2023 Year of Participation

In 2023, through the concerted effort of school builders in the US, Israel, Northern Ireland and Ireland we were able to enroll, select and convene the largest cohort yet. We started 2023 with a list of More than 80 people who had expressed interest in the School after participating in a Mastery Foundation program or attending one of a series of introductory group sessions held by volunteers. A months-long process made up of conversations, written questionnaires, and zoom interviews culminated in twenty-two people accepting an invitation to join the Fifth Cohort.

The three-year program of the School began with a residential colloquium: Foundations in Transformational Leadership held in Northern Ireland in November. Having not offered this program since 2019, we had a new experience of just how much has changed in the intervening years. We arrived in Northern Ireland to new technology, a larger cohort, and one of three regional groups of participants missing. What had not changed was the commitment of volunteers and participants alike who make the School what it is. We proved yet again the durability of our motto "Building the school is the school."

The war in Israel started within a month of the colloquium and prevented the eight participants from the Israel Palestine from travelling. This required us to innovate in how we delivered and recorded the residential program while delivering it in November. And we designed a regional colloquium that was led by local leaders at Neve-Shalom Wahat al Salaam in early 2024 so the participants in that region could stay current with the rest of the Cohort.

The Management & Administration and Coaching Community Elements of the School continued to build and manage the work of the School over the course of 2023 even before the new cohort was in place. The Coaching Element grew to 25 members after six former school participants completed the year-long Apprentice Coaching Training program. Management & Administration added two new members and provided the background support needed to get the school year off to a successful start in November.

Our dedicated and active School Builders, many with more than one accountability inside the School or the Mastery Foundation, along with those volunteering in other parts of the Mastery Foundation, contributed thousands of hours of their time to make 2023 a truly successful Year of Participation.