In the last week of April, American Whitewater’s board and staff gathered on the Rio Chama in New Mexico for our annual team retreat. The Chama is one of the most stunning and remote river corridors in the Southwest and it was a great setting for our work together. Our strategy is explicit that between flights to DC and hundreds of zoom calls a year, time on the water, in community, is how we stay grounded in our mission and in service to our members.
I am grateful to a generous anonymous donor and The Mighty Arrow Foundation, who together understand the importance of this approach and contributed restricted funds specifically for this trip, ensuring the costs for our time on the river were covered entirely outside of your member contributions.
With a combined team of 24 staff and board members spread across the country, gathering in person once a year is rocket fuel for our work, and the Chama delivered. We floated, we laughed, and we did meaningful work together at camp: board governance, strategy, organizational design, and the necessary step of welcoming several new board members who have joined us over the past two years.
We also took time to celebrate three board members completing their service at the end of this year: Chris Neuenschwander, April Montgomery, and Megi Morishita. Their contributions of a combined 32 years of experience on our board have been significant, and they leave this organization stronger than they found it. This was a great send off.
Our team leaves the Chama with strong footing for the work ahead. Thank you for trusting us to carry this mission forward, and for all your support in making it happen.
