The Leadership Institute’s Lasting Legacy

The Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy was founded by Rick Theis in 2000. The idea grew out of conversations Rick had with local environmental leaders Dick Day and Bill Kortum after Theis completed the Leadership Santa Rosa program. They asked, “Why isn’t there anything like this for environmentalists?” Several years later, Theis and his wife, Carolyn Johnson, founded the Leadership Institute, focused on sustainability, social equity and civic engagement.

After 17 years of cultivating environmental and civic leaders, the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy approached Daily Acts with news that the Institute would close its doors. At a time when our communities were facing increasingly complex challenges from structural racism to climate change, we didn’t want this important program to simply come to an end.

Daily Acts launched the Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities in 2018 inviting grassroots activists, government officials, passionate students, elected leaders, business owners and nonprofit leaders alike to join others in addressing issues at the confluence of social and environmental justice. The program was intentionally designed to create a cohort representing a diverse array of sectors, lived experiences, and perspectives, fostering meaningful dialogue and collaboration.

Scholarships allowed for the Leadership Institute to be available to those historically underrepresented in environmental and civic spaces. Participants developed the skills, knowledge, confidence and relationships to see themselves as leaders, and to build collective power within their communities.

Loading...

Several of Daily Acts’ Board and staff, including our founder Trathen Heckman, are Leadership Fellows and have been greatly enriched by the Leadership Institute and its Fellows Network. During its 23 year history, the Leadership Institute engaged more than 600 Fellows, sparked lasting collaborations, and helped cultivate leaders who continue to make a difference throughout the region.

The relationships, ideas, and leadership fostered through the program remain an important part of Daily Acts’ history and continue to influence the work of alumni across many sectors.

EXPLORE THE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FELLOWS NETWORK

Learn more about our network of 600+ Leadership Fellows. Click here to Meet our Network!

What Participants Gained

The Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities supported and engaged emerging leaders to advance transformative social and environmental solutions through exposure to inspiring speakers and peers, leadership skills and development, and application of skills through an equity-centered design project.

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP 

Clarify and operate from your purpose.

  • Stay centered in your purpose
  • Lead through change and uncertainty
  • Strengthen emotional intelligence and understand triggers
  • Avoid burnout

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Use your power to take civic action.

  • Develop critical analysis and systems thinking skills
  • Increase self awareness of habits that perpetuate inequality
  • Expand your ability to design equitable programs and processes
  • Learn how and where you can engage civically on local issues

COLLECTIVE POWER

Gather skills to build community, relationships, and collaborate across differences.

  • Effectively communicate and build trust
  • Facilitate co-creative spaces and collective decision making
  • Build cross-cultural relationships
  • Navigate conflict

What Fellows Shared About the Leadership Institute

“Participating in the Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities program helped give me the confidence to join the Petaluma General Plan Advisory Committee and feel like I belong and can contribute in these spaces. This program provided me the tools I needed to use my voice and help leave a better Petaluma for our next generation.”
– Sierra Downey, ‘20

The Institute helped me to think about public policy in different ways—to connect issues together in a more holistic approach and to learn more progressive and satisfying ways to solve policy challenges such as affordable housing, transportation and community development.

Susan Gorin, 1st District County Supervisor

The Leadership Institute helped me understand some of our biggest challenges for the economy and ecology with a historical perspective and from a systems level, and encouraged me to find my strengths and purpose as I participate in the work of tackling some of these challenges.

Pam Van Halsema, Bay Area Discovery Museum and Coffey Strong

Before the leadership institute, I had a hard time seeing myself as a leader. I lacked the confidence in myself and the vision. In just 10 months with the program, I can, with confidence, say that I am a leader and I now have the vision to live to my fullest potential.

Heather Ah San, Sonoma Land Trust

The program was simply amazing. Moving from New York City a few days before the class began, I had no previous knowledge of sustainability issues. Through fascinating lectures, panel discussions, site tours, and networking with classmates, over the course of the year I developed a strong foundation that I will utilize for the rest of my life.

Jennifer Johnson, Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State

The Leadership Institute is a transformative experience that engages leaders across all dimensions of their lives to embed positive change and effective action into our daily acts.

