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Organisation of OLA Strategic Focusing, Alignment and Engagement meeting in San Francisco.

The Oxford Leadership Academy organized its first Strategic Focusing, Alignment and Engagement meeting in San Francisco with a group of successful professionals from the US West Coast and Canada.

During the three days (July 7 - 9) on which we met, through a highly interactive and collaborative approach, the group was able to dive deep on:
- Developing an in-depth knowledge of OLA and its programs
- Building relationships and connections among the group
- Co-creating a mutual way forward

A comprehensive and thorough review of OLA DNA and operations, introduced by Cyril Legrand, Kate de Ban and Viannie Chua, provided a rich platform for conversations and exchange with the group and between individuals.
A deep sense of connection and alignment between each individual in the group and OLA clearly emerged, setting the foundation for practical discussions on how to translate our common aims into actions.

Tamara Woodbury and Tom Hurley, both of whom are OLA International Faculty Board Members, contributed through sharing their experiences and facilitating the different working group conversations.
Lenny Lind and Karl Danskin from CoVision, a long-time OLA partner based in San Francisco introduced the group to council methodology and how they can support OLA initiatives.
Robert Ziegler, editor of The Oxford Leadership Journal (OLJ), provided the group with an overview of plans for OLA communications, highlighting our ambition to become a globally influential organization in the field of leadership development, through collaborative initiatives such as the journal, social media, and other vehicles.

Three main sectors were identified as a focus for joint action planning.

Overall, the meeting created a promising and exciting blueprint for expanding OLA's relationships with leading USA corporations on the West Coast, national foundations and associations in the social or nonprofit sector, and Police, Paramedics, and Firefighting forces.