New Beginnings

by Marcy Jackson, Co-Director
 


Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life’s desire.


Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.



—John O'Donohue, excerpted from “For a New Beginning,” To Bless the Space Between Us

Last September our board and staff initiated a strategic direction process with this stated purpose: “We are at a critical juncture as an organization and we want to create a clear direction and new business model to advance the Center’s mission and ensure long-term sustainability. Our task will be to develop a compelling picture of what the work of the Center for Courage & Renewal (CCR) will look like 5-10 years into the future so we can effectively direct both human and financial resources toward achieving this vision.”

For twelve years, with a track record of success and engagement with over 25,000 participants in retreats and programs led by Circle of Trust® facilitators, we have:

• created safe, focused and hospitable spaces for people to do inner work in community;
• encouraged ourselves and others to faithfully hold paradox and the creative tensions that exist at all levels of our personal and professional lives;
• supported people in reconnecting who they are with what they do;
• helped create and publish books, articles, speeches, CD’s and DVD’s that tell the story and describe the impact of our work;
• contributed to sustaining integrity and courage in professional and public life.

Now we are in a great position to reach out more broadly and deeply to engage many others.

Since the founding of the Center in 1997 my husband, Rick, and I have had the privilege of serving as Co-Directors. As a part of this process of looking back and looking forward we initiated a conversation with the CCR board about our desire to begin thinking about leadership succession. Board Chair Gayle Williams has noted, “We have held this conversation in love for both Marcy and Rick and for the Center. Transition from founding staff and board leadership is a challenging time for any organization. As we have held this topic we have become certain that our relationships and our Principles and Practices position us to move through this delicate, natural and necessary transition and come out stronger on the other side.”  

On July 1, 2009 Rick moved from Co-Director to Director of Development and Partnerships, and Terry Chadsey (previously CCR’s Associate Director) joined me as Co-Director. It is my pleasure to introduce the readers of our newsletter to Terry in his new role. I am filled with gratitude for the gifts of leadership, commitment, skill and experience that Terry is contributing to our programs and organizational life as Co-Director this year and I also have great trust and excitement about what lies ahead. This fall the board is launching a national search for a new Executive Director for CCR with a new director expected to be in place by August 2010.

We are living in exciting and challenging times—times in which we have important gifts to contribute to individuals and communities through our work. CCR’s mission of “nurturing personal and professional integrity and the courage to act on it” is not only compelling, it is critical to creating a more just, whole and hopeful world. Having come through a demanding and intense process of envisioning our future we have emerged on the other side with a palpable sense of fresh energy, anticipation and excitement.