Both young people and adults need to address issues of perfectionism if they are to develop a balanced view of work and embrace life-long learning. Perfectionism involves distorted mental models that generate dynamics that bring long-term harm to individuals and teams. This session uses causal loop diagramming to explore the dynamics of perfectionism, and introduces participants to exercises that have been used to help gifted students meet the challenges created by the drive to be “the best.”

Debbie Ramsey is a director of Incite Learning, a New-Zealand based consulting company that helps companies and teams build their skills in collaboration. She also teaches management development and cross-cultural management in Massey University’s College of Business. Deb has a particular interest in working with young people and in developing competence in communication, and has used her skills in these areas to undertake research into perfectionism among gifted children.

Phil Ramsey is a director of Incite Learning and teaches organizational learning at Massey University. He is a regular contributor to The Systems Thinker and is the author of the popular Billibonk series (published by Pegasus Communications). Phil has a doctorate in OL based on research into the impact of organizational culture on learning efforts, and currently works in the area of school leadership.

Overcoming Adversity Through Continuous Transformation: The Journey of Verizon Dominicana
Mark Sobol; Jorge Iván Ramírez, Verizon Dominicana

The leading telecommunications provider in the Dominican Republic, Verizon Dominicana has achieved remarkable success in recent years despite the extreme conditions created by the country's recent economic crisis. In this session, learn how the company faced the business challenges of operating in a developing nation and chose to overcome adversity through continuous forward-looking transformation—ultimately being recognized as one of Latin America's top 25 companies. Gain insights into overcoming your own organization's challenges through engaging employees, letting go of old ways to trust in emerging solutions, and providing people the freedom to work creatively together toward results they will own.

Mark Sobol has gained international recognition through his work with executives and boards of global science and engineering organizations seeking to transform themselves through the growth of intellectual capital, core capabilities, and business results. From strategy through action for enduring impact, Mark’s work spans more than 25 years of consulting and coaching leaders in multicultural environments in over 40 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.

Jorge Iván Ramírez has been president and CEO of Verizon Dominicana since November of 2000. He is president of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic and a member of the board of directors of CONEP (Consejo Nacional Empresas Privadas) and ASIEX (Asociación de Empresas de Inversión Extranjera). Jorge has more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. He is a native of Medellín, Colombia.

“Rapid-Cycle” Scenario Planning: Creating Sustainable Futures for Nonprofits
Peter O'Donnell, Health Futures Group; Jim Galvin, Galvin and Associates

The nonprofit sector must continually cope with uncertainty as it deals with changing client needs, stakeholder expectations, and legal requirements. Scenario planning is a proven tool for developing robust strategies in the midst of turbulence, but the traditional approach requires time and resources often unavailable to nonprofits. In this session, experience a cost-effective “rapid-cycle” process of scenario planning that draws on successful applications in a range of settings from grassroots community agencies to national charities. Also, learn how to engage stakeholders throughout the planning process and to build a strategy that balances short-term action and long-term capacity building to ensure ongoing service excellence.

Peter O'Donnell is president of the Healthy Futures Group, a Toronto-based consulting, training, and project development venture, whose mission is to translate emerging best practices in organizational learning into practical tools for the nonprofit sector. Peter’s primary areas of focus are strategy, execution, and long-term leadership development.

Jim Galvin, president of Galvin and Associates, is an organizational consultant with a wide range of experience in nonprofit strategic planning and leadership development, including senior-level projects with Promise Keepers, Prison Fellowship, the American Bar Association, and the National Guard. Jim holds a doctorate of education degree in curriculum and supervision from Northern Illinois University.

Seeing Over the Horizon: Using Simulators to Try Out Bold New Strategies
Gary Hirsch, Creator of Learning Environments

Organizations must often make bold departures from business as usual in order to implement dramatic changes or solve persistent complex problems. But many risk-averse organizations are stifled by timid, incremental strategies that are often ineffective or even detrimental. Simulators can embolden planners by providing low-risk environments in which to test innovative strategies, identify those that best achieve their vision, and discern critical pitfalls to be avoided. Discover the potential of simulation, understand the basics of effective simulator design, and get in-depth experience with one simulator. Also, learn how to develop resilient strategies that work even if the future is not just what you expect.

