Latest / Clean Water Conversations / Educating Leaders: Collaboration, Connection, and Community: Leadership Lancaster

Transcript

Educating Leaders: Collaboration, Connection, and Community: Leadership Lancaster · Clean Water Conversations

0:02
SPEAKER_01: Season 5 of Cleanwater Conversations is sponsored by RKK.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: RKK is a full-service design and engineering firm that provides innovative solutions to complex challenges.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: As a recognized leader in state and municipal stormwater management, MS4 permit compliance, stream restoration, and ecological design services, RKK is ready to deliver community-focused water quality improvements to urban and suburban communities.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: Check out more information about RKK at rkk.com.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, RKK.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: And now on to our show.
0:57
SPEAKER_04: Hey everybody, this is Allison.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: Allison, we are quickly approaching the end of season five.
1:03
SPEAKER_04: The finale is almost here.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: And we are this is gonna be kind of neat because we are going to record the season five at the Choose Clean Water Conference, right?
1:11
SPEAKER_01: That is right here in Lancaster County.
1:13
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's exciting to have a Bay wide audience coming to Lancaster for this professional conference.
1:18
SPEAKER_04: There is so much that happens there from field trips to sessions, all kinds of types of education, Ken.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: Aha! Yes, this season is all about education.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: And with that, I mean, is is there anything that you've learned during season five that you didn't expect to learn?
1:35
SPEAKER_04: Good question.
1:36
SPEAKER_04: I think that one of the pieces that has been really obvious for me this season is that education was a theme coming out of our common agenda process, like when we've revised it.
1:46
SPEAKER_04: But what was obvious from our guests this season is that our learning style is really important.
1:51
SPEAKER_04: So us as individuals, no matter where we are in our professional journey, our learning style is really important.
1:57
SPEAKER_04: So finding what works for you and then acknowledging oh my gosh, there's so many resources, so many ways to learn here in Lagosur.
2:07
SPEAKER_04: Ken, what is the thing that that you've learned this season?
2:10
SPEAKER_01: I learned, and this is kind of weird.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: And it goes from talking to people.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: And I think you need to talk to people.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: You know, the relationship building.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: Say it ain't so.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: What I learned from talking to people and and hearing their stories is how much deeper it goes than the surface stories.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: It tends to be that there's a story behind the story.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes there's a story behind that story.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: And there's so much that goes in, and you learn about people and you learn about how they got to where they are, and that's just been so fascinating to me.
2:46
SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's awesome.
2:47
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, really cool.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And speaking of guests, yes, we have some amazing.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we do.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: From Leadership Lancaster, Sarah Kimball is the program director, and Jennifer Diaz is the executive director, and they brought some great energy.
3:01
SPEAKER_04: And here we go.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: So, like what's next?
3:05
SPEAKER_01: You have like I just have something big coming up.
3:07
SPEAKER_03: Graduation for our core class.
3:09
SPEAKER_03: So our core class this year starts, they start in September.
3:12
SPEAKER_03: It's the nine-month flagship program.
3:14
SPEAKER_03: So we have about 63 graduates end of May.
3:19
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: 63.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Holy class.
3:23
SPEAKER_05: And that was just our core class.
3:24
SPEAKER_05: So I was doing, like I added up all of our for all of our programs for our fiscal year.
3:29
SPEAKER_05: Um, we're at 130 people that have gone through programming this year, which is really it kind of it's a little mind-boggling because it goes so fast when you're in it.
3:38
SPEAKER_05: But yeah, we can celebrate at the end of May.
3:40
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
3:43
SPEAKER_03: We're doing selection now for our new class that'll come in in September.
3:47
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
3:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:48
SPEAKER_04: And what was the name of the one that you combined with your core class?
3:51
SPEAKER_04: It was the seniors the encore account.
3:53
SPEAKER_04: Encore.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
3:55
SPEAKER_03: What are you gonna do in your encore, your second act of life?
3:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: Well then then let's just break into an icebreaker.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: And your icebreaker is you've met and trained all kinds of people, all kinds of leaders with different strengths and challenges.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: What is a quality that you're drawn to but don't possess?
4:16
SPEAKER_05: Do you want me to take this one first?
4:18
SPEAKER_05: Go ahead.
4:18
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
4:18
SPEAKER_05: And so this one, she didn't pay me to say this, but truly, I admire Jen just for her ability to be firm, make decisions, and do so in a way that is still honoring like the person and the people that you're working with.
4:33
SPEAKER_05: That it's not coming down as a dictatorship, but more of like a collaborative way to solve problems, come to a conclusion, and set the path forward.
4:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
4:44
SPEAKER_03: Mine is definitely I am a storyteller, I am an empath, I have zero data skills whatsoever.
4:50
SPEAKER_03: So leaders that can actually use data to create solutions to problems.
4:55
SPEAKER_03: I wish I had just a piece of that.
4:57
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's my I can hear you on that one.
5:00
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
5:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
5:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
5:01
SPEAKER_03: I feel my way through life in leadership, but yeah, you give me data, and I'm like, eh.
5:06
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, don't give me numbers and tables.
5:08
unknown: Nope.
5:09
SPEAKER_04: I like data in the form of stories.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: Which is why I still have a job.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: Woo! All right.
5:14
SPEAKER_04: We need all kinds.
5:16
SPEAKER_04: Very true.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: What's an early memory you have that ties you to leadership?
5:23
SPEAKER_01: Was there a specific leader when you were growing up that you went, oh, I want to be like that person?
5:28
SPEAKER_05: For me, for leadership, I think for a long time I didn't believe that I was a leader or that I could be a leader.
5:37
SPEAKER_05: And I think it's just been little pieces of people pouring into you and just recognizing how you do contribute, how you do lead, and that you can do it in different ways.
5:48
SPEAKER_05: We we actually asked a similar question with one of our committees with our board is when did you first think of yourself as a leader?
5:56
SPEAKER_05: And it's such a great question to ask people because a lot of times it ties back to an educator in their school experience.
6:03
SPEAKER_05: Sometimes it's related to sports, like they were a captain of a team.
6:06
SPEAKER_05: And for me, it was an educator.
6:08
SPEAKER_05: It was my sixth grade teacher saying, Sarah, like you have leadership skills.
6:11
SPEAKER_05: I was like, What are you talking about, Mr.
6:13
SPEAKER_05: Andrew?
6:14
SPEAKER_05: Which I believe he still teaches at Penn Manor.
6:16
SPEAKER_05: So shout out to Mr.
6:18
SPEAKER_05: Andrew at Penn Manor.
6:19
SPEAKER_05: But um, yeah, I just think sometimes it takes for me.
6:22
SPEAKER_05: It was just all these little people pouring into me over time that helped me realize what my talents were and how I could contribute to the greater good.
6:29
SPEAKER_03: So I just sparked something for me.
6:32
SPEAKER_03: So I was in 10th grade and I got called down to the principal's office, had no idea what was happening.
6:37
SPEAKER_03: And there was this week-long leadership camp.
6:39
SPEAKER_03: And I had been selected to go.
6:42
SPEAKER_03: And it was the first time in my life when I showed up and there were like 40 other people in the room.
6:45
SPEAKER_03: We spent a week together that I realized like leadership is something that you develop.
6:50
SPEAKER_03: Leadership is something that you can train, you can learn and grow in.
6:53
SPEAKER_03: And I think until that point, I never thought about the fact that you know you can lead, but there are ways that you can develop that skill set.
6:59
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
7:00
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the nature versus versus nurture.
7:02
SPEAKER_04: And that that's a concept or or attached to leadership at all.
7:06
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
7:06
SPEAKER_04: It's a fascinating process.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: What was an early memory that tied you to conservation?
7:13
SPEAKER_03: So growing up, my grandparents owned a farm up in Lycoming County.
7:17
SPEAKER_03: So I got to spend amazing summers on the farm helping pick things.
7:22
SPEAKER_03: There was an apple orchard, we grew vegetables, got to go to night market.
7:25
SPEAKER_03: I got to, I was the apple girl.
7:27
SPEAKER_03: So they would set me out in front of the stand, and I was responsible for cutting slices of the apple, and then I would draw you a bit because I was cute and young.
