3rd Annual Retreat Overview of Achievements and OutcomesFrom Thursday, March 8th to Friday March 9th , 21 board members from 17 member organizations attended the 3 rd Annual Environmental Leadership Retreat in Washington, D.C. This meeting serves as our annual business meeting where board members work to set the agenda for the next year’s initiatives that will grow our network of board members, promote best practices for diversity and inclusion and strengthen the pipeline to leadership of people of color and indigenous people in the environmental and conservation sector.Board members from the following organizations were represented at the convening:

Clean Water Action	National Religious Partnerhsip for the Environment	The Sierra Club Foundation
Center for International Environmental Law	National Wildlife Federation	The Trust for Public Land
Environmental Defense Fund	Natural Resources Defense Council	The Wilderness Society
Stand	Population Connection	Union of Concerned Scientists
Friends of the Earth	Rails-to-Trails Conservancy	Women’s Voices for the Earth
League of Conservation Voters	Sierra Club

Retreat Highlights IncludedBoard Chair and CEO Work SessionAn important development and highlight from this retreat was the first ever Board Chair and CEO joint work session with the Green Leadership Trust. Over a 3 hour period, 16 Board Chairs or CEOs representing 12 organizations worked to better understand the challenges associated with creating a diverse and inclusive sector and setting both organizational and sector-wide goals. This session represents the continued dialogue and collaboration the Green Leadership Trust is spearheading to create sector-wide progress.First Annual Emerging Leaders ReceptionThis year’s convening kicked off with a reception intended to connect emerging leaders of color in the sector with board members, CEOs and more. This networking reception is part of a continued commitment from the Green Leadership Trust to showcase the incredible leaders already in this sector and create opportunities for leadership. We had almost 30 attendees representing 20 organizations at this retreat.OutcomesThe Green Leadership Trust is proud to announce a significant step forward and investment in the long term sustainability of this movement with the decision to hire a “Director.” With 2.5 years of growth and contributions to our member organizations and the sector as a whole, we see there is a need to transition to a full-time, long-term staffing structure. This commitment reflects the fact that diversity and inclusion is not a one-time, temporary endeavor but a way of doing business.Our working groups have also resolved to push forward with new goals for the year including a sr. staff training program that was presented to the Green Group CEOs, a plan to release the “Best Practices Library” of resources on our new website, new fundraising working group leadership and the plan to conduct outreach and raise visibility for the Green Leadership Trust and the successes of all diversity and inclusion initiatives.