2027 Board and Leadership Summit

April 26-28 | Stevenson, Washington

A leadership summit for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities

The 2027 Board and Leadership Summit is a three-day experience designed to strengthen governance, deepen board/staff partnerships, and support healthy, resilient affiliates. Through plenaries, peer learning, and meaningful conversation, participants will gain practical insights, valuable connections, and actionable next steps for their local context.

Join us at the gorgeous Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington

Get notified when registration launches

Why this Summit?

Affiliate leaders are navigating a rapidly changing environment. Board transitions, leadership turnover, organizational culture challenges, evolving funding realities, and growing expectations are creating new opportunities and new demands for leadership.

The Board and Leadership Summit was designed to meet this moment. Rather than a traditional conference built around dozens of workshops, the Summit prioritizes:

  • High-impact plenary sessions

  • Cohort-based peer learning

  • Structured networking and relationship-building

  • Cross-affiliate conversation and collaboration

  • Time for reflection, connection, and strategic thinking

The result is a learning experience that is practical, engaging, and immediately relevant to today's leadership realities.

Who should attend?

The Summit is designed for:

  • Board members

  • Executive directors and CEOs

  • Senior and executive-level staff

We strongly encourage board members and executive leaders to attend together. When leadership teams learn side-by-side, they return home with stronger alignment, shared expectations, and a common language around governance, leadership, and organizational success. To ensure diverse perspectives and broad representation from across the Habitat network, registration will be limited to four participants per affiliate.

What participants will gain

Participants will leave with:

  • A stronger understanding of modern Habitat governance

  • Greater confidence in board-ED partnerships

  • Practical tools for leadership and decision-making

  • New relationships with peers across the region

  • Ideas and perspectives from affiliates facing similar challenges

  • Commitments that can be implemented immediately within their local context

Throughout the Summit, board and volunteer leadership perspectives will be intentionally elevated to strengthen engagement, belonging, and shared learning across leadership roles.

Featured plenary sessions

The plenary experience creates a shared learning journey across the three days, exploring opportunity, leadership, resilience, and collective impact through real Habitat stories and experiences.

  • Day One Opening Plenary

    Through TED-style storytelling and moderated conversation, affiliate leaders and board members share examples of innovation, adaptation, and emerging opportunity across the Habitat network. Participants will explore how leaders are responding to changing conditions while expanding impact through new partnerships, creative solutions, and strategic thinking.

  • Day Two Morning Plenary

    Featuring a conversation with Habitat's first volunteer, Clive Rainey, this session reflects on the values, leadership practices, and governance principles that have helped sustain Habitat through decades of change. Grounded in experience and shared purpose, this conversation examines what strong leadership looks like over time and what lessons remain relevant for today's affiliates.

  • Day Two Afternoon Plenary

    How are affiliates adapting to changing market conditions, staffing realities, and evolving community needs? Through data, stories, and peer perspectives, this session explores what leaders are learning as they navigate change, strengthen sustainability, and position their organizations for long-term success.

  • Day Three Closing Plenary

    The Summit concludes by connecting local leadership to Habitat's broader mission and movement. Through stories and reflection, participants will explore how affiliates contribute to Habitat's collective impact through partnership, advocacy, tithe, Global Village, and community engagement. The session is designed to leave participants inspired, connected, and ready to carry new commitments forward.

A learning experience tailored to your affiliate

Your Summit experience begins before you arrive. After registering, affiliate leadership teams will complete an Organizational Leadership and Governance Self-Assessment designed to help identify organizational strengths, opportunities, and leadership priorities. The assessment generates a Capacity Profile that provides a snapshot of your affiliate's current context and helps guide participants toward the cohort learning track best aligned with their needs. This personalized approach creates more meaningful peer connections, richer conversations, and practical takeaways that participants can bring back to their affiliate.

  • Explore the foundations of effective Habitat governance, including role clarity, accountability, board responsibilities, and healthy alignment between boards and executive leadership.

  • Focus on long-term planning, organizational sustainability, adaptive leadership, and practical approaches for navigating uncertainty and change.

  • Strengthen communication, trust, feedback practices, and shared leadership habits that support healthy and productive governing relationships.

  • Learn strategies for recruiting, onboarding, developing, and retaining board leaders while building sustainable leadership succession plans.

  • Develop confidence in fundraising, community engagement, storytelling, advocacy, and board ambassadorship as tools for advancing Habitat's mission.

  • Examine how leadership culture influences organizational health, staff wellbeing, risk oversight, and long-term affiliate resilience.

A place to learn, reflect, and connect

The Summit will be held at Skamania Lodge, located in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge. The setting supports the Summit's commitment to meaningful learning, authentic connection, and time to recharge alongside peers from across the Western Region.

 

Registration launches in December 2026

Registration information and additional program details will be released in the coming months. Join the Interest List to receive updates and be among the first to know when registration opens.