7:35
SPEAKER_03: And I would offer you a piece of apple, and then I'd convince you to buy a whole bushel because you could go home and make applesauce and all these great things.
7:41
SPEAKER_03: But I really developed this great respect for how we got our food.
7:45
SPEAKER_03: And I think it was when I was in elementary school and I was up at the farm, and I remember my parents and my grandparents talking about some of the farmers had been approached by developers that wanted to buy the land from them.
7:56
SPEAKER_03: And it was like that first time that I had this concept of, oh, there's there's other things that can happen on this land.
8:03
SPEAKER_03: And again, this idea of conservation and protecting the land, and what did that mean to us and what did it mean to them?
8:09
SPEAKER_03: Very cool.
8:10
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
8:11
SPEAKER_05: And for me, so I'm from Lancaster County.
8:14
SPEAKER_05: I grew up in Peckway, um, southern end of the county.
8:17
SPEAKER_05: And there's a couple I could tell so many stories of just being playing outside, running barefoot, climbing the trees.
8:23
SPEAKER_05: Sure.
8:24
SPEAKER_05: We lived less than a mile from what is now the Clark Nature Preserve.
8:28
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
8:29
SPEAKER_05: And probably about two hilly miles to Tuquan Glen Nature Preserve.
8:35
SPEAKER_05: And so we would just ride our bikes and just spend hours and hours like exploring, pretending we were like on an adventure somewhere out in the conservancy properties.
8:44
SPEAKER_05: And as a kid, we got Ranger Rick magazine.
8:47
SPEAKER_05: So just getting that in the mail was like this magical day.
8:50
SPEAKER_05: There's mail just for emails.
8:51
SPEAKER_05: You got me trying to the cute little raccoon.
8:54
SPEAKER_05: Probably the only time I'll say a raccoon is cute, but getting those.
8:59
SPEAKER_05: And my parents also owned, and a cabin is a very generous word for this.
9:05
SPEAKER_05: It was an old like hunting cabin in Sullivan County.
9:08
SPEAKER_05: So we growing up, we didn't have a ton of money, we didn't really travel, but that is a place that our family would go.
9:13
SPEAKER_05: And I have so many great memories tied to both Sullivan County, Lancaster County.
9:18
SPEAKER_05: And it was just a really lovely way.
9:20
SPEAKER_05: So like we didn't do extra extravagant vacations.
9:23
SPEAKER_05: We didn't go to Disney.
9:24
SPEAKER_05: We I didn't fly until I was an adult.
9:27
SPEAKER_05: But one of the things that I think my parents really gifted my sisters and I is this appreciation for the beauty and nature and just like the magic that exists too.
9:37
SPEAKER_05: That if you are patient, if you are curious, that you can kind of see this whole world unfold in front of you.
9:43
SPEAKER_05: And like we as humans are a piece of that too.
9:47
SPEAKER_05: So so many good memories tied to being outside as well.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
9:52
SPEAKER_05: As you said, what a gift.
9:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and the freedom to explore it.
9:54
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
9:55
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: And this is the third episode this season where Ranger Rick came into play.
10:00
SPEAKER_05: Really?
10:00
SPEAKER_05: Where's your sponsorship, sir?
10:02
SPEAKER_05: Where's the is this still a magazine today?
10:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: Riley Wildlife Federation.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: We'd love if you were to sponsor the next season over here.
10:13
SPEAKER_03: So many memories of that.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: This is a diversion, but picture pages.
10:16
SPEAKER_03: Did any of you do the picture pages?
10:17
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
10:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
10:18
SPEAKER_03: Okay, thank you.
10:19
SPEAKER_03: You're too young, Sarah.
10:21
SPEAKER_03: What is it with?
10:22
SPEAKER_03: Packet, and then it was, I think it was Bill Cosby.
10:25
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it was.
10:25
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
10:26
SPEAKER_03: For 15 minutes, you would have this worksheet and you were working in live time with somebody on TV.
10:31
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: I just thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
10:34
SPEAKER_04: Mo Willems did it during COVID.
10:35
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
10:37
SPEAKER_04: They were so good.
10:38
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
10:38
SPEAKER_04: And then he was like, oh, right, this is going to go on longer than I thought.
10:41
SPEAKER_04: We're doing a graduation ceremony and we're all done with those.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that song's gonna be stuck in my head for days.
10:52
SPEAKER_03: Sorry.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: That's not gonna help.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: So, like one of my favorite questions.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: I started doing this last season.
11:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm continuing it this season because I love this question.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: What did you want to be when you grew up?
11:09
SPEAKER_05: At one point, I wanted to be a marine biologist.
11:12
SPEAKER_05: I remember reading, I was in fourth grade, and I read this book about um like sea creatures and the fact that this is a career.
11:18
SPEAKER_05: You could like learn about them and understand.
11:20
SPEAKER_05: And then I kind of put together like water is involved.
11:23
SPEAKER_05: And I'm not a strong swimmer.
11:26
SPEAKER_05: I was like, well, that may not be the career for me.
11:29
SPEAKER_05: Um, but over time I wanted to be a fire investigator.
11:32
SPEAKER_05: I thought I wanted to be a photographer and journalist for National Geographic.
11:36
SPEAKER_05: And then ultimately, I really this is when I thought I really found it.
11:40
SPEAKER_05: My degree is psychology with a minor in criminology.
11:43
SPEAKER_05: And I thought I wanted to be like a really cool FBI agent, someone understanding the minds of criminals.
11:49
SPEAKER_05: And I I kind of put together, I was like, well, I am a sensitive person.
11:54
SPEAKER_05: I don't know that that's the right career field for me.
11:58
SPEAKER_05: Um recalculating, right, recalculating indeed.
12:02
SPEAKER_05: Um, and so what's what's kind of neat is my youngest sister, she's in the Air Force, and she her career field right now, she has kind of taken that path.
12:09
SPEAKER_05: So she's actually doing counterintelligence, which is really cool.
12:13
SPEAKER_05: So it's really cool to see her step into that instead of me.
12:19
SPEAKER_03: I wanted to be a Broadway star from the minute I was born.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:23
SPEAKER_03: My dad is a jazz musician, so we grew up with music in the house, and I remember from a very young age, I had this persona, my name was June Rock and Roll, that walk around the house and I would have my sunglasses on, and I had this big purple hat, and I would talk to my parents by their first names.
12:37
SPEAKER_03: And so I'd go up and I'd be like, Hello, Tom and Doreen.
12:40
SPEAKER_03: I have a show tonight, and my kids are like add pictures of this, and just that was incredible.
12:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:47
SPEAKER_03: So still I still sing, still play piano, haven't stepped into the Broadway stage, but at some point I'd love to even off, off, off, off Broadway, just have one moment on the stage.
12:58
SPEAKER_04: So we have this lovely place called the Fulton Theater.
13:00
SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
13:04
SPEAKER_03: I step in there and I just I can smell.
13:10
SPEAKER_04: That's wonderful.
13:12
SPEAKER_04: There's now gonna be a musical version of core class day two or whatever, you know.
13:18
SPEAKER_03: We just went to see Hairspray.
13:19
SPEAKER_03: Uh PNC Bank actually gave our alumni tickets.
13:22
SPEAKER_03: Oh, they did all I could do to stay in my seat.
13:25
SPEAKER_03: Did you all see it?
13:26
SPEAKER_03: It was incredible.
13:28
SPEAKER_03: But it just you can't uh yeah, and I was in the front row, so I was like, if anybody falls down, I am up there.
13:33
SPEAKER_03: I'm in.
13:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but you're prepared.
13:34
SPEAKER_03: He goes, What about you guys though?
13:37
SPEAKER_03: What were your first what did you guys want to do?
13:40
SPEAKER_04: I have a picture.
13:41
SPEAKER_04: I can I can picture the card sort of like you described that I wanted to be a marine biologist.
13:46
SPEAKER_04: So my mom got me a card with like a mermaid-looking girl and a dolphin and two are marine biologists.
13:52
SPEAKER_04: And then I went to camp at SeaWorld and realized that I I went to Texas and realized that the vets are the one that have all the power and decision making.
14:02
SPEAKER_04: And like you think it's the dolphin trainers, you think it's the people that no, it's the vets, and that requires a lot of school and a lot of technical that wasn't interested in.
