Looking Back at 2018 YWCA USA Leadership & Capacity Building Institute
“The energy of our YWCA leaders can be felt in the air here at the conference hotel,” YWCA Spokane CEO, Regina Malveau remarked upon her first day at this year’s YWCA USA Leadership & Capacity Building Institute (LCBI) event that took place between June 6th– June 9th in San Antonio, Texas in celebration of YWCA USA 160th anniversary. This was a gathering of YWCA leaders focused on increasing individual and collective ability to provide transformative service and leadership in our communities. The focus was on engaging and addressing some of the many critical issues that define YWCA health, sustainability, and success, while celebrating YWCA USA history and re-imagining our future together.
YWCA Spokane Board Member Laura McAloon, who said this conference with strong Y women offered inspiration around every corner and Chief Philanthropy Officer Dana Morris Lee who felt equally inspired, joined CEO Regina Malveaux to spend four days immersed in the 2018 theme of: Mission, Moment, and Movement with 200+ YWCA leaders during the LCBI event.
Each morning of the conference began with Gentle Morning Yoga, Morning Walk, and Breakfast in the Rio Grande Ballroom followed by a variety of impactful discussions including:
Be Trauma-Informed or Be Uninformed, Do Something: Bystander Intervention Training, Mapping Your Future, Power to the Polls, Risk it! Leadership and Strategic Risk Taking, Be Prepared: Risk Management and Crisis, Building Reflective Boards, Investing & Innovating: Funding Domestic Violence Services, Making Progress with Conservative Decision Makers, The Sanctuary Model: Solutions for a Healthy Workplace, Imagining Justice: Inclusive Books for Youth Programming, Impact Investing, Mobilizing in the Movement: Engaging Communities, Taxes in the Trump Era, Funding the First Years: Child Care Lessons Learned, It’s a Small World, After All, Let’s Stay Together: Sustaining Funding Relationships, etc.
Many new and familiar faces were in attendance for conversations on new socially responsible investment fund that will create new and innovative ways to invest in line with our values and the change we wish to see in the world, how to engage politically conservative policymakers as allies in our policy advocacy work, and challenging organizational leaders to explore not only how to look at our work differently but how to explore the possibility of new social finance tools to help us advance our critical mission.
Regina says, “It was an honor to close out such an inspirational week in San Antonio with my fellow YWCA USA board members. Our organization is on an exciting trajectory. Looking forward to the pivots that we are making to adapt to a changing landscape while also honoring the rich legacy of our 160-year-old organization.”
As we reflect on a phenomenal weekend, we are inspired to continue doing the work. Eliminating racism and empowering women isn’t easy — but it is essential to building the world we want to live in.
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Please enjoy our photos from the event and view the YWCA USA LCBI album containing full photos from the LCBI conference, too.
By: Naomi Teeter