TREC’s Leveraging Leadership Program (TLP) combines emergent and culturally responsive approaches to leadership with TREC’s extensive experience in supporting leaders to deepen their inherent leadership capacities.
The program is grounded in a vision and commitment to support inclusive, impactful movements where all people are welcome and treated justly, diverse wisdom is recognized as essential, and our relationships to each other, all beings, and our environment is healing and generative.
TLP offers leaders from diverse positions the opportunity to share wisdom and challenge perspectives in a neutral setting outside of their organizations.
Leveraging Leadership is guided by the following core beliefs:
- Claiming our unique gifts and offerings liberates and heals us and others and builds power for our collective work.
- Our diverse identities and experiences are our strength.
- As within, so without: building awareness of our ourselves and how we are with one another is foundational to leading.
- Developing the leadership of others is the essential work of leaders.
Program Details
The heart of TLP is two 4 ½-day in-person sessions, scheduled approximately four months apart, where participants:
Build awareness
- Build awareness of diverse leadership styles + deepen their ability to harness their particular gifts
- Increase awareness of practices, strengths, and growth zones to support achieving results with others
- Expand understanding of organizational culture, the influence of white supremacy culture, and the ability to create positive cultural change
Gain tools & skills
- Build capabilities in fostering and leading inclusive, equitable, and diverse organizations
- Gain insight, tools, skills, and support in increasing their ability to manage and navigate uncertainty and changes (fostering resilience)
- Improve ability to support their staff and/or colleagues in bringing out their best through providing feedback, identifying ways to foster engagement, and enhancing key management skills
Define a vision & practice
- Gain clarity of what contributes to impactful leadership and what detracts from it
- Develop core leadership practices required to support them to live into their vision and values
- Define and/or refine a leadership vision and develop a plan to support achieving that vision
- Learn with and from a community of peers also doing work in service of advancing conservation and community engagement
Holistic, Long Term Support
At the core of Leveraging Leadership is our Theory of Change, which is grounded in the philosophy that it takes a long-term commitment to support each leader to create the lasting change they seek. With this in mind, in addition to the two 4 ½-day sessions, Leveraging Leadership incorporates multi-faceted, holistic support for leaders including:
- One-on-one coaching sessions with a faculty member who is a certified coach
- A 360-degree leadership feedback report
- Coaching support and feedback on their individualized leadership development plan
- Confidential and generative space to name and address barriers to achieving their goals
The total time commitment for TLP is 60 hours of in-person programming, as well as approximately 10 hours total in between sessions with your coach & learning group.
Faculty
TREC’s Leadership Program is led by TREC Senior Consultant Nailah Blades, who is joined by supporting faculty members including Kellie Colemon and Kristi Chester Vance. Our faculty are certified coaches and are strident in remaining informed and abreast of research, developments, and trends in leadership development. Faculty are accountable for delivering and understanding how to initiate, manage, and navigate critical conversations across difference including race, differing worldviews, and diverse identities.
Our commitment to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Participants
We acknowledge and are working to dismantle leadership programs that are grounded in white supremacy culture. More specifically, we strive to build cohorts and content that represent multiple perspectives and center the safety and experience of leaders who have been underrepresented, erased, or harmed in leadership programming.
We are committed to co-creating an inclusive and impactful experience where participants are not tokenized or made to carry an undue burden because of their identities. To support this commitment, we endeavor to ensure that at least 30% of every cohort identify as BIPOC.
We are ready and willing to communicate with leaders throughout the registration process to provide opportunities to ask questions, make requests and address any concerns or barriers to participation. We will also communicate information on representation to the best of our ability so that participants have up-to-date information about the diversity of the program and can be in full choice about their participation.
TLP Participation Requirements:
Participation criteria:
- You must be a Wilburforce grantee and/or member of Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF)’s Friends Grassroots Network. For more information on FGN services through TREC, please reach out to your CLF contact.
- You must have a minimum of 5 years of overall career experience
- You must have a minimum of 1 year in your current role
- Your role should ideally include some managerial / supervisory responsibility, but this is not required
- You must be available to attend both in-person, Monday-Friday program sessions in full
By applying for TLP, you commit to:
- Participating in a 360 feedback process
- Attending both sessions of the program in their entirety from beginning to end
- Participating in training sessions, including breakout discussions and activities
- Attending a minimum of 3 coaching sessions with TREC staff
- Co-creating and honoring Conscious Learning Community Agreements
How to Participate
TREC Leadership Programs are offered to leaders who are grantees of Wilburforce Foundation* through an application process that takes a holistic approach to offering TREC support in an equitable and strategic manner.
Eligible participants can apply directly for TREC programs that align with your growth goals and development plans. For more information please see our In-Person Programs FAQs page.
If you have additional questions about TREC Programs, contact us at programs@trec.org.
*TREC provides services to Wilburforce grantees and members of Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF)’s Friends Grassroots Network. For more information on FGN services through TREC, please reach out to your CLF contact
Cost
Thanks to the generous support of Wilburforce Foundation, the participation costs of the training, materials, meals, and accommodations at the program site are covered in full for Wilburforce grantees.
Participants and their organizations are asked to cover the cost of travel to the venue (flights or ground transportation if driving). Once participants arrive at SeaTac Airport, TREC will organize participant carpools to the program venue using TREC-rented cars and volunteer drivers.
TREC offers subsidies for travel costs to and from the program if participants or their organizations need this assistance. We do not want financial concerns to impact anyone’s decision to participate.
I have been moved to the core in the process of this training. I am coming out of it with deeper relationships among other professionals with the ability to deepen and develop relationships among my teammates.
TREC Leadership Program participant
