| More than 100 people flocked to North Carolina’s historic Outer Banks in late September for the Initiative’s annual Grantee Retreat.
The event was held at the Hilton Gardens in Kill Devil Hills over the course of two days, Sept. 25-26. All 40 organizations that have investments from the Initiative were represented. Those organizations represent-ed communities from one end of the state to the other.
The purpose of the event was to share information and to establish goals for the future. This year’s retreat was particularly important because the Initiative shared its new Sustainability Strategy with the grantees. |
“It was critical that our partners understand where the Initiative is headed in the future. That was a big part of what we achieved during the retreat,” said Abdul Rasheed, CEO of the Initiative. “It was a great turnout, and I believe most everyone benefited from being there. There’s a lot of value in getting everybody in the same place to discuss what works, what doesn’t and what sorts of things we might want to tackle in the future.”
It’s also important for attendees to get the a chance to do some good, old-fashioned net-working, said Ebonie Alexander, president of the Initiative. |
“So many of our grantees only see each other at these retreats,” she said. “This is really the only time they can all get together to share success stories, to talk about challenges and to compare notes. It’s also an important time to focus on year-end documentation, to ensure that all of our accountability measures are in place.
“And the hotel was right on the beach, so there was plenty of opportunity to stroll,” she said. “That was pretty nice.” |
