LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Being a CEO/Executive Director can be a rewarding and isolating experience.
The Executive Peer Circle Program (EPCP) is a 12-month program that helps combat executive isolation by centering the needs of organizational leaders and their specific experience in a community of their peers.
Participants will learn how to combat personal and organizational mission creep, vicarious trauma, and the burnout that successful nonprofit leaders often face. The program is grounded in the Circle Process, which makes it different from traditional skill development or networking programs.
MEET THE FACILITATORS
2025 Program Details
Eligibility: Applicants must be the Executive Director/CEO of an agency that has received an Operating Grant or Rapid Response funds in the last year. If you are unsure of your eligibility, please contact Abby Hyman.
Time Commitment and Expectations: The Circle Process is used during each meeting. While there is no cost to attend this program, a full commitment to attend each gathering is expected.
The program includes an opening retreat, a mid-year retreat, 11 monthly gatherings (3 hours each), and a closing retreat. If you do not have sufficient support to attend each session, we urge you to consider applying when that level of support is available in your organization. If more than three sessions are missed, you may be asked to conclude your participation in the program.
Unless otherwise indicated, monthly circle meetings are held from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in The Healing Trust’s Retreat Center on the following dates:
- January 14 (Opening Retreat 9:30 am -3:30 pm)
- February 11
- March 18
- April 8
- May 20
- June 10 (Conflict Retreat 9:30 am – 3:30 pm)
- July 8
- August 12
- September 9
- October 14
- November 11
- December 9 (Closing Retreat 9:30 am – 12:00 pm w/Lunch)
Application and Selection Process: The application opens October 1. All applications must be received by November 15 at 5 pm. You can expect to be notified about the status of your application in mid-December.
Current and Recent Participants
2023 Cohort
- Ahmed Hassan – Somali Community of Middle TN
- Brian Zralek – Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH)
- Cintoria Franklin –Pass the Beauty Inc.
- Courtney Hatfield –Mental Health America of the MidSouth
- Ella Clay – Healing Minds and Souls
- Emilie Martin- Partners for Healing
- Karynthia Phillips –Echoes of Hope Inc.
- Kristin Mejia –Homeland Heart Birth & Wellness Collective
- Laura Ferguson Mimms – Tennessee Higher Education Initiative
- Libby Thurman –Tennessee Primary Care Association
- Matt Robertson –Nurses for Newborns
- Quintina Waller – The Hope Station
- Tara Lentz – Conexión Américas
- Tessa Lemos Del Pino – Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors
2020 Cohort
- Cindy Sims – Center of Hope
- Jeff Fladen – NAMI TN
- Juliana Ospina Cano – Conexion Americas
- Kathryn Norbeck – Child Advocacy Center of the 23rd Judicial District
- Margie Quin – End Slavery TN
- Maridel Williams – Doors of Hope
- Megan Schwalm – Tennessee Respite Coalition
- Rachel Freeman – Sexual Assault Center
- Terri Sabella –Tennessee Primary Care Association
- Trina Frierson – Mending Hearts
- Yvette Hanshaw – AWAKE TN
- Lynn Blumfield – Partners for Healing