Vienna Christensen
That’s a wrap on another successful and engaging year of Mountaineers Leadership Conferences! The Mountaineers Leadership Conferences are day-long, in-person events dedicated to thanking, inspiring, and empowering The Mountaineers current and aspiring volunteer leaders. This fiscal year we held our newly renamed North Sound Leadership Conference on December 7, 2024 at the Seattle Program Center, and our South Sound Leadership Conference on March 22, 2025 at the Tacoma Program Center. Both events were filled with inspiring learning opportunities and fun moments that we want to share with you.
By the Numbers
- 208 Total Attendees
- 11 Unique Breakout Sessions
- 7 incredible partner organizations gifting impactful In-kind Donations
Conferences in Brief
This year, esteemed author and executive director of the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, Jeannette Stawski, was the keynote speaker for both conferences. A copy of Jeannette’s recently published book, The Outdoor Leader was gifted by The Mountaineers to all conference attendees.
Breakout sessions were led by outdoor professionals as well as seasoned leaders from our own Mountaineers community. Their presentations explored many facets of leadership – from risk management through the lens of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles, to building resilience and grit as a leader, to learning from near misses, and more.
Conference Tracks
- Empowered Leadership: Elevate your leadership skills through exploration of real-world scenarios and understand how practical experiences shape effective leadership strategies and skills.
- Risk Management: Delve into strategies and best practices for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks through expert insights.
- Culture of Belonging: Learn how to foster dialogue and inspire concrete steps toward building diverse, inclusive, and equitable spaces.
Learn more about each presenter and their breakout sessions.
North Sound Leadership Conference:
South Sound Leadership Conference:
Our conference presenters have generously shared the slides and other resources from their sessions:
Looking Ahead
Thank you for engaging in these ongoing leadership development opportunities. We hope to see you at one of our leadership conferences next fiscal year - mark your calendar for one of the dates below!
- The 2025 North Sound Leadership Conference will be held from 8am-4pm on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at the Seattle Program Center.
- The 2026 South Sound Leadership Conference will be held from 8am-4pm on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at the Tacoma Program Center.
If you are interested in being part of the planning process, or if you have a suggestion for a speaker, please let us know by emailing viennac@mountaineers.org.
For nearly a decade, we've been hosting an annual Leadership Conference to support and empower our volunteers. We also host regular training seminars as part of our Leadership Development Series. Check out all of our past learnings, including access to many of the course materials, in our Leadership Development Series archive. Register for one or more of this year’s Leadership Development Series sessions.
