[Sdpg] Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows Program now accepting applications 2005-2006

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows Program
  Now accepting applications for 2005-2006.

Sustainability Institute is now accepting applications for the 2005-2006 
class of Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows.

The Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows Program was launched in 2002 to 
honor and build on the life example of Dr. Donella Meadows 
(www.sustainer.org/meadows/) by empowering a new generation of 
sustainability leaders to incorporate systems thinking, reflection, and 
vision in their work and life. The Fellows Program seeks to increase the 
effectiveness of people whose approach to sustainability displays analytic 
clarity, systemic change, and attention to spirit, values, and meaning. 
Making the shift to a sustainable society involves changing complex 
environmental, social, and economic systems. This is a challenge that 
requires strategic analysis and action coupled with excellent interpersonal 
and leadership skills. Donella's system tools enabled her to see clearly 
the root causes of seemingly intractable problems - poverty, war, 
environmental degradation - and her deep affection for people and the earth 
gave her a unique power to reach others.

The Fellowship integrates rigorous analysis with skill in articulating 
feelings, values, and vision because we believe that people with this 
combination of talents, like Donella, are deeply needed in the world. At 
least two-thirds of the class will be women in order to support more women 
becoming leaders in the field of sustainability.

The Fellows Program trains sixteen to twenty influential mid-career 
environmental and social leaders in two-year programs of four workshops and 
personal coaching. Fellows learn to analyze an issue's drivers and then 
identify leverage points and actions that would improve system performance. 
Fellows complement the rigorous analytical work with skills such as 
visioning, inquiry, and personal reflection that are critical for leading 
change in systems with diverse goals and stakeholders. Coaching throughout 
the two years focuses on Fellows' application of the newly-acquired tools 
in their workplace. Skill development includes systems thinking, reflective 
conversation, personal mastery, and leadership for sustainability.

Selected Fellows will be drawn from the NGO, government, philanthropy, 
business, tribal, and policy sectors. Criteria for selecting Fellows 
include a desire to learn and apply systems thinking, the ability to apply 
learning organization methodology to one's work and home institutions, a 
commitment to personal reflection and growth, demonstrated leadership 
ability, and the potential to influence thinking in wide circles of people.

Logistics: Four 4-day workshops will be held at the Cobb Hill Cohousing 
community (www.cobbhill.org) that Donella co-founded in Hartland, Vermont.
1st workshop: May 15-19, 2005
2nd workshop: October 16-20, 2005
2006 workshops dates will be decided in 2005.
Attendance at all four workshops, participation in periodic coaching 
telephone conferences, and completion of exercises between workshops is 
mandatory.

Cost: Travel expenses, plus $400 per 4-day workshop to cover meals, 
lodging, venue and materials. Scholarships are available. Sustainability 
Institute provides all workshop coordination, design, curriculum and 
delivery. Financial support for the 2005-2006 class of Fellows so far is 
from the Morgan Family Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 
SEED Systems, Stonyfield Farm, Inc. and many individuals.

Applicants should be active practitioners in their field; applicants who 
are primarily students, teachers or researchers will not be accepted. This 
is not a train the trainer program; it is designed to give hands-on 
sustainability leaders tools to be more effective.

Application deadline is December 15, 2004. The application form is below.

See reports of previous workshops at: www.sustainer.org/fellows/reports.html

For details on how the first class of Fellows are applying what they have 
learned see: www.sustainer.org/fellows/currentwork.html
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Application for the 2005-2006 Class of Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows

Name (including degree if any):

Mailing address:

Daytime phone:

Email:

Employer:

Web site:

Position title:

How did you hear about the Fellows Program?

Briefly describe your current work and work history. How long have you been 
at your current position?

Briefly describe other teams, or web of relationships, you work with and 
learn from? (networks, volunteer organizations, professional associations, 
etc.)

What analytical tools have you found to be most useful in your work, and why?

What intuitive, emotional or reflective approaches have you found to be 
most useful, and why?

Please attach a statement (no more than 500-words please) expressing your 
reasons for wanting to be selected for the 2005-2006 class of Donella 
Meadows Leadership Fellows Program, including what you want to get out of 
it and what you have to offer to it.

Briefly describe what, in your wildest dreams, you would really like to 
accomplish in the next 10 years.

Please submit application by email to Edie Farwell at efarwell at sustainer.org
Program Director, Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows Program
Sustainability Institute
3 Linden Rd., Hartland, VT 05048 " 802-436-1277 " Fax: 802-436-1281 " 
<http://www.sustainer.org>www<http://www.sustainer.org>.sustainer.org