Sustainable Neighborhood Network

Sustainable Neighborhoods Program

Your neighborhood. Your ideas. Your home.

2022 Sustainable Neighborhood Leadership Retreat

Thank you to all of the Sustainable Neighborhood volunteer leaders attended the Leadership Retreat on Saturday, September 10, 2022.  It was a great day of learning, connecting, brainstorming, and having fun together!  We hope even more of you will be able to join us next time!

Here are some of the presentations and notes that were shared at the retreat.  

2x2 Presentations:

Program Sessions: 

Keynote Address by Anita Seitz

Sustainable Neighborhood Network Session by Jonathan Wachtel and Kayla Betzold

Community-Based Social Marketing Session by Liz Ross

Digital Graphic Artist Illustration by Carrie Van Horn from the Recruiting, Retaining, and Engaging Leaders Session

Digital Graphic Artist Illustration by Carrie Van Horn from the Sustainable Neighborhood Network Session




Here are a few details about the event we held in September, 2022:
 2022 Sustainable Neighborhood Leadership Retreat, Saturday, September 10th, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
at the Wheat Ridge Rec Center at 4005 Kipling St. 

Schedule:

  • 9:00-9:15 a.m. Check-in and breakfast
  • 9:15-9:30 a.m. Ice breaker/welcome
  • 9:30-10:30 a.m. Keynote address: Policy and Legislative Changes Related to Sustainability in Colorado
  • 10:30-10:45 a.m. Break
  • 10:45 a.m.-noon Session #1: Choose either Community-Based Social Marketing or Equitable Engagement Strategies
  • Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch
  • 1:30-2:45 p.m. Session #2: Recruiting, Retaining, and Engaging Leaders for your Sustainable Neighborhood
  • 2:45-3:00 p.m. Break
  • 3:00-4:15 p.m. Sustainable Neighborhood Network: Feedback, Input, and Ideas
  • 4:15-4:30 p.m. Break
  • 4:30-6:30 p.m. Reception and social hour

Notes:
- Breakfast, lunch and reception appetizers will be provided. 
- Leaders from Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Denver and Ft. Collins Sustainable Neighborhoods will all be there!
- There is no charge to attend -- we provide this as a free resource for neighborhood volunteer leaders.
- Things to bring:  a pen/pencil to take notes, your ideas and innovations, curiosity and enthusiasm! 
- Dress comfortably in layers for varying room temperatures.
- We have access to an outdoor patio and are near a greenbelt. 
- Childcare will be available- (Childcare spots are limited and filled on a first-come first-served basis when you register for the event. Childcare is available 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Kids are welcome to attend the reception with their parents.)

Our Presenters
  • Anita Seitz is the Advocacy Director for Colorado Communities for Climate Action. She will be sharing about policy and legislative changes from this year's Colorado legislative session and how those new laws might be useful to forwarding your projects in your Sustainable Neighborhood. 
  • Liz Ross is working on her PhD about Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM) at Colorado State University. Liz will be talking with us about using the strategies outlined in CBSM to take our Sustainable Neighborhood projects to the next level.
  • Jorge Figueroa is the Community Partnerships Administrator in the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency at the City of Denver.  Jorge will share stratgies for Equitable Engagement in our Sustainable Neighborhoods. 
  • Marcy Yoder (Neighborhood Services Manager for the City of Ft. Collins) and Jonathan Wachtel (Sustainability Manager for the City of Lakewood) will facilitate a panel discussion and workshop session about recruiting, retaining and engaging new leaders in your Sustainable Neighborhood.
  • Kayla Betzold (Sustainability Coordinator for Lousiville, CO,  former Sustainable Neighborhood Coordinator for the City of Wheat Ridge and member of the Sustainable Neighborhood Network Board of Directors) will lead a session to help all of us learn more about the Sustainable Neighborhood Network, how it is related to the Sustainable Neighborhood Programs in each city, and how the Network can support the work that you do in your communities.  
  • Carrie Van Horn of Heartwood Visuals will be creating digital illustrations during our afternoon sessions.