Center for the study of groups and social systems
Residential Conference
#A.I.
Authority
& Intersectionality
Leading Across Difference
WED JAN 19 – SUN JAN 23, 2022
THE CONNORS CENTER
DOVER, MA
An Experiential Conference in the Tavistock Tradition
SPONSORED BY THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GROUPS AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS
Illustration by Kylie Bernard
Welcome from the conference director
Director
Dr. Candice A. Crawford-Zakian
A headline becomes national or global news overnight. Stakeholder opinions divide and factions rise. Pithy hashtags trend, shaping and reshaping perspectives. All before your morning coffee. Your stakeholders want to know - where do you and your organization stand? What does your leadership mean in light of ‘hashtag now’?
The resulting tensions are even more difficult and in the age of Covid. A sentiment gone viral can have high and far reaching impact. Establishing a work force with the skills to face these challenges well, requires an investment in individual and collective capacity to see beyond the surface, slow down reactivity, learn iteratively and innovate.
This conference explores two primary layers of organizational life – one that we think we see and know, and another that is hidden out of awareness yet driving much of our activity. Understanding more about group dynamics and the unconscious social algorithms employed at the intersections of role, social identity, and authority can increase your capacity to meaningfully navigate these complexities at work, in your communities and beyond.
The ability to examine and make sense of group dynamics is a critical leadership skill - regardless of formal role or hierarchal position. It is a key step towards any effort to regain clarity and direction in the wake of our rapidly changing landscapes. Yet the opportunity for such activity is rare or non-existent.
This conference is your opportunity to do that work.
Working together over five days we will create a temporary institution to explore authority and intersectionality and the on-going demand to discover productive ways of work across variant lines of difference in organizational life.
"Hands down, this was the best (and toughest!)
professional learning I’ve experienced as a senior leader."
- Matthew Randazzo
President & CEO, The Dallas Foundation
Learning method
#A.I. Authority & Intersectionality: Leading Across Difference is a residential, group relations conference in the Tavistock tradition, designed to help participants learn first-hand about unconscious activity in social systems and its impact on organizational life.
The primary task of this conference is to provide opportunities to learn about authority and intersectionality in relationship to the exercise of leadership across difference in organizational life.
Rather than learning in the traditional format from teachers or experts, the approach is based on learning from experience itself. This conference offers direct experience of the challenges of managing the complex forces that impinge on the work of groups and organizations, and how these interact with the experience of individuals. It is a setting in which these dynamics can be experienced and explored, within groups, between groups, and within the system as a whole.
"The conference is an extraordinary opportunity to tune
into a frequency of group and organizational life that is
always operating but virtually never accessible."
- Robin Ely
Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Who is this conference For?
Anyone wanting to develop their ability to act effectively within groups, networks and institutions, no matter age or walk of life. No prior experience is necessary. A wide variety of organizations and industries have been represented in the conference membership, including but not limited to:
Non-Profit
Creative Arts
Health Care
Business
What you
will have opportunities to learn
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Understanding your leadership style, how it is shaped by groups and how it affects groups.
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Exploring "out of awareness" dynamics related to intersecting elements of social identity that have a significant impact on people, groups and institutions and the work they are trying to accomplish.
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Recognizing the relationship between authority, creativity and leadership.
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Developing your leadership capacity in uncertain and less inspiring environments.
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Improving strategic thinking through a deeper understanding of how organizations are related to their social, cultural, economic and political environments.
DIRECTORATE & Administration
Director
Candice A.
Crawford-Zakian, PsyD
Psy.D. Clinical Psychology
The George Washington University
Co-Owner & Creative Director, HumanStudio, LLC; Lecturer & Executive Coach, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Leadership Development Consultant, INSEAD (France); Affiliate Consultant, Konu, LLC; Consultant, Subculture
Member, A.K. Rice Institute;
Member, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Ph.D. Counseling Psychology, New York University
Co-Owner, Executive Coach, and Leadership Development Consultant, Reflect & Relate Leadership; Adjunct Professor, New York University; Therapist and Owner, Children's Century LLC; Analytic Candidate, The William A. White Institute; Member, A.K. Rice Institute; Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems; The New York Center
Associate Director
MS Organization Development with Distinction, American University
Nyacko is Founder and Principal Consultant, Yin Consulting; Consultant, Partnering Resources; Advisory Board Member, ABCD (Dorchester/Roxbury Site); 500-hour Professional Level Yoga Teacher; Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Instructor.
