WHY JOIN?
The YMCA World Urban Network (WUN)
the best international YMCA leadership development experience
The Why: We know that being a YMCA CEO can be both exhilarating and challenging in equal measure, perhaps never more so than currently in the uncharted waters of the post-pandemic world. Great leaders are made, not born, and as such we know that providing outstanding leadership development for senior leaders, and unrivalled meaningful peer support for the same cohort, will help shape the best creative responses to the challenge. We provide a welcoming, safe, supportive place for CEO fellowship and collegiality.
The How: We think deeply about how best to learn together and support each other. Our chosen pedagogy centers around Peer Learning. All members are invited and expected to contribute to a generous culture of giving and receiving. The network possesses a wealth of ingenuity, knowledge, skills, and experience. This collective library and our shared institutional memory is provided to supercharge the learning and development of our members. We aim to be a vanguard of new creativity and learning in the post-pandemic world. We are an egalitarian organization where all leaders are respected.
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The What: We do all of the above through annual residential experiences hosted by great YMCAs across the globe. Every other year, we also bring members of our teams so as to invest in the next generation of leaders. We share innovative programmes and share our successes and failures for the benefit of all. We hold an unrivalled archive of leadership development material. In between the in-person meetings, we offer small, virtual learning sets for colleagues.
Is the WUN for you?
You will likely be a CEO who believes you have not yet reached your leadership potential, and will be convinced that learning from colleagues will benefit you and your YMCA. You will be excited and energized by sharing what you have learned through your leadership journey with others, in a climate of trust and support. You will enjoy the camaraderie and friendship of other like-minded leaders. You will not be a fan of muscular leadership, but rather a style of shared value and respect.
The YMCA you lead will have a variety of social business streams. It will likely be disproportionately complex for its size. It will serve people in a range of communities and likely work out of numerous sites or branches. It will be facing some or many of the challenges that urban communities face in towns or cities. This does not necessarily mean it is a city YMCA but rather that the scope and scale of the work you do connects with the challenges of urban communities. It will have the capacity and scale to enable you to attend our conferences and it will have a Board who will support you in this endeavor.
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Still not sure?
Why not arrange a chat with one of our member CEOs? We have a number among us who are convinced by the value of the WUN to our leadership and have experienced the warmth and friendships which grow out of our work together. They are best able to share the benefits and to help you understand further how membership in the YMCA World Urban Network could transform your leadership in the coming seasons.