Gary Hirsch has consulted with organizations on management strategy and organizational change for the past 35 years in areas such as healthcare, human services, education, and news media. He specializes in system dynamics and systems thinking and uses these techniques to create simulation-based learning environments. Gary received SB and SM degrees from MIT and is the author of three books and numerous articles and presentations.

Three Horizons: Shifting Vision to Lead Through an Emerging Future
Sadruddin Boga, Antioch University Seattle

Traditional methods of strategic planning utilize conscious reasoning to project the past and construct a forecast of the immediate future. Going beyond the near horizon, unconscious intuition and transcendent inspiration can enable us to project a foresight of a medium-range future as well as to generate foreknowledge of a distant future. Using narrative, humor, creativity, and dialogue to explore the three horizons, develop a new awareness of the future that enables you to shift your vision according to the complexity of the situation. Learn new methods to help you sense the landscape beyond the traditional horizon and develop effective approaches for mapping the future.

Sadruddin Boga is a professor at Antioch University Seattle, where he designs, develops, and delivers courses and workshops on systems thinking, innovation and creativity, global pluralism, leadership in business, strategic planning, and Eastern Mysticism. With extensive experience in management, organizational consulting, and higher education, he has a doctoral degree in human and organizational systems from Fielding Graduate University. Sadruddin has lived in Africa, India, Europe, Canada, and the United States.

Using Structural Leverage Points to Transform an Organization
Sara Albright and Robin Moore, Bassett Healthcare

Organizational structures profoundly, and often invisibly, determine whether we can bring positive changes to the workplace or reach our goals. They exert influence through a variety of common guises—flow charts, informal or formal practices, core documents, strategic plans, the physical environment, and job descriptions. In this session, discover how structures can be used to support and sustain the changes you want to see in your organization. Understand the different roles key constituencies play and determine the best ways to influence them. Learn how to help transform your organization by identifying and using structural leverage points to create a new future.

Sara Albright is director of Organizational Development and Learning for Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, New York. She has been with Bassett in various roles since 1989 and in ODL since 1997. In this role, Sara has facilitated learning around a variety of topics within Bassett, at the regional and national level. For four years, she has been intimately involved in the design, facilitation, and integration of learning organization work.

Robin Moore is vice president of Human Resources at Bassett Healthcare. For more than 20 years, she has been working to help achieve business objectives through the development and implementation of human resource strategies and initiatives. Robin was the catalyst for Bassett’s learning organization journey. She has been a student of and mentor for this work for more than eight years. Robin is an experienced change and process improvement agent.

Vision, Values & Relationship: Utilizing Visual Maps to Uncover Possibility
Jack Regan, Metis Consulting; Michelle Boos-Stone, Gecko Graphics

In order to look toward the future and plan for the long term, we must appreciate relationship as a force that gives context to our actions. In this session, experience how vision and values bring out the heart, how the heart brings out relationship, and how relationship is the necessary element for all long-term thinking. Learn the tool of vision mapping as a technique for forward thinking and for achieving the results that truly matter to you and those around you, while utilizing a process that enables everyone to be a part of creating their future.

Jack Regan is principal of Metis Consulting Group, Inc. Over the past 17 years, he has focused on the design, facilitation, and management of organizational change. Jack has worked with leaders and teams in a variety of industries and communities on strategic thinking, planning, and implementation. He has used his consultation expertise to enable clients to produce both demonstrable business results and relevant cultural renewal.

Michelle M. Boos-Stone is an experienced organizational development consultant and founder/principal of Gecko Graphics. She uses a variety of graphic facilitation techniques to help organizations create shared vision, develop strategy, and implement culture change initiatives. In her manager and executive training sessions, Michelle transforms ideas and concepts into a powerful blend of images, words, and key icons to help stimulate learners to better see, understand, and synthesize processes and interrelationships.