14:11
SPEAKER_04: So yeah.
14:12
SPEAKER_04: And I'm not the detail person, I'm not the researcher that wants microscopes, I'm the big ecosystem thinker.
14:18
SPEAKER_04: So yeah.
14:20
SPEAKER_03: But connected to what you're doing now.
14:21
SPEAKER_03: That's very cool.
14:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
14:23
SPEAKER_04: Ken?
14:24
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to be a radio disc jockey.
14:27
SPEAKER_04: And look at you now.
14:29
SPEAKER_04: Glad we could help fulfill part of that for you.
14:32
SPEAKER_04: There you go.
14:33
SPEAKER_04: So we're curious how you went from there to Leadership Lancaster.
14:37
SPEAKER_04: What brought you along that journey?
14:39
unknown: Yeah.
14:39
SPEAKER_04: I'll let you go first, Jen.
14:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
14:41
SPEAKER_03: So I came to Lancaster by way of Millersville University, got a degree in social work.
14:45
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I thought I was gonna travel overseas somehow where I'd sing and also save lives.
14:50
SPEAKER_03: That was all part of the magic.
14:51
SPEAKER_03: And 30 years later, I'm still here.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: But I started working for a small nonprofit in Lancaster City at Bethel AME Church.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: And I realized I didn't know anybody, I didn't understand the community.
15:02
SPEAKER_03: When you're at Millersville, there's not that connection really of understanding the community.
15:06
SPEAKER_03: And somebody said to me, Hey, there's this program, Leadership Lancaster, you should apply.
15:10
SPEAKER_03: So when I was 25 years old, I applied and I went through our core class, which is still our flagship program to this day.
15:17
SPEAKER_03: And it truly was transformational.
15:18
SPEAKER_03: I'm not just saying that because I'm selling the program.
15:20
SPEAKER_03: I'm saying that because truly to go through this experience at the time we had 45 people in the program, that cohort experience with all these other leaders from all different industries.
15:30
SPEAKER_03: And then as you began to see all the systems in Lancaster County, and it suddenly made sense to me how it was all connected.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: And from there, I was able to truly step into community building.
15:39
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
15:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
15:40
SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
15:42
SPEAKER_05: And for me, after college, the degree psychology criminology, my initial job was working for a mental health organization.
15:50
SPEAKER_05: And I would help children, youth with mental health, behavioral health challenges or diagnosis.
15:56
SPEAKER_05: And so that was like my initial jump into the workforce.
16:00
SPEAKER_05: From there, I worked for an employee assistance program.
16:03
SPEAKER_05: And for a couple of years, I was an account manager.
16:05
SPEAKER_05: So really partnering closely with HR teams about how to support their employees and how to really get the biggest benefit or biggest use out of their EAP benefits that they had.
16:15
SPEAKER_06: Oh, thank you.
16:16
SPEAKER_06: Very fun.
16:18
SPEAKER_05: I can't even Oh, darn it.
16:21
SPEAKER_05: Employee assistance program.
16:23
SPEAKER_05: I was so confident that we were gonna nail the acronyms thing.
16:27
SPEAKER_05: Yes, employee assistance program.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: I hit the applause on the way over to the I was like, yay, oh, you really let me down.
16:35
SPEAKER_03: It's like a polar coast of emotion around here.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, we were saying Oh, that's okay.
16:42
SPEAKER_05: So I worked for an EAP employee assistance program.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: You can use that now at any time you can.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
16:46
SPEAKER_05: So it's like when you're writing, you put it in parentheses first.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: Exact same role, yep.
16:49
SPEAKER_05: Okay, perfect.
16:50
SPEAKER_05: So I worked for there, and while in that role, I got into doing training.
16:54
SPEAKER_05: I would go out to organizations and talk about the importance of mental health and just do workshops around stress in the workplace, anxiety, things like that.
17:03
SPEAKER_05: And I just sort of dipped my toe into leadership development at that point too.
17:07
SPEAKER_05: And so I started doing more and more work around um leadership development, emotional intelligence.
17:13
SPEAKER_05: And at the time, someone had recruited me from there.
17:17
SPEAKER_05: They saw me do a workshop and I went and uh stepped into training and development for an organization.
17:24
SPEAKER_05: And from from there, I got to work with Jen.
17:27
SPEAKER_05: And uh, I did go through leadership Lancaster as well.
17:29
SPEAKER_05: I graduated in 2024.
17:31
SPEAKER_05: And similar to Jen's experience, I went into the program thinking, I'm from Lancaster, I've lived here.
17:37
SPEAKER_05: Like, what else is there to possibly know?
17:40
SPEAKER_05: Like, I know Lancaster, it's awesome.
17:43
SPEAKER_05: But I learned so much, and similar to Jen, you start to once you go through the program, you really start to put pieces together, or you will link Arts and Culture Day to Health and Human Services Day and see how pieces connect and how all of these systems are happening and occurring at the same time, and just start to question and wonder how does this impact this other area over here?
18:03
SPEAKER_05: And how can we collectively work together to make it better?
18:07
SPEAKER_05: And so when the opportunity popped open at Leadership Lancaster, I jumped aboard.
18:12
SPEAKER_05: Nice.
18:12
SPEAKER_04: Awesome.
18:13
SPEAKER_04: And I think you nailed it with the way you just said how we collectively can make this better.
18:17
SPEAKER_04: That's a way of thinking in Lancaster that you just don't see everyone else.
18:21
SPEAKER_04: Right.
18:21
SPEAKER_04: It's a natural way of functioning.
18:24
SPEAKER_04: That I don't know that you can that nature versus nurture, I don't know if you can teach it completely.
18:29
SPEAKER_04: But Leadership Lancaster does introduce people to that and get them started thinking like that.
18:34
SPEAKER_04: So tell us more about the history of the organization.
18:36
SPEAKER_04: How did it come about?
18:38
SPEAKER_03: So we're over 40 years old, and it started actually by an idea with the Junior League of Lancaster and the Chamber.
18:43
SPEAKER_03: Oh.
18:44
SPEAKER_03: And the idea was, or the question was, how can we get more people involved in volunteering in the community?
18:49
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
18:49
SPEAKER_03: And so they kind of came around a table, and our flagship program, the core class, was really what came out of that.
18:55
SPEAKER_03: And so Leadership Lancaster was a program underneath the chamber for a number of years, and then in 2021, uh there are 501c3 and became our own nonprofit.
19:05
SPEAKER_03: We're still at the chamber, though, and have a very close relationship with them as well.
19:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:10
SPEAKER_04: So is it the same as Leadership York, Leadership Center County?
19:14
SPEAKER_04: Like, is there a another version somewhere else?
19:17
SPEAKER_03: It's a great question.
19:18
SPEAKER_03: Most counties have a version of it, but all are autonomously run.
19:23
SPEAKER_03: So they each have their own board of directors and each kind of have a different style for doing things in a different focus.
19:28
SPEAKER_03: There is a national leadership organization that kind of oversees it and maintains the brand, but each county really controls their mission and their programming.
19:38
SPEAKER_03: So for us, we have a new program that we just launched online called our Encore Academy, which is focused on the retirees in the community.
19:44
SPEAKER_03: When I talked to Una in Harrisburg to see if they had something similar, they don't, because there's not that influx of retirees.
19:51
SPEAKER_03: So they focus in different areas up there.
19:53
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
19:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
19:54
SPEAKER_03: But you all feed into the national organization?
19:57
SPEAKER_03: You can, absolutely.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: So there's uh affinity groups, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
20:01
SPEAKER_03: So as we were discovering this new program, we could reach out and talk to others throughout the United States that have done something similar.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:09
SPEAKER_03: It's very helpful.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, you mentioned the the the seniors, the retirees.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: So that's like one example, but what kind of audiences do you reach?
20:18
SPEAKER_01: And what is unique between adult audiences and children, like K 12, for example?
20:24
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
20:25
SPEAKER_05: So we we have programs that span from college-age students all the way through retirees.
20:30
SPEAKER_05: So there's College Core, there's the core program, which is what most people are familiar with, there's an executive class, and then Encore.
20:38
SPEAKER_05: Um, and so this is a great question because each of those audiences, they're gonna have different motivations, different needs, different things that they want out of the program.