AdministratoR
Nyacko Pearl
Perry, MS
M.A. Higher Education Leadership, The University of San Diego
House Director and Pre-Major Advisor, The University of Pennsylvania; Co-creator, Podcaster, and Blog Curator, Group Relations International; Member and former Internal Director, A.K. Rice Institute
Assistant AdministratoR
Amber N. Williams, MA
Sheri-Ann Cowie, PhD
Consultants
M.A. Anthropology, Stanford University; M.D., Harvard Medical School
Former Medical Director/CEO, Austen Riggs Center; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center; Author, Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders, and Citizens; Co-author, Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New Connections between the Individual and Society. Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association; Fellow, A.K. Rice Institute (AKRI): Fellow, American College of Psychoanalysis; Principal, Boswell Group of New York; Board, International Dialogue Initiative (IDI); Advisory Board, Partners Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA)
Edward R. Shapiro, M.D.
Candice A.
Crawford-Zakian, PsyD
Psy.D. Clinical Psychology
The George Washington University
Consultant & Owner, HumanStudio, LLC; Adjunct Lecturer & Executive Coach, Harvard University Graduate School of Education EdLD Program and RIDES Fellowship; Leadership Development Consultant, INSEAD (France); Affiliate Consultant, Konu, LLC; Consultant, Subculture;
Member, A.K. Rice Institute;
Member, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Leslie B. Brissett, PhD
MSc (London School of Economics), PhD (Trinity College), Cert JD (University College London), Cert. Analytic Network Coach, TIHR Cert D@BL
Group Relations Programme Director, Principal Researcher/ Consultant and Company Secretary, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London (UK). Supplemental Magistrate, Her Majesty's Judiciary, (UK). Board Advisor, Eggtooth, (UK). Chairman Burgundy Corporation (USA). ISPSO Institutional Member.
René Molenkamp, PhD
Masters of Divinity, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; PhD in Pastoral Counseling, Loyola University, Maryland
Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach, International Institute for Management Development, Switzerland and Judge Business School, Cambridge University, UK; Professor of Practice, Department of Leadership Studies, University of San Diego; Fellow, the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems; Co-founder and Executive Director, Group Relations International
Ph.D. Counseling Psychology, New York University
Director, Children's Century LLC
Adjunct Professor / Lead Faculty, Department of Applied Psychology, Counseling @NYU, New York University
Vice President / Executive Committee, A.K. Rice Institute
Member, Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems
Sheri-Ann Cowie, PhD
Yaro Fong-Olivares, MS
(she/her), MS Organizational Change Management, The New School
Director, Corporate Education, Bentley University; Leadership Psychology PsyD candidate, William James College; Organizational Development with a focus on racial justice, equity, and inclusion; President, Executive Committee, New York Center; Member, Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems; Co-Creator, Group Relations International; Consultant-in-training, AK Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems.
Ph.D. Social-Organizational Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University
Associate Professor of Practice and Program Director, Social-Organizational Psychology MA Program, Teachers College, Columbia University; Faculty Director, Principles and Practices of Organization Development (PPOD), Executive Education in Change and Consultation, Teachers College, Columbia University; Consulting Psychologist in Independent Practice; Associate, The New York Center for the Study of Social Systems, Fellow, A.K. Rice Institute
Sarah J. Brazaitis, PhD
Covid Protocols
In an effort to create as Covid-safe an experience as possible, the following protocols will be strictly upheld. Registration for this conference constitutes and agreement to adhere to the following:
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All staff members and conference participants must be fully vaccinated and provide documentation of vaccination status.
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All staff members and conference participants must be tested for Covid no more than 48 hours before arrival to the conference.
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All staff members and conference participants must wear N95 masks, with a minimum of 3ply layers. No cloth or gator masks will be permitted. The conference administration team will have masks available for those who do not have masks that meet this criteria.
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Adhere to social distance guidelines at all times.
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If you become ill, suspend further participation in conference events and report any Covid like symptoms immediately to the Connors center and the conference staff.
*These guidelines may change should local or national Covid conditions change. It is advised that participants purchase travel insurance to protect against potential financial loss in the event that the conference is cancelled or changed to an online only event.
Conference Sponsors & Endorsements
We are a group of people who are inspired by and passionate about group relations work, social justice and spirituality. The three are intimately connected with each other.
Contact & Brochure
Have questions or need more information?
Send an email to leadershipcsgss@gmail.com.
A downloadable conference brochure is available here.
If you are interested but the cost prohibits you rom attending, please write to discuss and identify a fee that is mutually feasible. CSGSS is a non-profit organization and we work hard to make conferences available to anyone interested regardless of their current financial circumstances.
