Many of you have heard me speak of the Gestalt International Study Center (GISC) on Cape Cod and of my teachers Edwin and Sonia Nevis. GISC is where I have studied alongside amazing colleagues and where I have learned from masters.
For 30 years thousands of people have traveled to the small village of Wellfleet, Massachusetts to learn the art and craft of leadership, of coaching and consulting while simultaneously exploring personal and professional transitions. From its New England meeting-house, GISC has served both the local Cape Cod community and a world-wide family.
Among the Center’s most exciting new programs is the Youth Leadership Lab. This week-long program attracts teenagers from throughout the Northeast. These young adults learn invaluable relational and interpersonal skills and practices -- the same practices that leaders from across the country and the globe seek out at our training center.
Building on our success with organizations as large as Coca-Cola and the Bank of Canada or as small as the Cotuit Center for the Arts or the Cape Cod Commercial Fisherman's Alliance, we are expanding our action-learning approach to interpersonal leadership and coaching skills for teens. Many of our leaders say, "I wish I knew this when I was much younger."
Adopting our teaching to the developmental needs of youth and taking advantage of our location on the border of the Cape Cod National Seashore, the Youth Leadership Lab will provide a safe and supportive environment for teens to build upon their existing talents and strengths.
Participants will leave with a tool-kit for navigating the transitions of their post high school lives. How desperately our country needs this type of work.
We have received a challenge gift of $10,000 and we need to raise the final $3,000. Our Board has made a number of large gifts and now we are seeking smaller gifts to close the gap.
It would mean a great deal to me personally if you could participate with a dollar amount between $25 and $50. Most importantly it would help the Center launch this needed and exciting program and make a critical difference in the lives of these young people.
Are you sure?
