This letter to the Hollyhock community was included in our 2018 Annual Report.
Dear friends,
I transition from the role of Hollyhock Board Chair in May 2019.
After two decades in this stewardship and profound responsibility, many sweet stories, perspectives, and hopes for the future bubble up in my dreams for Hollyhock and its long- term future contributions.
The world is more complicated, and it’s easy for even the most hopeful of us to face despair. Yet, optimism abounds when we look at the positive signs.
One of the most important is that Hollyhock continues to thrive, improve, expand, and influence our region and beyond, as an unique cultural and social change strategy! The Hollyhock pedagogy is rooted in human potential, the resilience of nature, reparation for destructive histories, and the evolution of consciousness.
In 2008, 40+ owners unanimously agreed to donate all of our private ownership of the land. Several years later, with your help, Hollyhock paid off all mortgage debt, and placed legal restrictions permanently blocking any subdivision. Soon we will create a legal covenant trustee body for final approval on any change in ownership -or not for profit status- of any future lessee.
May Hollyhock forever be protected for peaceful, substantive uses.
From an Indigenous summer gathering place, to settler owners, to permanent protection of the extraordinary land on the southeast sunny, low bank ocean front of Cortes Island – thousands of guests, stewards, and many others, have made this possible. We give special gratitude to our lender/donor Vancity Community Credit Union, for their continual adaptive creativity as a phenomenal supporter.
We are well along with a 5 year “generational transfer of leadership,” which started with the transition by my life partner, the accomplished 18 year CEO, Dana Bass Solomon, to visionary CEO Peter Wrinch, and will complete with my departure from the Board, one year after installment this May of our next Board Chair. We are all proud of this unique approach to succession.
The magic and practical substance of the lifelong leadership and advancement of human consciousness programs offered by Hollyhock, now includes our acclaimed Leadership Institute training conference series, offering 6-8 annual gatherings on campus, aiming towards 5 of these in other geographies across the continent by 2020.
This years’ implementation of a dramatically simplified Registration system makes your booking at Hollyhock, perhaps 300% easier. Thank you Retreat Guru for making us so guest friendly!
Those are but several significant improvements that should give you confidence that Hollyhock is ready for another 35 years of support for your learning journey, and the needs of an increasingly demanding future for global civilization.
Our compelling content delivered by global leaders and teachers, ever more anchored in topics of diversity and inclusion, now comes to life much more fully. Support for the helping professions, values-based entrepreneurs, social and cultural change leaders, and everyday citizens, whose determined optimism and commitment to the long- term, inspire hope for a good future.
Optimism, realism, and practicality, dance together with the emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions, to create one of the most unique educational organizations on this continent!
I’m deeply grateful for my multi-decade opportunity to serve this organization, its land, and the tens of thousands of people who have advanced through Hollyhock’s work. Dana and I remain close by, in service in the best ways we can, as next elders in this growing lineage of stewards.
Prayer + Magic flow through and buoy Hollyhock. It’s here for you, and hopefully your childrens’ children.
May many societal forces be nourished by this work. May it spread through its influence and inspiration. May millions rise with catalytic change making and wise, inspired leadership, that help an ever brighter, more just, clean, safe, and prosperous future.
– Joel Solomon
Hollyhock Board Chair
