Today I am at the 2014 Engineers Without Borders USA Council of Regional Presidents Retreat at the EWB-USA Headquarters in the Posner Center for International Development. This annual retreat brings together the presidents of each of the seven EWB-USA regions for team building, planning, and an open dialogue.
This year’s retreat was led by Cathy Leslie, Executive Director of EWB-USA, and Ashley Templeton, the EWB-USA Volunteer Engagement Director. The retreat began with a discussion about the EWB-USA Strategic Plan, which was originally published in 2010 and is now being revised for the next five-year cycle. Discussions focused on strengths and weaknesses of the organization, and gave the regional presidents an opportunity to voice their top priorities from a regional perspective.
The second phase of the retreat focused on drafting a Theory of Change for Chapter Success. Inspired by the EWB-USA Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) program, the Theory of Change for Chapter Success will be a description of how headquarters and the regions work together to support chapters.
As a past regional president, this was my third retreat. I was very impressed with the insight and perspectives provided by the 2014 Regional Presidents, and look forward to seeing the final outcome!
Update 7 August 2014: To read more about this year's retreat, check out the EWB-USA guest blog post written by Dan Voss, the 2014 Midwest Regional President: CORP: Envisioning a Bright Future in Denver.