20:49
SPEAKER_05: And we have to be very thoughtful about what each of those groups need or want.
20:55
SPEAKER_05: Um, and honestly, it's a learning process all the time for us.
20:58
SPEAKER_05: Like we're constantly assessing, constantly getting feedback from each of those groups to see like, are we hitting the mark?
21:04
SPEAKER_05: Are we missing it?
21:04
SPEAKER_05: Like what's not here that we should be addressing.
21:07
SPEAKER_05: But as far as K through 12, and I'm lucky that my husband is an educator.
21:12
SPEAKER_05: So he is someone that's great to bounce ideas off of.
21:15
SPEAKER_05: So when I go home at night, he's a K through 12 educator.
21:18
SPEAKER_05: He is.
21:18
SPEAKER_05: Okay, he's uh he's a middle school, he's a social studies teacher.
21:21
SPEAKER_05: So he he thinks he's this super cool social studies teacher.
21:25
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and he is.
21:28
SPEAKER_05: But yeah, so for our populations, for adults, most of them want to be there.
21:34
SPEAKER_05: So they're coming into the program really motivated, self-driven.
21:38
SPEAKER_05: They want to do an excellent job.
21:40
SPEAKER_05: And a big part of what we work on too, which may not be unique, I don't know.
21:45
SPEAKER_05: I'm I'm certainly not an educator at K through 12, but like we have a big focus too on identity and how you show up in a room and how you are making an impact on the people around you, whether that's positive or negative.
22:00
SPEAKER_05: And just being self-aware of how you're showing up.
22:02
SPEAKER_05: So I don't know if that answered your question, but yeah.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: It it does, it did actually, because all of them, as you mentioned, have have different uh different needs at different points.
22:13
SPEAKER_05: Well, and as adults too, like I think sometimes like we are simply facilitators.
22:17
SPEAKER_05: Like we're not necessarily the experts depending on the day and and what we're talking about.
22:22
SPEAKER_05: And so a lot of times, like I view our role as coming in and just creating the environment that people can also learn from each other, that there's going to be people in that room that have the experience, the knowledge to share with others.
22:36
SPEAKER_05: So if we can create that environment that people are open and vulnerable, comfortable asking questions, comfortable sharing their own experience, like there's beauty in that too.
22:46
SPEAKER_05: That absolutely.
22:47
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
22:48
SPEAKER_05: They're learning from each other as much as they're learning content.
22:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:51
SPEAKER_03: I'm curious, your leadership program, do you delve into K through 12?
22:55
SPEAKER_03: Are you adult-based?
22:56
SPEAKER_04: Our Watershed Leadership Academy is just adult-based.
22:59
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
22:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
22:59
SPEAKER_04: So for professionals as well.
23:01
SPEAKER_04: I'm curious though, jumping around a little bit, how do you all find the newest resources, the newest research about adult learners?
23:09
SPEAKER_04: Like how to teach people at different points in their career.
23:12
SPEAKER_04: How do you address different learning styles of people who, like you said, are driven, want to be there, and then other people who are like, okay, my boss told me I have to go on the door.
23:22
SPEAKER_04: I was going to have people.
23:23
SPEAKER_04: I have the audience.
23:24
SPEAKER_03: Guess who your boss was that told her she had to go?
23:28
SPEAKER_04: No, it wasn't you.
23:33
SPEAKER_04: I think your point is well made that your husband, K through 12, they have all the training days.
23:38
SPEAKER_04: You have to get a certification.
23:40
SPEAKER_04: But there is such power and skill in what you guys do of educating professionals.
23:45
SPEAKER_04: It's a different type of research.
23:47
SPEAKER_04: So how do you find the newest, the latest, and the greatest?
23:50
SPEAKER_03: Well I love what you said is like we don't have to be subject matter experts, but we're great at finding the subject matter experts.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: So a lot of what we do is we pull in people with that new information, that knowledge, different teaching styles, so that if you're like us, you and I, and and we like story-based learning, there'll be sessions that you'll really relate to more.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: And then there's also the data-driven people in the room.
24:12
SPEAKER_03: And we intentionally really create classes that are super diverse.
24:16
SPEAKER_03: And so we make sure that we touch on all those different kinds of learning styles to make sure that everybody has the ability to take away what they need from it.
24:24
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
24:24
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
24:25
SPEAKER_04: One of our other guests this season was Tom Ackerman with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
24:29
SPEAKER_04: So he talked about using the environment as an integrating context.
24:33
SPEAKER_04: And so if you're an English teacher for sixth graders, how do you use the environment or conservation as a way to teach what you have to for the standards?
24:41
SPEAKER_04: So thinking of that in an adult form, it's kind of the same.
24:45
SPEAKER_04: Like I'm latching onto your use of identity.
24:48
SPEAKER_04: And that's something I'm hearing you say runs through your sessions.
24:52
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
24:53
SPEAKER_05: Well, and I think too, like when we we look at a session and we're developing content and the program for that day, I think there are so many pieces that we are trying to be thoughtful of.
25:03
SPEAKER_05: And one is like lecturing to them is not the most effective way.
25:07
SPEAKER_05: Like, yes, we do like a little bit of a presentation so they have at least a base level knowledge, but I think we really we try and ask them questions.
25:16
SPEAKER_05: We try and get them thinking, we try and give them hands-on practical tools to either take and use immediately or to better understand the larger challenge that we're we're looking at.
25:27
SPEAKER_05: So I'm thinking, Jen, like Health and Human Services Day.
25:29
SPEAKER_03: I was just going there.
25:30
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
25:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
25:31
SPEAKER_05: So Health and Human Services Day.
25:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
25:34
SPEAKER_05: I don't want to give too much away.
25:37
SPEAKER_05: But basically, we send them out into the community so that they can understand if they have not had the experience of having to need community-based services.
25:45
SPEAKER_05: Like, where do you go?
25:47
SPEAKER_05: How do you find help?
25:48
SPEAKER_05: If you have limited resources or time, how do you navigate transportation and getting to a job, picking up your kids, finding childcare?
25:55
SPEAKER_05: Like, how do you navigate all of those things so that they have a level of empathy related to the problem?
26:01
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's what we've discovered.
26:03
SPEAKER_03: The only way that you move people to action in anything is developing that empathy and understanding.
26:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: And especially experiential learning is the best way to do that.
26:12
SPEAKER_05: I love listening into thought leaders in the space of leadership.
26:16
SPEAKER_05: So like I know I'm a big fan of Adam Grant.
26:18
SPEAKER_05: He's an organizational psychologist.
26:20
SPEAKER_05: Brene Brown is another one.
26:22
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
26:23
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
26:25
SPEAKER_03: It's been so.
26:27
SPEAKER_03: Well, so apparently they kind of had a a falling out of four years ago.
26:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
26:31
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
26:32
SPEAKER_03: And just recently have now started traveling around together and doing podcasts, which I think is really cool.
26:37
SPEAKER_03: That you know, you can still show up in rooms together and disagree about things, but still want to move things forward.
26:43
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
26:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
26:45
SPEAKER_04: We mentioned that that collaborative and collective way of thinking is just kind of how Lancaster operates.
26:50
SPEAKER_04: So give us your version, I suppose, of why does Lancaster need this?
26:55
SPEAKER_04: Why does Lancaster need leadership Lancaster?
26:58
SPEAKER_03: A couple things.
26:59
SPEAKER_03: We focus on community and collaboration throughout the program.
27:04
SPEAKER_03: Right.
27:04
SPEAKER_03: And I think a lot of just leadership programs, it's very self-focused.
27:08
SPEAKER_03: And we certainly do focus on that as well.
27:11
SPEAKER_03: We have a very intentional focus on what we call holistic leadership.
27:14
SPEAKER_03: That if you are not rooted in health, if you are not leading from a place of health, it does us no good to run you through a program and stick you back out in the community.
27:21
SPEAKER_03: So we really intentionally focus on making sure you from a mental, emotional, spiritual, physical that we're paying attention to that throughout the nine months.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: But then there's that community piece.
27:30
SPEAKER_03: So each of our 12 sessions, you're focusing on a different system.
27:34
SPEAKER_03: So it could be education, it could be public policy, it could be arts and culture, health and human services.
