Drawing New Maps Together
A community is built through relationships.
There is a line from Margaret Wheatley's poem Turning to One Another that lingered throughout this year's Athens County Nonprofit Executive Directors Retreat:
"Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world."
At a time when many nonprofit leaders are navigating uncertainty, shifting funding landscapes, growing community needs, and increasing demands on their organizations, it felt like the right place to begin.
On a warm June morning, nonprofit leaders from across Athens County gathered at the Athens Armory for the fourth annual Executive Directors Retreat, an initiative of Athens County Foundation's Strengths+Strengths Capacity Building Program, supported by the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. Some participants were longtime members of the network. Others were attending for the first time. As people arrived, conversations began around coffee and breakfast, often among familiar colleagues and friends. By the end of the day, the room felt different.
The theme of this year's retreat was simple but timely: If the old maps no longer fully describe the terrain ahead, what new maps are we beginning to draw?
Throughout the morning, participants explored that question together. They reflected on what they were noticing in their organizations and communities, what concerned them, and what gave them confidence.
The challenges were familiar. Leaders spoke about financial uncertainty, increasing community needs, staffing pressures, burnout, mission creep, and the growing complexity of the work. Beneath many of these concerns was a shared recognition that trust, whether in institutions, systems, or one another, feels increasingly important and increasingly fragile.
But alongside those concerns, something else emerged.
Hope.
Again and again, participants pointed to examples of bold leadership, community resilience, youth engagement, civic participation, and the enduring strength of Athens County itself. They spoke about the importance of staying grounded in core mission, embracing innovation, and supporting the next generation of leaders. One participant captured the moment succinctly:
"What got us here won't get us there."
The statement was not offered as a critique. It was offered as an invitation.
An invitation to adapt. To learn. To collaborate differently.
Later in the day, participants stepped away from flip charts and conversations and headed into Uptown Athens for a community scavenger hunt. The activity invited leaders to see the community through a different lens, one focused not on challenges or gaps but on assets.
Art. History. Recreation. Creativity. Public spaces. The small details that make a place feel like home.
Along the way, teams laughed, posed for photos, and perhaps most importantly, spent time together outside the roles and responsibilities they carry every day. What began as a simple activity became something more: an opportunity to build relationships through shared experience.
The afternoon continued with opportunities for learning and reflection. Participants explored communication practices that help strengthen relationships and reduce misunderstanding. They rolled out yoga mats and participated in mindful movement led by Ashley Wines of Middle Path Yoga, creating space to reconnect with themselves as leaders and as people.
Because healthy organizations require healthy leaders.
The retreat closed by returning to the central question of the day. If the old maps no longer serve us, what must we preserve, adapt, create, and build together?
The answers pointed toward collaboration, shared resources, stronger relationships, community resilience, and a renewed commitment to trust. Participants envisioned more opportunities to work together, a clearer understanding of organizational strengths and needs, and a future built not on competition but on mutual support.
Perhaps the most meaningful outcome was also the simplest.
In the next 90 days, participants committed to intentionally building a relationship with another leader by offering a gift that the other leader may need. That gift could be a thought partnership, encouragement, expertise, time, connection, or simply presence.
In a world that often encourages organizations to focus inward, the commitment was a reminder that community is built through relationships.
As the retreat came to a close, participants reflected on what they wanted to keep tending after they left.
The answers varied. The sentiment did not.
The path ahead may be uncertain. The terrain may be changing. But one thing felt clear by the end of the day: Athens County's nonprofit leaders are not drawing these new maps alone.
They are drawing them together.
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