Read “Passages”, our June 2022 Newsletter, where we welcome new board member Jenna Ringelheim, share a farewell letter from staff member Marnie Jackson, and offer an exciting update about our partnership with ILALI.
From this issue:
A Letter from Marnie
The March 2022 Wayfinding Weekend was an important exploration of where we’ve been and what is possible—not just for this organization and many of our program partners, but also for me, personally. I found it deeply restful, revealing, and compelling. The powerful container we created together over four days and three nights helped me tap into my inner wisdom and a deep yearning to step into the unknown. It was during the Wayfinding Weekend that I recognized how ready the Whidbey Institute is for its vital next steps in healing relationships with community and place, and how ready I am to follow my own calling in a new direction. After nine wonderful years with the Whidbey Institute, I’m stepping down to pursue greater purpose alignment as a nonprofit communications professional and social justice advocate. While I’m still not sure what form this will take, I’m optimistic that great things are ahead both for me and for the Whidbey Institute as we both move into more powerful expressions of purpose and potential.
This organization is famous for its gracious hosting and for this amazing land that holds and heals us. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together these last few years—growing our conservation forest campus from 76 to 106 acres, doubling our physical facilities’ hosting capacity, adopting a strong distributed leadership model, and living into our community equity principles with greater intention and integrity. As it enters its 5th decade, I’m confident that the Whidbey Institute will call in the right human energy to help it do its work even better. We will soon announce our new Communications Manager, and our leadership team is already planning a brilliant next iteration of the Co-Executive Director model with more details to be announced soon.
I anticipate staying involved with the Whidbey Institute as a volunteer, friend, and supporter, and I’m grateful for the lifelong friendships I’ve made here. For updates on me and my next steps, I encourage you to keep in touch via my personal email address and/or via LinkedIn.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being part of my journey, and my family’s journey, for nearly a decade. I will never forget the way this organization and community have nurtured, taught, and inspired me.
After nine years, this is the final newsletter I’ll produce on behalf of the Whidbey Institute. Watch for a wonderful next issue produced in collaboration with a new team member in July!
With gratitude and anticipation,
Marnie Jackson, Executive Director
Pictured: Shaila Tenorio, Robin Jones (front row), Marnie Jackson, Christopher Sebastian, Aph Ko, and Grace Ford at the 2016 Intersectional Justice Conference. Coordinating the conference was one of Marnie’s proudest achievements.