27:39
SPEAKER_03: And so you're getting to see the entire community as a whole and being able to see um things that you were never exposed to in a lot of cases.
27:47
SPEAKER_03: And we hear this feedback from our participants.
27:49
SPEAKER_03: I've never been exposed to this, but I really think I have a passion for it.
27:53
SPEAKER_03: And it really helps that community collaboration because then they're stepping into these spaces where we need people to step up.
27:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
28:00
SPEAKER_04: And they may not have even known it existed.
28:02
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
28:03
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
28:03
SPEAKER_05: And what I think speaks to that too is that we we partner closely with a lot of organizations and often nonprofits.
28:10
SPEAKER_05: And a lot of times they are more than willing to help and come share their message and what they do.
28:15
SPEAKER_05: And we have heard it and it's not planted, but even like they will share to our classes that like Lancaster County is collaborative.
28:22
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
28:22
SPEAKER_05: And it's very unique.
28:24
SPEAKER_05: So it's, I think that's really powerful too, when they're hearing it multiple times from multiple people and different areas of community as well, that it's just getting reinforced every time.
28:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
28:34
SPEAKER_03: When I think by design, our participants are so different and from different for for-profit, nonprofit, different industries that when you get in that room, you never would have met that person necessarily.
28:45
SPEAKER_03: But when you build those rich relationships, and then that's what continues that collaboration once you're on the other side.
28:50
SPEAKER_03: Like, oh, I know so-and-so from Fulton Bank, and I can call him because I'm looking at X, Y, and Z.
28:56
SPEAKER_03: And it's just those relationships that drive collaboration forward.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: And we established a little bit earlier that Jen definitely did not force Sarah to go through leadership license.
29:06
SPEAKER_05: I did her.
29:07
SPEAKER_05: I did her, though.
29:09
SPEAKER_05: She did.
29:09
SPEAKER_05: She supported me in my decision.
29:13
SPEAKER_05: She was not the one forcing me to go.
29:16
SPEAKER_03: I do remember you saying though, I've grown up here my whole life.
29:18
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, trust me, this is going to be life-changing for you.
29:21
SPEAKER_05: And I was delighted to be wrong.
29:24
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: So with that in mind, I mean, what what have you heard are reasons why a company would pay for their employees to go through this process?
29:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_03: Again, I think there is a piece of this that businesses understand if you feel rooted and connected to a community, you are so much more likely to stay in the area.
29:44
SPEAKER_03: And we start that with our college core class.
29:46
SPEAKER_03: And really the root of that is if you feel after four years here that you're a part of this community, you're going to keep your talents here.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: And that's what we want you to do.
29:54
SPEAKER_03: And as you move through our continuum, all the way up to being a retiree, I think that's one of the big reasons we hear from businesses.
30:01
SPEAKER_03: It's that network that they're building.
30:02
SPEAKER_03: And it's also those interpersonal leadership skills.
30:06
SPEAKER_03: We have uh specifically the construction community typically sends their young project managers through our program.
30:13
SPEAKER_03: And one of the reasons that I've heard is that you have these project managers that are fresh out of college and they are very book smart, but they just aren't ready from a relational standpoint.
30:23
SPEAKER_03: And the construction can be a challenging communication skill that you have to develop.
30:28
SPEAKER_03: And so going through the nine months of our program on the other side, they've really built up some of those skills as well.
30:33
SPEAKER_03: That confidence builder is huge.
30:35
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
30:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
30:37
SPEAKER_03: It's so interesting because we we have an opening retreat and people walk into that room, and I remember this day too.
30:42
SPEAKER_03: You walk in and you look around, you're like, why am I here?
30:45
SPEAKER_03: Why am I I don't know?
30:46
SPEAKER_05: I don't belong here.
30:47
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
30:47
SPEAKER_03: And we address that right away.
30:49
SPEAKER_03: Like, trust me, by the end.
30:50
SPEAKER_03: But to watch that evolution of confidence by the end of the program is makes it so worth it to do this.
30:56
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: That is so cool.
30:58
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: That's one of the things that I learned through Lexure Watershed Leadership Academy is just that there's a network within everything we do.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: Like Lancashire has a gigantic network.
31:10
SPEAKER_01: And you talk about building building those networks.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: And with that in mind, how do you link in the conservation and watershed educational portion of that?
31:24
SPEAKER_01: Because that's a whole different network itself into your curriculum.
31:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
31:29
SPEAKER_03: It didn't used to exist.
31:30
SPEAKER_03: And then Sarah came on board.
31:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
31:33
SPEAKER_05: So when I went through the core class, this was a piece I just felt there's so much happening in this space of sustainability, conservation, like the environment, and being conscious of all of that.
31:45
SPEAKER_05: And I just felt like it was a missing piece to my experience.
31:47
SPEAKER_05: Like I wish I would have been able to dig in and learn more.
31:51
SPEAKER_05: And so that was something I brought to Jen.
31:53
SPEAKER_05: And Jen was amazing and was like, yep, let's do it.
31:55
SPEAKER_05: Let's figure it out.
31:56
SPEAKER_05: And so we did.
31:58
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
31:58
SPEAKER_05: And so my first year, I guess our first year together, that was a component that we added.
32:04
SPEAKER_05: We sort of rearranged what the schedule looked like to make it happen.
32:07
SPEAKER_05: And it was really exciting.
32:08
SPEAKER_05: So we we brought together, we built a whole day around environment and sustainability, and clean water is absolutely part of that because water is what is kind of connecting everything together.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: So what has been the reaction to that from the students go through it?
32:22
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, overall, I think very positive.
32:24
SPEAKER_05: I think people don't realize, and even I didn't realize until I met Allison, like that our waterways were so are severely impaired, and that there's a lot of contributing factors to that.
32:35
SPEAKER_05: And just the amount of work and effort that has been happening is amazing.
32:39
SPEAKER_05: And the fact that we have so many committed partners and organizations doing the work is great.
32:45
SPEAKER_03: I think that's the biggest feedback that I've heard from people is not having any idea how many people are working in this space and working together.
32:52
SPEAKER_03: So we bring in as many people as we can during that day and they talk about, oh, we've been working on this, we've been working on that together.
32:59
SPEAKER_03: And it's been really eye-opening, I think, to a lot of people to understand the breadth of that collaboration that's happening.
33:05
SPEAKER_04: I've appreciate the invitation to be part of that.
33:07
SPEAKER_04: And at the most recent one, I remember being very blunt saying, I know some of you work for banks, construction companies.
33:14
SPEAKER_04: I was like, we need finance people, we need marketing people in conservation.
33:18
SPEAKER_04: So leaving space for those organizations to talk about how they work together, but it may not be the top headline, but that we need all of that and all those experiences connected.
33:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
33:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
33:31
SPEAKER_03: Well, one of the greatest evolutions of that day, because this is our second year doing it, and you were there this year, is we added our Encore Academy retirees to that day.
33:39
SPEAKER_03: So it was our first crossover.
33:41
SPEAKER_03: And we specifically picked that day because conservation efforts have changed so drastically.
33:46
SPEAKER_03: So to be able to have different ages of people talking about what conservation used to mean, what it means now, what it'll look like in the future.
33:53
SPEAKER_03: And next year, the plan is to bring in our college core for that day too.
33:57
SPEAKER_03: So we'll literally have the span from 20 to 75, 80 talking around this issue.
34:03
SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
34:04
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, fantastic.
34:06
SPEAKER_04: You mentioned that experiential education.
34:09
SPEAKER_04: How does that factor in with the use of your topics day by day?
34:13
SPEAKER_04: I mean, the environment, you can go to climbers run, you can go outside.
34:17
SPEAKER_04: How do your participants react to that component of it?
34:21
SPEAKER_04: And I know you do that in all days, but yes.
34:24
SPEAKER_05: Um, so I think for and as much as like I wish we could take people kayaking or biking, and there's just so many factors around that and safety, um, especially with a really big group.
34:35
SPEAKER_05: But for all of our program days, we try and have an element of like that experiential where you're you're getting a taste of what it might be like to do that work or to understand that problem.
34:47
SPEAKER_05: Um, and so for environment and sustainability this year, we partnered with the Conservancy, Keith Williams, the core class.
