The Labour-Day rush is passed, children are back in school, and it’s time for those of us who enjoyed summer vacations to re-engage with the substance of our work.  Vancouver was busy in the last couple of weeks with many events surrounding the inauguration of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace.

Leadership guru Peter Senge was in town for this, helping to convene a group of 120 corporate and social change leaders as part of Connecting for Change. Senge’s core message was that the key to building a just and sustainable future was creating dialogue and collaborative efforts between different sectors – business, NGOs, government and citizens. 

This mirrors our philosophy at Hollyhock Leadership Institute, and underlies our work to catalyze dialogue and develop more cross-movement strategies for change.  One of the reasons people rate our trainings so highly is that they meet leaders from different sectors – social justice, labour, health, environment, politics, globalization.  Our fall programs will attract similar diversity  - and our newest conference - the Social Change Institute - takes this to the next level.  The central theme is building power and collaboration across sectors.  If you know of an example of cross-sectoral success that should be shared at this conference, send us suggestions! 

So, as you plan your work this fall, take time to consider who else you could be talking to, and how to advance your interests within the larger context of systems change.

- Karen Mahon