ComPost: Issue 2, August 2007
To the 100 new Whole Thinking and Next Generation of Leadership alumni, welcome to ComPost, Center for Whole Communities' quarterly newsletter supporting and connecting you, our alumni, as you build whole communities through your work.
NEWS AND NOTES
Whole Thinking Retreat season is in full swing! Six Whole Thinking Retreats, two mission retreats, a Next Generation of Leadership Retreat, and a Knoll Farm chicken in a pear tree. Find out who is joining us this summer. READ STORY
The Kendeda Fund is supporting us with a matching grant this year: many thanks to those who have already given! SEE ANNOUNCEMENT
We are also launching a capital campaign to make Knoll Farm carbon neutral. Learn about our plans for tapping into an array of renewable energy sources, expanding our capacity to serve program participants, and making sure we walk our talk. READ STORY
Welcome to Meghan McGeary, our new (and first) Director of Development. Meghan comes to us from the Vermont Land Trust, where she did wonderful work running their fundraising programs. MEET MEGHAN
We have also welcomed Julian Agyeman to our board. Julian is an associate professor at Tufts University, where he researches, teaches and writes about the nexus between environmental justice and sustainability, the issues of rural racism in Britain, and the potential of "education for sustainability." MEET JULIAN
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Melissa Nelson, Executive Director of the Cultural Conservancy, shares her story of her work on indigenous rights issues. READ INTERVIEW
Pete Sibley, founder of the Teton Sustainability Project in Wyoming, organized a successful community story-telling event this spring. See how you might be able to organize a simliar event in your own community to inspire hope and action and cross divides. READ STORY
TOOLS FOR CHANGE
RESOURCES: We have entirely revamped our online Alumni Resources section, just for you. Check it out to find resources on cross-cutting issues, cultural competency, dialogue, food and agriculture, collaboration, reflective leadership, story, and new measures of success. As always, we would greatly appreciate your feedback on what is up there, and ideas for resources we have not posted. SEE RESOURCES.
EVENTS & WORKSHOPS
Join us in Denver this October immediately before the Land Trust Alliance Rally for a special Whole Thinking Workshop for conservation leaders. Peter Forbes will lead participants in facilitated dialogue about their organizational values and vision for their work. (Spaces are rapidly filling; sign up fast to ensure a spot.) October 2-3, 2007
Gardening at the Dragon's Gate: Growing our Food in an Age of Consequence: Join Wendy Johnson of Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center and Helen Whybrow of Center for Whole Communities for this restorative weekend retreat at Knoll Farm. September 7-9, 2007
Come and celebrate Harvest and Courage at our annual fall celebration at Knoll Farm. Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Small Planet, will be speaking, Jeh Kulu West African Dance and Drum Company will be performing, and everyone will be enjoying a lunch made from locally-grown foods! October 7, 2007 REGISTER HERE
Find out about more upcoming workshops and events at Knoll Farm, including spoon and bowl carving workshops with master carver Bill Coperthwaite. SEE CALENDAR
KNOLL FARM UPDATE
So far this summer, the Knoll Farm trail camera has taken more photos of unwitting retreat participants than wild animals, but we did figure out who was eating all of the chickens... READ STORY
Introducing Knoll Farm's first Mobile Egg Palace: a hen house fit for a chicken queen. READ STORY
That's all for this quarter. Send us your news, stories and whole thinking resource ideas for our next issue of ComPost, coming out when the leaves have fallen and Knoll Farm is quiet once again.