34:53
SPEAKER_05: Like they loved Keith.
34:54
SPEAKER_05: I don't know if that's like unique to our class.
34:57
SPEAKER_05: Everyone just loves Keith, but he's like, Keith is just that cool.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: That cool, yes.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, uh, the journals were like, I could have listened to him all day.
35:06
SPEAKER_05: But he, for an example, he took them on like a guided hike that was really short, very accessible to all different skill levels and abilities, just to take a moment to like what it's like to stop and notice, identified a few key either plants or animals that they happen to see while they're on their walk.
35:23
SPEAKER_05: But depending on the day, it just looks a little different.
35:25
SPEAKER_05: We just try and bring that topic really to life.
35:28
SPEAKER_05: So it's more of a real-world experience versus like a textbook or hearing a presentation.
35:36
SPEAKER_03: And we always do a follow-up journal after our days, and for that day in particular, there were so many people that said, I needed that reminder to get outside and take time to just observe what's around me and that they were gonna implement that.
35:48
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, it's so simple.
35:50
SPEAKER_03: And yet we don't have powerful.
35:53
SPEAKER_05: And what's really cool, at least for me from a programming side, is to see how the days link together.
35:59
SPEAKER_05: So, like, that's a day, environment and sustainability like easily links for me, like arts and culture and even like health and human services.
36:07
SPEAKER_05: Like those three days to me are so interconnected.
36:10
SPEAKER_05: Because if you can create and build communities where there's green space, there's blue space that is easily accessible, like just the fact that like people can go and look at water and it's lowering their cortisol levels, like lowering their stress levels.
36:25
SPEAKER_05: Like, imagine what that could do at scale and how it all kind of circles back.
36:29
SPEAKER_05: And similar to arts and culture, I think the waterways, the creeks, do you say creek or crick?
36:35
SPEAKER_05: I'm a creek person.
36:37
SPEAKER_05: Okay, just curious.
36:38
SPEAKER_05: So, like I'm this is not a test.
36:41
SPEAKER_05: My mom would say crick, but I say creek.
36:44
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
36:45
SPEAKER_05: But anyway, I digress.
36:46
SPEAKER_05: It's just it's all connected, and the fact that like linking that back to health and human services, and how can you expose these elements to individuals who may not have that access to improve their their livelihood too?
36:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the people in the class most recently that I asked what they remembered, and every single group said that they had no idea that there were sewage overflows that happened and how many of our waterways are impaired.
37:12
SPEAKER_04: So they like the data.
37:13
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
37:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Jen.
37:15
SPEAKER_04: But I know data's a hook for some.
37:17
SPEAKER_04: It is.
37:18
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, and I recognize that.
37:20
SPEAKER_04: That sticks, and then you want to go get the story.
37:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
37:22
SPEAKER_04: You want to understand why or how can I make it better.
37:25
SPEAKER_04: So, how do you guys keep action?
37:27
SPEAKER_04: You mentioned action projects that you all do.
37:30
SPEAKER_04: Can you share with us a little bit about how you take that content or experience and turn it to action?
37:36
SPEAKER_03: So I'll let you take it.
37:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:37
SPEAKER_03: Well, before we I'll jump back to that, but I do have to ask you because there was one statistic that kept coming up in the journals, and it was something about if you run your dishwasher and shower, was that what do you provide that stat?
37:48
SPEAKER_03: And what was it?
37:49
SPEAKER_03: Because I'm dying to know.
37:50
SPEAKER_04: I don't know that it was a stat, but they all said they remembered knowing or finding out that there were uh sewage treatment plant overflows or or combined sewer overflows.
38:01
SPEAKER_04: Uh and they didn't realize that happened here.
38:03
SPEAKER_04: And I said, Well, do you know how you can help reduce that or reduce the pressure on that?
38:08
SPEAKER_04: And they're like, No.
38:09
SPEAKER_04: I said, Don't take a shower and don't wash your dishes when it rains.
38:13
SPEAKER_04: Well, I have a well, so with an impact.
38:16
SPEAKER_04: But it's not about the water supply, it's about the wastewater.
38:19
SPEAKER_04: It's about what goes down your sink because everything you put down the sink gets combined with everything on the street, and that puts the pressure on the water treatment plant.
38:28
SPEAKER_04: It's not the it's not the water coming out of your faucet, it's the water going down the drain.
38:33
SPEAKER_03: Interesting.
38:33
SPEAKER_03: Because they came up in multiple journeys that they were just fascinated by that fact.
38:36
SPEAKER_03: So I'm just letting you know that yes, it's stuck.
38:39
SPEAKER_03: But back to our how are they implementing it?
38:42
SPEAKER_03: So we have what are called community action projects or teams, but they do a project.
38:47
SPEAKER_03: And historically, when I went through Leadership Lancaster, it was kind of a theoretical.
38:51
SPEAKER_03: So it would be um come up with a solution to something around conservation or come up with a marketing plan for downtown Lancaster.
38:58
SPEAKER_03: And that was what my project was.
39:00
SPEAKER_03: And then you kind of spent nine months with a small group and you developed a solution to this theoretical problem, but it never went anywhere.
39:07
SPEAKER_03: And so when uh Sarah came on board, I had heard from actually Leadership Harrisburg that they partnered with actual nonprofits to solve real world problems.
39:16
SPEAKER_03: And so brought it back to the team.
39:18
SPEAKER_03: Sarah's fresh on board, we're ready to launch in two months.
39:21
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, here's what I think we should do.
39:23
SPEAKER_03: And they went, okay, let's go.
39:25
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, they did two months.
39:28
SPEAKER_03: So we now partner with 10 different nonprofits.
39:30
SPEAKER_03: We have small groups of about seven or eight, and they sit with these nonprofits and they talk about okay, what what problem can we help you solve?
39:37
SPEAKER_03: And can you imagine, as a nonprofit that doesn't have a lot of funding, that may be short staffed, to have seven or eight leaders in different industries that are willing to step up and solve the problem for you has been such a game changer and they take it so seriously.
39:52
SPEAKER_05: And often these these groups, they're wanting more.
39:55
SPEAKER_05: They're like, we feel like we didn't do enough.
39:57
SPEAKER_05: Like they they are so motivated to do a great job for these nonprofits.
40:01
SPEAKER_05: It's impressive.
40:02
SPEAKER_03: There was a group that was working on garden boxes and they're still working on it for the YMCA, but had someone that was in construction.
40:09
SPEAKER_03: So he had framed out and had these architectural drawings of what things were gonna look like.
40:13
SPEAKER_03: Somebody was helping to apply for permits.
40:15
SPEAKER_05: Like it was a tool drive, like a tool donation drive.
40:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:19
SPEAKER_05: It's amazing.
40:20
SPEAKER_05: Next level.
40:21
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:21
SPEAKER_05: So that's how they apply it in.
40:22
SPEAKER_05: Put a plug if there's any nonprofits in the Lancaster community that are looking for that.
40:27
SPEAKER_05: That RFP is gonna be open in June.
40:30
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
40:30
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
40:31
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
40:31
SPEAKER_05: Put that in the newsletter.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: Similar to that, I mean, we've talked about uh Watershed Leadership Academy several times in this.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: So there are obvious some overlaps in how we're bringing up the next leaders.
40:43
SPEAKER_01: And one of our values is collaboration, not duplication.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: So what do you think is one of the best ways to not step on each other's toes?
40:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:52
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I think, I mean, for me, what I immediately thought of is we can easily like if there are people in our core class that this was a topic that sparked something for them, like this is your next step.
41:03
SPEAKER_05: So we do a closing retreat with with all of our groups, but this could easily be like if you're interested in this and you're passionate about it, like go do it.
41:12
SPEAKER_05: This is a great opportunity to dig in and learn more and still continue to work on yourself and develop as a leader.
41:17
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:19
SPEAKER_03: And I think it's just having these open conversations, right?
41:22
SPEAKER_03: Not doing things in a silo, making sure that we're all in the room having conversations about what we're each doing.
41:27
SPEAKER_03: There is enough work to go around, I promise you.
41:29
SPEAKER_03: It's just making sure that we all know where everybody is and who's subject matter expert in this, and then making sure we all support each other in those efforts.
