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Leadership Academy Planning Team Report
Editor's Note: Nan Donald is a longtime member of Boston M-POWER. She is currently employed by the Massachusetts Consumer Satisfaction Team. (MCST) Nan wrote the front page story in our last issue which described the Imagine Care Conference which M-POWER organized in the fall of 99. In addition to her job with MCST Nan is now active on the Massachusetts Leadership Academy’s Planning Team. This dedicated group of idealistic c/s/x has undertaken the ambitious task of catalyzing a statewide advocacy network in Massachusetts. The planning team for the M-POWER-sponsored Massachusetts Leadership Academy (MLA) concluded its third-and final retreat last month knowing it needed to wrap up a maximum of details in a minimum of time. Although we didn't finish everything on our ambitious agenda, as MLA Team Leader Debbie Whittle said, "Folks had a sense of ownership that was missing earlier. People have more of a sense of direction if not an actual path." Part of that sense of ownership and direction included an urgency to keep the fledgling group strong and growing. MLA is a citizen leadership and advocacy training initiative for consumer/survivors and ex -patients who wish to become effective advocates. The MLA planning team, supported by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), is made up of consumers and survivors from practically all regions of the Commonwealth. (Despite a major push, efforts to involve people from the southeastern part of the state failed.) Its membership comes from within and without M-POWER. Although viewing the SAMHSA grant as the true beginning of the MLA planning team would seem natural, it would be a mistake, according to organizers. This vision didn't start with the grant, it really started with the 1994 Taking Back Our Lives Conference, the first statewide consumer conference, in which consumers around the state identified their top priorities-human rights, treatment options and consumer control of 2% of the state's mental health budget," explained Whittle. It was obvious, however, that these goals would be unattainable without a united front, underscoring the need to link all consumer/survivor groups and individuals together. In essence, the MLA was envisioned to be a means to this end. "The difference between us [Massachusetts] and other states that have undergone the Leadership Academy training, is that for the other states, the Leadership Academy is the goal, and for us, it is a vehicle to get us to our goal," stressed M-POWER Executive Coordinator Deborah Delman. "It was clear from the beginning that we needed a team of leaders that were willing to work together to create a firm foundation-people to take it on and take it on in a really strong way-people who would have enough passion to continue this," added Whittle. As it now stands, the 16-member planning team has broken into four subgroups: a group to complete our mission statement; a group to develop strategic planning; a group to organize regional gatherings, culminating in a statewide gathering; and a group to adapt the current Leadership Academy curriculum and create what the Massachusetts Leadership Academy will become. Among the work we have already accomplished is the completion of our values statement, which emphasizes our commitment to respect, empowerment, choice, diversity, community, honesty, trust, and creativity. We have also engaged in a one-day prejudice reducing workshop, which underscored both how little we really know about the topic and our commitment to create a truly diverse network of consumers. We have created a timeline/calendar of upcoming events and what we as a group feel a desire or need to do. Despite the great diversity in our backgrounds and beliefs, we have struggled through the bulk of our decision making by consensus. Although we decided for expedience at the final retreat to sometimes use Bob's Rules, (a relaxed version of Robert's Rules of Order), consensus was always achieved anyway! What do we want as a group? The words that came up most frequently during our final retreat were "purpose", "plan", "mission statement", "build a network", and "direction". As Deborah Delman put it, "We have the heart and soul, but we need to work on the concrete and the architecture." "It's really exciting," she continued. "Although there was no commitment for people to keep working after the third retreat, the members have a clear commitment to keep meeting." At this point, all four subgroups are actively meeting and working solidly towards specific goals. We came away from the final retreat feeling like the current planning team might become an advisory board to an envisioned statewide network of consumers/survivors/ex-patients. The ongoing MLA curriculum adaptation and future MLA trainings will be the key for pulling people into the network and the advisory board will help give shape to the network and provide the energy to pull it together. In the immediate future, the planning team intends to complete its mission statement, firm up its strategic planning and begin to adapt the original Leadership Academy materials. We don't plan to focus exclusively on work, however-we're also planning a coming-out party for March!
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