Aaron Schreiber-Stainthorp, Jackson Family Wines

Being very experienced in public policy squabbles in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but relatively new to Sonoma County, I found that the program offered precisely what I was hoping for – a well balanced introduction to many of the organizations, individuals, and issues in Sonoma County that matter. The program is designed in such a way that both veterans and newcomers to public policy will not be bored or mystified, respectively.

Woody Hastings, Renewable Energy Implementation Manager at Center for Climate Protection

The Leadership Institute addresses the entire spectrum of environmental issues in Sonoma County, covering the details about process as well as content along with an opportunity to meet and get to know some of the most influential leaders in the community. The Institute offers invaluable training for both newcomers to the County as well as those who’ve lived here all their lives.

Ken Wells, Executive Director of Sonoma County Trails Council and Former Director of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency

The Leadership Institute’s classes are packed with information and food for thought. It also provides an excellent incubator for problem solving with other individuals concerned about issues critical to our future.

Una Glass, Sebastopol City Council, Aide to Former Supervisor Mike Reilly

The training actually changed my life, providing me with new insights on many issues related to sustainability, social equity, the economy and our environment.  In no small measure, the training helped me to develop the confidence and the skills I need to run for city council and serve the public.

Cindy Thomas

The Leadership Institute gave me an incredibly unique opportunity to learn and experience the relationship between our local economy and the natural environment that added depth to both my professional and personal life. The mix of student backgrounds allowed me to question, reinforce, and fine tune my own beliefs of what is the best course for our greater community of Sonoma County.

Pamela Tuft, AICP, Director of General Plan Administration, City of Petaluma

The Leadership Institute’s classes gave me the intellectual foundation for what I knew in my heart, and introduced me to a network of people with whom to discuss sustainability.

Sarah Gurney, Sebastopol City Council Member

I had never in my life been around a group of people with that much professional experience. I felt like I was among giants. I never saw myself as a leader until I took the training. I began to see myself differently. As an activist you lead in a populist way, dealing with emotions. This (the Leadership Training) was more purposeful, more thoughtful. I got a much better understanding of leadership.

Evelina Molina, Ventana Latina

The information and understanding makes me better at my job. It was very well thought out, and I’ve recommended it to other people.

Robert Judd, Former VP at Community Foundation Sonoma County

This (program) is for any individual that feels a passion for creating a better place in this world. You are provided with tools to help you focus and hone your enthusiasm and then asked to use that focus to effect change. There is nothing more valuable than being given the tools and encouragement to follow your dreams.

Nica Poznanovich, General Manager, Bella Rosa Coffee Company

What I think is exciting is seeing what other leaders in the community are doing with important issues. It inspires me, and it confirms that we’re on the right path.

Genevieve Taylor, Co-Executive Director Ag Innovations

As an academic ecologist, I had a broad, global knowledge of ecological and environmental issues, but only a shallow understanding about local environmental problems and how these interplay with local government policies.  The Leadership Institute inspired a shift in my career – to apply science directly toward preserving our natural resources, sustainable agriculture and the local economy.

Anna Sears, Ph.D.

The Leadership Institute program is a unique and exceptional way to learn the tenants of responsible business and how to effect change through public policy. This program will forever affect your vision of how you can contribute to society – no matter what you do.

Alison Healy, Executive Director Alliance for Smiles

Through the Leadership Institute I was able to see how the important issues of our time such as energy, water, health, agriculture, land use, transportation, and the economy are woven together in Sonoma County. And it was awesome to meet the local leaders creating community solutions for a more healthy, just, and ecologically vibrant world.

Sam Ruark, Executive Director at Green Built Alliance

Program Supporters

We are incredibly grateful to the Foundations and individuals who established and contributed to this program and our scholarship funds, without whom we could not have provided this platform to help our participants expand their leadership potential and grow their impact in the world.

Fledgling Fund

Bancroft Foundation

Moira Chatton Memorial Scholarship

Speaker at the first Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy class in 2000, Moira Chatton was a beloved and passionate Sonoma County educator, businesswoman and environmentalist known for her keen mind and abiding spirit. In honor of her impactful and important role in Sonoma County, we were honored to celebrate her life and continue her impact by offering the Leadership Institute Moira Chatton Memorial Scholarship to support systemically underrepresented voices in participating in the Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities.