Bill Grace to speak at the OSR annual conference on June 18

Leading Sustainably: Transformation through Vital Conversations is the theme of the OSR Annual Conference to be held on Saturday, June 18

Bill Grace, author of the soon to be released book, Sharing the rock: leadership for the common good will serve as the plenary speaker for the conference. He shares these thoughts about his new book and the theme of our conference,

"One of the most powerful things we can do to change the world is change our minds about the world, regarding it as a safe place for a child to be born, for environment, communities, and businesses to flourish side by side, and for strangers to be greeted as friends.  Leadership is the key to achieving this future."

The OSR design team is excited to engage with you on June 18!  Save the date and more information will follow soon so that you can register. $99 or $115 (includes Bill Grace's new book).

Enthusiastically, OSR design team members:

Nanci Andvik, OSR 10; Steve Byers, OSR 13; Kathy Coronetz, OSR 14; Ava Brock, OSR 14; Dave Porter, OSR 14; Kim Loop, OSR 15; Kelly Mitchell, OSR 15.

A testimonial: Feet on the ground: Shoot for the Moon!

Feet on the Ground:  Shoot for the Moon! Design Thinking, Positive Deviance & Liberating Structures, Monday, May 2, 8:30 – 11:30 am.

A current OSR student testimonial:

I want to encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity.  Keith has served as a member of my Mentoring Council and I have learned a great deal from him.  I was very excited to see that you might have an opportunity to work with him as well.  At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, here are three reasons why you should attend:

1.        The liberating structures you will learn work in the real world.  After fairly brief instruction from Keith, I have used these tools with judges, lawyers, and administrators on real life problems and they work.  Not only do they help people with the issues they face, but they actually generate interest in the methods themselves thereby building capacity within the organization to address the next issue.

2.       You have the right people, tools, equipment, etc. in the room right now to try this out.  What you will learn will not require that you get licensed, buy a manual, or even obtain prior approval to try out.  I have found several of the tools to be only slight deviations of standard practices that have yielded big results.  For example, I have used the exact same people as part of a “fishbowl” that were designated to be an “expert panel” with remarkably positive results or employed 1-2-4-all in large meeting settings to really engage collective intelligence.  No special equipment required - you can and should start experimenting with the techniques right away.

3.       “This is serious fun” to borrow a phrase from Keith.  I have not only personally experienced my own heightened creativity when using these tools, but I have seen it manifest itself in others.  The tools are fun and engaging – and they happen to get a whole lot of work done in the process.  

This popular and free event sponsored by OSR and the presenters "sold out" initially in just a matter of days!  Not to be deterred, we secured a new, larger space on campus.  We can now accept a much larger audience. This is an informal gathering to explore fabulous methodologies that spark innovation from the bottom-up and the fringe-in.  Hold onto your hats! 

Register today!

Pat Hughes, OSR 8 presents, Radical Collaboration with Gracious Space

The OSR Graduate Program and the Center for Ethical Leadership (CEL) in conjunction with Pat Hughes, OSR 8 graduate, are delighted to host two, 2-hour workshops exploring the newly published Gracious Space Change Framework by the CEL.  Learn how safety, better relationships, taking risks that matter and collective creativity can lead to the radical collaboration needed to face some of today’s “wicked” problems. OSR students, alumni and prospective students will gain a new appreciation for radical collaboration and moving through change work. 

“The Four Openings provide a developmental blueprint for individuals and groups to increase their energy and capacity for innovation.  With the Four Openings, groups can be ready for change work and be prepared to stay in it once engaged.” From the book Radical Collaboration with Gracious Space: From Small Openings to Profound Transformation

Register for one or both workshops:

• May 17: Opening to Safety and Relationship
• May 31: Opening to Risk and Collective Creativity
• $25 each.
•  Register by sending an email

Download the workshop flyer

Geoff Bellman offers "The Heart of Consulting" April 21 - 23

Join Geoff and other experienced consultants in this rare opportunity to explore the deeper questions of our work with organizations: take three days to step back from your work, to reconsider your life. Geoff is a frequent visiting faculty member to the OSR graduate program.

Geoff will will draw on his forty years of internal and external consulting experience as he engages everyone in reflecting on and talking about our most significant work and life questions. You will emerge from this three day workshop with renewed clarity about who you are, what you want to do in your work, how you will do it, and how that fits with the rest of your life. Expect to be highly and frequently engaged, to contribute, to learn from others, learn from Geoff, to eat well, and to have a most stimulating experience.

Geoff Bellman worked in the corporate world fourteen years before starting his own consulting firm in 1977. His consulting focused on renewing large, mature organizations. In recent years, he has been giving most of his consulting time to community organizations. He is a charter member of The Woodlands Group which has been exploring individual, organizational and societal change for 35 years. Geoff is co-founder of the Community Consulting Partnership, a group of Seattle area consltants and learners serving Seattle not-for-profits for over 15 years. He was honored by the National Organization Development Network for his contributions to the professional community.

Proceeds from this workshop benefit The Whidbey Institute

Learn more

"John Muir in the new world" film to premiere in Seattle, April 14

Steve Boyd, a graduate of OSR 1 has been working on the creation of the film, "John Muir in the New World" for the last 5 years. The film's exclusive premiere will be shown Thursday, April 14 at 7 pm. Tickets are only $3 for students and $6 for others. It would be wonderful to see a great OSR turn out and lend our support to the great work John Muir started and our present day environmental movement.  OSR is a co-sponsor of this film premiere.

Join us for the exclusive premiere Seattle Screening of "John Muir in the New World" - a documentary about one of America's first great environmentalists, produced for PBS. 

Thursday, April 14th, at 7:00 PM
Special Screening at Seattle Public Library, Microsoft Auditorium
Suggested Donation: $3 students | $6 adults

"John Muir in the New World" is a documentary biography that presents the real and complex John Muir to the American viewer for the first time: who he was, what he accomplished, and why he is widely regarded as such an iconic figure in America's long debate on the best use of wilderness. 

Produced by Global Village Media [GVM], an award-winning production company with over twenty years of international broadcast experience, the documentary paints a rounded portrait of Muir, the influences on his life, the historical context in which he operated, and the impact he had on the modern environmental movement. PBS will televise this nationally on April 18th in their American Masters Program, in celebration of Earth Week.

Co-sponsored by:
Cascade Land Conservancy, Humanities Washington, People for Puget Sound, Seattle University OSR Program, Sierra Club, Washington Environmental Council, Washington Trails Association, Whidbey Camano Land Trust, Whidbey Institute, and The Wilderness Society.

Honorary Sponsors:
The Floyd and Delores Jones Foundation, Global Village Media, Northwest Film Forum, Russell Family Foundation, Washington Film Works

Panel Discussion:
Film Producer Catherine Tatge, Former Mayor Greg Nickels,  Author Kurt Hoelting, Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw

Learn more

Attend a 1 hour intro to Joanna Macy advanced workshop

Two 1 hour intro sessions to Joanna Macy's advanced workshop (advanced workshop is planned for June 22 - 27) will be held on Saturday, April 16.  One session will take place from Noon - 1 pm and the other will take place from 5:15 - 6:15 pm.  Both intro sessions will take place at Seattle University in the Teilhard de Chardin Building.  These sessions are free and will introduce you to the advanced workshop planned for late June with Joanna and will aid you in deciding if this workshop is something you want to pursue. OSR is a co-sponsor of the Joanna Macy advanced workshop along with ForTheGrandChildren.

Joanna Macy is a Buddhist teacher, activist and elder.  She originated the term ‘great turning’ for the paradigm shift that is currently emerging while the old industrial society unravels.  She views the world as a living system and teaches from a combination of systems theory and Buddhist teachings.   Joanna believes that the emergence is supported by three actions:  (1) Creating ‘holding actions’ to protect the earth. (2) Raising ‘consciousness’ about our connection to the earth and each other and (3) bringing forth ‘new sustainable institutions’.  Joanna also worked and studied with the Sarvodaya movement.  Sarvodaya, is a Buddhist-inspired Movement in Sri Lanka, that provides lessons in alternative economics and spiritually based community organizing.  It is one of the largest such organizations in the world.

Learn more

Register for noon intro session

Register for 5:15 intro session

Email Victor Bremson for more information