Sojourn Leadership Sessions

Session I: Dreaming Forward Retreat - November 5 - 9 am - 5 pm Full Day 

Participants will clarify their core values, leadership identity, and long-term aspirations while exploring how they can leverage their power to create meaningful impact. 

Description: This session grounds participants in their personal and collective purpose. We will explore identity, values, and agency while connecting each woman's leadership journey to the broader mission of YWCA Dayton. Through visioning exercises, reflection, and peer dialogue, participants begin shaping their leadership and impact plan. 

Session II: The Courage to Lead - December 3 - 9 am - 12 pm Morning Session 

Participants will explore models of leadership, their personal leadership styles, and how leadership is demonstrated across different environments and challenges. This session challenges traditional leadership narratives and invites participants to embrace liberatory models that center equity, inclusion, courage, and adaptability. We will explore leadership from the inside out, examining mindset, skillset, and the importance of authenticity when navigating complex systems. Participants will define their unique leadership approach and learn how to lead with courage, presence, and conviction. 

Session III: Financial Savvy for Leaders - January 7 - 9 am - 12 pm Morning Session

Leadership isn't just about vision and influence; it's also about understanding the resources that make impact possible. In this session, participants will explore why financial savvy is a core leadership competency, especially for women leading in organizations and communities. We'll demystify the numbers by breaking down cash flow statements, accruals and deferrals, and balance sheets into clear, actionable insights. Participants will learn how to apply financial knowledge in board roles, leadership positions, and decision-making tables where resources are stewarded. Finally, we'll look at money as a leadership strategy, not just something to manage, but something to leverage in service of sustainability and growth. 

Session IV: Building the Beloved Community I - March 5 - 9am - 12 pm Morning Session

Participants will develop an understanding of systemic dynamics and the ways in which race, gender, and economic status shape lived experience and leadership opportunities.  In this session, we will unpack the systems and structures that uphold inequity and consider how power and advantage show up in daily life and institutions. Through identity mapping and dialogue, participants will build shared language and deeper awareness of intersectionality and the importance of disrupting exclusionary dynamics in leadership spaces. 

Session V: Building the Beloved Community II - March 4 - 9 am - 12 pm Morning Session

Participants will learn how to apply their understanding of social justice principles in real-time decision-making and leadership moments. Building on the prior session, this experience shifts from awareness to action. Participants will explore what it means to lead for equity in their organizations, communities, and spheres of influence. We will explore adaptive leadership, the role of voice and risk-taking, and practice strategies to intervene when injustice occurs. 

Session VI: Designing a Life that Works - April 8 - 9 am - 12 pm (Morning Session) 

In this session, participants will learn the practices, mindsets, and habits that allow them to persist in the face of adversity while staying true to themselves and protecting their well-being. Drawing on narrative, neuroscience, and emotional intelligence, we'll explore what it really means to sustain leadership and yourself when the work is hard, isolating, or slow. Together, we'll reframe grit as more than just pushing through, it's clarity of purpose, honoring boundaries, leaning on community, and the ability to return to joy. We'll surface tools for resilience that not only help leaders endure, but also allow them to flourish, even in challenging seasons. Each participant will leave with practices that honor her lived experience while offering new pathways to joy, balance, and strength. 

Session VII: The Next Chapter - May 6 - 9 am - 1 pm (Morning Session + Lunch)

Participants will reflect on their journey, share key insights from their year leadership plans, and celebrate their growth as justice-centered leaders. They will articulate their next steps and honor the support systems that sustain their leadership. The final session of the Sojourner Leadership and Justice Academy is both a moment of reflection and a launch into action. Participants will revisit the intentions they set at the start of the program and assess how their understanding of leadership, justice, and self has deepened over the course of the Academy. This session creates space for each Sojourner to name the commitments, honor their journey and those who helped make it possible. The session will culminate in a joyful celebration with light refreshments, where each participant may invite a member of their personal support network, a mentor, friend, family member, manager or colleague who has championed their development.