41:37
SPEAKER_04: I think you guys said something important too, that you don't burn people out like you're aware of who's been tapped to be a speaker a lot.
41:43
SPEAKER_04: Or what event space has already been visited so many times, like that awareness and empathy is so, so important.
41:51
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
41:51
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
41:52
SPEAKER_05: And we're even trying to be more aware of where we're hosting some of the sessions too.
41:57
SPEAKER_05: And I think historically, just because there's a lot happening downtown, but we're looking for ways to continue to grow to maybe get to the parts of the county that maybe historically haven't got up in a lot of shine and just or haven't been for a while.
42:11
SPEAKER_05: Um, so just making sure we're engaging those communities as well.
42:14
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
42:15
SPEAKER_04: So 2026 marks the first year beyond a deadline that was associated with the Chesapeake Bay Agreement.
42:21
SPEAKER_04: So that has things tied to nutrient and sediment reductions.
42:24
SPEAKER_04: Every state has their goals.
42:25
SPEAKER_04: In Lancaster, we've been looking at this collective goal of cleaning clear by 2040.
42:29
SPEAKER_04: So long beyond 2025.
42:31
SPEAKER_04: But what brings you excitement about that beyond 2025?
42:36
SPEAKER_04: Because we're all working on these clean water things that they don't know deadlines, they don't know political boundaries.
42:40
SPEAKER_04: And so, yeah, what are some of the things you're excited about?
42:44
SPEAKER_03: I I will tell you what I'm really excited about is we are expanding our college core class.
42:49
SPEAKER_03: We are partnering with FM and PCAD.
42:51
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
42:52
SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna have to do that.
42:53
SPEAKER_03: What is that one?
42:56
SPEAKER_03: Pennsylvania.
42:57
SPEAKER_03: So I do need to give them shine because they're amazing.
42:59
SPEAKER_03: Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
43:01
SPEAKER_03: So Franklin and Marshall, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
43:04
SPEAKER_03: And they want to focus on their freshmen coming in to really help them understand and feel rooted in the community.
43:10
SPEAKER_03: But I went to a dinner about four months ago and it was hosted by Franklin and Marshall.
43:15
SPEAKER_03: And once they heard who I was, I can't tell you.
43:19
SPEAKER_03: I was flooded by these college students coming up and saying, Hey, we want to get involved with a food bank.
43:24
SPEAKER_03: Can you help me here?
43:24
SPEAKER_03: Or could we set up coffee?
43:26
SPEAKER_03: I really this generation coming up truly wants to get involved.
43:30
SPEAKER_03: And I can't tell you how excited that makes me because I am very concerned.
43:34
SPEAKER_03: We have leaders in Lancaster County who have been holding up the sky for some time.
43:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
43:39
SPEAKER_03: And they are burned out and they are stressed out, and it's not sustainable.
43:43
SPEAKER_03: And so we need that next generation to come in.
43:46
SPEAKER_03: And I'm telling you, they are there, and we cannot wait to help with our part and then to pass them on to you and get them, you know, invested in all the things happening in this community.
43:55
SPEAKER_05: And I'll just add, even from an individual business standpoint, the fact That we're focusing on cleaning up our waterways and the impact that has on outdoor recreation and the economy that that brings, and it makes for a better well-being and a just a greater community for someone to want to work, live, and play.
44:13
SPEAKER_05: Like that's huge.
44:14
SPEAKER_05: That's huge.
44:15
SPEAKER_05: So round of applause.
44:22
SPEAKER_04: Depend on it.
44:23
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
44:23
SPEAKER_04: We celebrate a lot.
44:26
SPEAKER_06: We do.
44:29
SPEAKER_01: Well, that of course then brings us to my favorite part of the show.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: And that is trivia time.
44:35
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I forgot about.
44:36
SPEAKER_05: See, this is where you need the martinis to come out.
44:40
SPEAKER_05: New edition, season six.
44:41
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
44:42
SPEAKER_05: Or trivia night.
44:43
SPEAKER_05: You can have a trivia night with all your pots.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: For those who are listening, I'm already drinking a martini.
44:47
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
44:48
SPEAKER_01: They're just jealous that I'm that I have a martini.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: So we've been talking about it for almost an hour now.
44:56
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do a little trivia about later.
44:59
SPEAKER_05: Uh-oh.
44:59
SPEAKER_05: Oh boy.
45:00
SPEAKER_05: Uh-oh.
45:01
SPEAKER_01: You'll be fine.
45:02
SPEAKER_01: It's all good.
45:02
SPEAKER_05: My husband's history knowledge will pay off.
45:05
SPEAKER_05: This means y'all be listening.
45:06
SPEAKER_05: Your dinner time time.
45:08
SPEAKER_03: The yellow, the yellow pie.
45:09
SPEAKER_03: Which one was this?
45:10
SPEAKER_03: Yellow pie.
45:11
SPEAKER_03: Remember in tribute pie.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: That was political, something political.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: It's orange.
45:18
SPEAKER_03: I'm just looking.
45:20
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: We'll start out with this.
45:23
SPEAKER_01: This leader of the Continental Army owned more than 50,000 acres and was an ardent promoter of westward expansion.
45:34
SPEAKER_05: I mean, leader of the Continental Army, George Washington.
45:38
SPEAKER_05: That is absolutely correct.
45:39
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
45:40
SPEAKER_05: Well.
45:41
SPEAKER_01: See, we're starting off well.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: Very good.
45:43
SPEAKER_05: I listened to him, I swear.
45:44
SPEAKER_05: I listened to him.
45:47
SPEAKER_03: I would like cooking for 500, Alex.
45:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay, leader trivia for 200 it is.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: The 2012 London Olympics opened with a surprise film where this leader made her acting debut alongside Daniel Craig's James Bond.
46:06
SPEAKER_03: Oh no.
46:07
SPEAKER_03: Who was the Bond girl?
46:09
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
46:10
SPEAKER_01: Remember, this is a leader.
46:12
SPEAKER_01: It was the London Olympics.
46:15
SPEAKER_03: The Queen?
46:18
SPEAKER_01: It was indeed Queen Elizabeth II, yes.
46:21
SPEAKER_04: If she was a Bond girl.
46:23
SPEAKER_04: Oh man.
46:23
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
46:26
SPEAKER_01: Before he accepted his leadership role, this Pope, I kid you not, this Pope was a nightclub bouncer in Buenos Aires.
46:35
SPEAKER_05: Wait, the new Pope?
46:36
SPEAKER_05: Pope Francis?
46:37
SPEAKER_01: It is Pope Francis.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
46:41
SPEAKER_01: This was the only American president to receive a patent.
46:45
SPEAKER_01: Ooh.
46:47
SPEAKER_01: I just went, ooh, because I thought that'd be a patent.
46:51
SPEAKER_05: Can we get a decade?
46:53
SPEAKER_05: 1848.
46:56
SPEAKER_05: Abraham Lincoln.
46:57
SPEAKER_01: It was in fact Abraham Lincoln.
46:59
SPEAKER_05: Again, the husband paying off.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: I hope he listens to this because that's, you know, I'll send it his way.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: What's the flag?
47:10
SPEAKER_05: What was the patent for?
47:12
SPEAKER_01: He designed and patented an inflatable bellows that could be attached to a ship's hull to lift it over sandbars.
47:19
SPEAKER_05: Oh yes, he did.
47:20
SPEAKER_05: Very interesting.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: He was a Renaissance man.
47:23
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you what.
47:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, seriously.
47:27
SPEAKER_01: This leader is the first British monarch to hold a university degree.
47:33
SPEAKER_03: Charles?
47:34
SPEAKER_01: It's King Charles, yeah.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: Very good.
47:37
SPEAKER_03: Every once in a while.
47:40
SPEAKER_01: Which businessman revolutionized the automobile industry when he introduced the production line concept back in 1913?
47:47
SPEAKER_05: Henry Ford.
47:48
SPEAKER_01: It is Henry Ford.
47:50
SPEAKER_05: The 40-hour work week, right?
47:52
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that is also true, yeah.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: Now, since you're both leaders, these next few questions are specifically for you guys.
47:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh oh.
47:59
SPEAKER_01: We don't know these.
48:01
SPEAKER_01: Sarah, you often noticed, you know, before you had kids, you did a lot of cool things.
