The leadership challenges don’t pause. Where do you go to see them differently?
You may be leading through change you didn’t choose. Working to rebuild trust. Navigating competing expectations. Or bringing together people whose experiences, perspectives, and priorities are far apart.
The responsibility is real—and the next step isn’t always clear.
This Learning Lab offers space to step back, examine the questions you’re carrying, and learn alongside people who understand the weight of leadership.
Bring a challenge from your work. Explore it through a different place, new relationships, and guided reflection. Return with perspective you can put into practice.
What are you being called to lead through?
Uncertainty and change
How do you offer direction when circumstances are shifting and you don’t have every answer?
Difference and division
How do you stay in relationship across differences in identity, experience, and power—and help others do the same?
Trust and belonging
How do you create conditions where people can contribute, address tension, and build something together?
Responsibility and renewal
What needs to shift in you so you can meet the demands of your role with greater clarity and intention?
Where might your Y be ready to grow?
Leadership + Staff Culture
Are leaders equipped to navigate difference, build trust, and create stronger experiences of connection across teams?
Board + Leadership Alignment
Could stronger relationships, shared language, or trust between board and staff improve organizational effectiveness?
Community Bridging
Is your Y positioned to convene people, organizations, and perspectives that don’t usually work together?
Strategy Development
Do you have the aspiration but need help translating it into practical behaviors, experiences, and initiatives?
Continue the Learning
Take the conversation home with a practical guide for exploring connectedness in your local Y. The resource includes YMCA-specific reflection prompts to help you notice where connection is strong, where it may be thin, and what could be possible next—plus simple, turn-key practices for using the Five A’s individually and collectively to strengthen relationships, leadership, and community connection.
When You’re Ready to Go Deeper
Endorsements from Texas Leaders
“We must transform ourselves before we can fully live into our capacity for community transformation. Ben and the Empower Initiative represent extraordinary tools for that transformation.”
Stephen Ives, CEO of YMCA Greater Houston
“Ben McBride galvanizes large groups and inspires those around him to take action. Seasoned leaders and up-and-coming organizers can turn to Empower Initiative for pathbreaking ideas, innovative leadership and wise counsel.”
Cynt Marshall, former CEO of the Dallas Mavericks
“Ben has a rare ability to create the conditions for hard conversations to become possible. He doesn’t rush people past tension or manufacture easy agreement; he helps people stay present, speak honestly, and build the trust needed to keep going.”
David Rodgers, President of H.E. Butt Foundation
What Sparked Something for Your Y?
Take a minute to complete the form below and tell us what sparked something for your Y. Your responses will help us understand where YMCA leaders see opportunity and what kinds of resources, learning, or support would be most useful next.
