UrbanFUTURE Leadership Retreat

For two days, UrbanFUTURE staff gathered and reflected on what it means to be a leader for UrbanFUTURE. With the recent doubling of the staff to prepare to expand to new school sites, this also provided an opportunity for all the staff (new and old/veteran) to get to know one another better, while discussing topics related to UrbanFUTURE and leadership and enjoy some fun at Frank Van Bree's (UrbanFUTURE's CEO) lakehouse on Lake Perry.

We talked about what leadership means and how we as employees can be better leaders at cultivating love, generating energy, inspiring audacity and providing proof in everything we do from working with parents to recruiting volunteers to engaging donors. We discussed how eliminating the achievement gap cannot be accomplished with just volunteers or just schools, but requires mobilizing all of the stakeholders in a struggle to restore the education system in under-resourced communities.

Jason Julian and Maurice Horton of Urban K-Life Ministries joined the staff for a session to discuss the work of building relationships with students and parents to affect real change at an individual level, which will result in systemic-level change. They inspired UrbanFUTURE staff with their personal stories of overcoming hardship and how they've used that to help young people dealing with many of the same struggles.

The two-day retreat wrapped up with Frank Van Bree giving each staff member a copy of the book Tribes by Seth Godin. The book will help to keep the conversation going about how we can all be better leaders and how UrbanFUTURE can lead as an organization.

With the school year set to begin next Monday, getting away for 36 hours provided us all with a chance to learn, grow and reflect on the work we'll be doing this year.