48:05
SPEAKER_01: But you're doing a lot of cool things now with your kids.
48:07
SPEAKER_05: It's just different, yeah.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: And your your kids, you mentioned love Bluey.
48:11
SPEAKER_01: What are the names of Bluey's parents?
48:13
SPEAKER_05: Bandit and Chili.
48:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're absolutely correct.
48:16
SPEAKER_05: Chili's my girl.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: Just off the record, then, do you know what their professions are?
48:23
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I believe one of them is like an archaeologist.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: That's Bandit.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
48:28
SPEAKER_05: And the mom.
48:29
SPEAKER_05: She has like a really great career too.
48:31
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
48:32
SPEAKER_05: Um.
48:34
SPEAKER_05: Is she an like an architect?
48:36
SPEAKER_01: No, she does part-time security at the airport.
48:40
SPEAKER_01: Here's the funny thing, it's very on brand.
48:42
SPEAKER_01: She's a drug-sniffing dog and he digs up bones.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: Clever.
48:48
SPEAKER_04: Such a great job.
48:49
SPEAKER_04: Clever is a good word for that.
48:52
SPEAKER_01: You both noted that you like reading and getting active.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: So as of yesterday, what book tops the New York Times bestseller list?
49:02
SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh.
49:04
SPEAKER_01: It has spent 21 weeks on the list.
49:06
SPEAKER_03: Oh boy.
49:08
SPEAKER_05: I'm not that avid.
49:12
SPEAKER_05: Oh, is it fiction, nonfiction?
49:14
SPEAKER_05: Can we get it?
49:14
SPEAKER_03: It is fiction.
49:15
SPEAKER_03: Okay, fiction.
49:18
SPEAKER_03: Is it an Oprah or a Reese Witherspoon?
49:22
SPEAKER_03: From their list.
49:23
SPEAKER_03: Jenna?
49:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
49:25
SPEAKER_05: I I don't know.
49:26
SPEAKER_05: I don't know either.
49:30
SPEAKER_01: Theo of Golden by Alan Levi.
49:32
SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's one I have not heard of.
49:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:34
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: I hadn't heard of it either.
49:36
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
49:37
SPEAKER_01: I feel a little better now.
49:38
SPEAKER_03: Well, I don't know.
49:39
SPEAKER_03: That buzzer hurt my feelings a little bit.
49:41
SPEAKER_03: No, we never lose that.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: Now is the time to come back around.
49:45
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
49:46
SPEAKER_01: According to the American College of Sports Medicine, what is currently the top fitness trend in America?
49:52
SPEAKER_01: It is not a specific workout or diet.
49:56
SPEAKER_05: Like wearables, like you can track You got it.
49:59
SPEAKER_01: It is where wearable fitness technology.
50:02
SPEAKER_05: I'll tell you a story then.
50:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the rings are about them.
50:08
SPEAKER_01: And finally, Jen, you noted that you love endorance sports, everything from half marathons to triathlons, which I will never do.
50:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh and you're leaving on the third to go walk the Camino Primitivo in Spain.
50:22
SPEAKER_01: What does Camino Primitivo translate to?
50:26
SPEAKER_01: What's the original path?
50:29
SPEAKER_01: It is yeah, the original path of the original life.
50:31
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
50:32
SPEAKER_01: You guys killed it.
50:33
SPEAKER_01: Hey, you know who else is killing it right now?
50:35
SPEAKER_01: Lancaster County Conservation District.
50:37
SPEAKER_01: They have their youth conservation school coming up.
50:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we had talked about the need for professional learning as well as K-12 type education.
50:46
SPEAKER_04: This is a special message from our partners at the Lancaster County Conservation District.
50:53
SPEAKER_02: I'm Sally Gregory.
50:55
SPEAKER_02: I'm the Education and Operations Coordinator at the Lancaster County Conservation District.
51:00
SPEAKER_02: As co-director of the Youth Conservation School, I facilitate planning and organization along with a volunteer leadership team and other organizations to plan the week.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: It's an immersive field school experience for students who are 14 to 16 years old.
51:18
SPEAKER_02: The week-long experience is an overnight program, and the idea is to immerse students in learning about the true definition of conservation, the wise use of our natural resources.
51:32
SPEAKER_02: The school is not a traditional overnight camp.
51:35
SPEAKER_02: We begin the programs each day after breakfast and go until well into the evening at 9:30.
51:43
SPEAKER_02: Each opportunity is the type of experiential learning where students can interact in a career with a professional that they can look at some opportunities for the future in terms of what they want to study or what they find interesting just for their own personal background.
52:03
SPEAKER_02: The entire week has a different focus each day on different types of natural resources.
52:10
SPEAKER_02: We might start out with doing something that relates to kind of the overall environment, looking at orienteering, survival.
52:18
SPEAKER_02: We have a study focus each year that really looks at water quality, land use, and that's something that students will focus on as group learning throughout the week.
52:30
SPEAKER_02: And Wednesday is our focus on wildlife management, Thursday on water quality, and Friday is a culminating day where they put together everything that they've learned throughout the week.
52:43
SPEAKER_02: Youth Conservation School in 2026 will be held July 19th through the 24th.
52:50
SPEAKER_02: It's a six-day, five-night program.
52:52
SPEAKER_02: Students are asked to enroll online, and they can find that at the LancasterConservation.org website.
53:01
SPEAKER_02: The registration fee is minimal for a student.
53:04
SPEAKER_02: It's$25.
53:05
SPEAKER_02: The remaining tuition is paid for by cooperating organizations within communities and sportsmen's clubs throughout Lancaster County, and that's really the historical partnership that was created 47 years ago between the Conservation District and Sportsmen's Clubs throughout Lancaster County.
53:25
SPEAKER_02: That cost, along with grants, tremendous donations from individuals and corporations, make the school possible so that we work to make sure that any student can attend who's interested in Lancaster County.
53:40
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Youth Conservation School today.
53:44
SPEAKER_02: If anybody has any further questions about youth conservation school, please call the Lancaster County Conservation District Office at 717-299-5361-Extension 5.
53:57
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
54:01
SPEAKER_01: And that sounds like a great educational opportunity.
54:04
SPEAKER_04: Oh, it's incredible.
54:05
SPEAKER_04: Such a powerful week that they offer this summer.
54:08
SPEAKER_04: So that's something coming up for our partners with the district.
54:11
SPEAKER_04: And how about for you all with Leadership Lancaster?
54:13
SPEAKER_04: What's coming up for you?
54:15
SPEAKER_03: So we do have an executive class that is focused on senior leaders, uh, C-suite level, but we also are marketing intentionally to our core class alumni who went through the program maybe 10 years ago.
54:26
SPEAKER_03: I went through 25 years ago.
54:28
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
54:28
SPEAKER_03: And now you've moved up the career ladder.
54:30
SPEAKER_03: And so it's an opportunity to really reconnect with the new leadership, the new community systems that exist, and for you to rebuild your network.
54:38
SPEAKER_03: So though that will open in July.
54:41
SPEAKER_03: The applications for that.
54:42
SPEAKER_01: Now, if somebody wants to become involved in that, where do they go?
54:45
SPEAKER_03: LeadershipLancaster.org.
54:48
SPEAKER_04: Perfect.
54:48
SPEAKER_04: We'll make sure we add notes about upcoming registration opening dates and RFPs, requests for proposals.
54:56
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
54:57
SPEAKER_04: Nice.
54:57
SPEAKER_04: That all will be available.
54:59
SPEAKER_05: I got I snuck snuck by earlier with that.
55:01
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
55:01
SPEAKER_04: Thank you guys so much for sharing.
55:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thank you.
55:06
SPEAKER_01: And we will be back in just a couple of weeks.
55:09
SPEAKER_01: Until then, take care.
55:10
unknown: Bye, everybody.
55:11
SPEAKER_01: This episode of Clean Water Conversations is sponsored by RKK, Creative Solutions, Responsive People.
55:19
SPEAKER_01: And produced by Lancaster Clean Water Partners, striving for clean and clear water by 2040.
55:24
SPEAKER_01: If you have comments, suggestions for show topics, or are interested in becoming a show sponsor, please contact us at info at Lancaster Cleanwater Partners.com.
55:34
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.