Work hard, play hard-ish and get the job done: The DAHLIA Board 2024 Summer Retreat.

It's August, so the sun was hot, but the ideas inside “The Shoe Shack” were even hotter. An energized DAHLIA Board set out to strategize and problem solve, all for the benefit of DAHLIA's residents.

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Earlier this month, the DAHLIA Board with Executive Director, Cheryl Jordan, held their 2nd annual summer retreat in Roslyn (Thank you to board member/fundraising co-chair Kathleen Shoemaker & husband Larry for hosting!). On top of the list for discussion was to take a fresh look at what role the board should play in agency management. Led by board president, Wendy Peloquin, this group of smart, savvy individuals brought their ideas, experience and innovative thinking to the issue. 

We quickly agreed that our over-arching goal is agency sustainability managed in a way that always puts our residents first. By the end of this segment, we had an outline for a new board charter, refreshed committees with chairs/members tapped to write their own charters and defined the board’s rights and responsibilities for existing and new members. We continued the tradition, started last year, of the “great idea” basket* and the basket filled up quickly, with everyone contributing. ​

Up next was a look into the future of DAHLIA's management team. At last year’s retreat we tasked management to work on succession planning for key employees. With this work well underway, the next step was to outline what a future management team structure could look like. We identified an immediate need for an additional executive assistant and discussed and charted ways the management team could become more efficient and effective (our overall theme for 2024) over the coming years.
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We tackled other topics such as criteria for our newly-created Anne’s Angel Fund to honor our beloved, now-angel, former Director of Nursing, Anne Royal, the role of the Advisory Board and an approval of DAHLIA’s mid-year budget.

This dedicated team worked hard for 2 days. Then we played (not too hard) and enjoyed the charming town of Roslyn. We got our caffeine fix from the Merc, enjoyed wine tasting on the patio at Corks, dinner at the Coal Chute, dancing at the legendary Brick Saloon to an awesome Pretenders cover band and choosing glasswork for the board's live auction item at Fused. We painted the town in DAHLIA colors!

“It is so inspiring to be a part of such a caring and intelligent group. Everyone candidly shares their ideas, then we have productive, respectful debates; and throughout, the spirit of collaboration and genuine friendship is palpable. This group could take on almost any world problem! They are rock stars and an incredible force for good!” Wendy said. On Sunday, everyone headed home in high spirits, already looking forward to next year. And challenged to recruit more members to join our phenomenal bunch.

Cheryl sent a message to all the board members following the retreat’s conclusion. “I want to thank each of you for being a part of this amazing Board. I am so grateful for your concern for me, personally; your love for DAHLIA and our incredible residents and staff; for fabulous ideas and support; and for genuinely good times while accomplishing so very much.”

You can join us!

DAHLIA Living is a truly wonderful organization, made even stronger by the commitment of this group of 12. Can you or someone you know share your talents and experience as a board member? Reach out to Community Relations & Marketing Committee Chairs Mary Smith or McKenna Burns, or talk to a board member at our "The Bid is Right" auction in September, to get started. And then you will get to join us in Roslyn for our super, awesome summer retreat next year! 

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*Whenever a member has a great idea another member writes it down and throws it into a basket for a drawing at the end of the weekend.