In the process described on page 4, 30 members of LSPA’s staff, Board and past presidents worked together all day November 4, led by facilitator Judy Walke, to reach a strong consensus about the most important areas of focus for LSPA over the next three to five years.
By day’s end, the group had settled on five key areas for LSPA to pursue. They are not new programs; in fact, all are now part of the work of staff or current committees. But the retreat process allowed Board and staff to reflect on current strengths, brainstorm about what the future will look like, prioritize, and create a vision for the future. The direction set by the retreat for the immediate future gives weight and many concrete ideas to these five particular thrusts:
Expand and enhance LSPA’s educational programming. The retreat discussions made it clear how effective and important we believe Kathleen Stowell’s work to be. The goal is to expand her work with schools and children, and to increase our formal educational efforts for adults, incorporating more of what we have learned about taking care of a lake and watershed.
Reach out to the public for behavior change by improving communication to foster positive individual activities to protect the environment. This focus would include developing relationships and providing special workshops for groups who work in the watershed (e.g. landscapers), reaching out to new residents, and increasing communication of all kinds to the general public.
Create an LSPA Educational Center in a building that is “green” and houses the LSPA offices. LSPA’s lease for its building expires in just over a year and since our landlord, Sunapee Harbor Riverway, wants to replace that deteriorating building, the retreat viewed this as an opportunity. All believe that LSPA’s next offices should be a model of an environmental building (“green”) and include more space for educational displays, classes and research.
Invest in LSPA’s staff by providing more staff development opportunities, more support (resources, interns) and adding needed professional staff as can be financially supported. All those who come in contact with our staff, particularly members of the Board, recognize the outstanding performance of the individuals now working for LSPA. Allowing them opportunity to expand their skills and knowledge was an important value for the retreat attendees. As LSPA’s roles and work expand, we must also expect that the number of staff will grow to take on the additional workload.
Raise funds for LSPA. Increase and broaden LSPA’s financial support, to make possible the enlarged educational and scientific work of the Association. Fundraising would include grants as well as increasing annual membership support and LSPA’s endowment.
Retreat Follow-Up
The Executive Committee and Executive Director June Fichter will prioritize and begin to implement suggestions that came through the retreat, working with the Education, Site, Outreach, Membership and Endowment Committees. The retreat group outlined strategies to maintain focus on the five key areas, including regular discussion at Board meetings.
Date published on web site:
12-01-2006
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