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We partnered with the Pennsylvania Statewide STEM Ecosystem (PSSE), a grassroots network that connects regional STEM ecosystems across the Commonwealth, over multiple years to design and facilitate the retreats, leadership training, and statewide gatherings that hold a volunteer-powered coalition together. Our job was to help a geographically dispersed group of leaders actually act like one.
The goal was to turn a shared mission — that all Pennsylvanians should have access to quality STEM education and career pathways — into a coordinated statewide strategy the whole network owns, and then to build the human infrastructure to keep that strategy alive between gatherings.
what we did
Designed and facilitated multi-day Executive Leadership Retreats, year after year
Ran an ambassador-style leadership program to train ecosystem leaders across the state’s regions
Built a participant workbook to ground leaders in what a STEM ecosystem is and how to lead one
how we did it
Multi-year leadership retreats
Year after year, we designed and facilitated PSSE’s multi-day leadership retreats — the moments when leaders step out of their own regions and into the same room. Using formats like the Chaordic Path, Appreciative Interviews, a Collective Story Harvest, and a Pro-Action Café, we helped the group name who they serve, clarify mission and values, shape governance, and choose the priorities worth rallying behind.
Behind-the-scenes look at the PSSE Leadership Summit
Training the leaders who run each region
A core thread has been an ambassador-style leadership program to train and mentor the ecosystem coordinators responsible for STEM in their own regions. We oversaw the annual leadership retreat which helped connect them to peers doing the same work elsewhere, so no one solves the same problems alone.
Aligning the statewide plan between gatherings
Between retreats, we’ve helped the PSSE leadership team align its statewide strategic plan based upon the insights surfaced through the gatherings. Following each retreat or summit, we produce detailed Harvest Reports which highlight key insights and observations that feed directly into the strategic plan.
