Join Vision Action Network for:

Creating Positive Change Together 
with David Sawyer, Converge

How can Oregonians - across all sectors - most effectively address the complex challenges we face in our communities, our county, and our state?

David’s presentation will provide an overview of why networks are such a powerful tool for achieving transformational change and outline principles, processes, and structures that enable them to succeed.  He will also show how to strengthen existing collaborative efforts to achieve greater levels of impact.

The event will provide an opportunity to reflect and brainstorm across sectors. 
This workshop is for executive-level leaders and senior staff who are eager to operationalize change within their organization.

Feedback from participants of a previous VAN-hosted presentation with David:

• “David's presentation was top-notch and mind shifting.”
• “The ‘Making a Change’ presentation/experience was dynamite!”
• “David's presentation was very good and helped lend a fresh voice to my understanding of building a network.”
• “He packed a lot into a short time and in a way that was truly engaging. It really helped me make a mental shift about how I think about collaboration.”

Register Now!

ADVANCED REGISTRATION CLOSES MAY 7, 2018

Cost:  $40 (At the door: $50)

About our presenter:   

David Sawyer is a Partner at Converge, a team of strategists and designers who collaborate with others to tackle complex social and environmental problems.

He is also President of Context, a consulting firm with practice areas in strategy, leadership, and culture.

David is a "strategy guy for a better world," specializing in networks, design, and systems thinking. He is active across all sectors and has played key roles in a variety of fields: education reform, national service, social entrepreneurship, women and girls, venture philanthropy, and environmental preservation.

For a decade, David directed leadership and service-learning programs at Berea College, receiving the nation’s highest award for voluntary service from the White House and The Servant Leader Award from the National Youth Leadership Council. He was the Design Director of the New Leadership Network, a collective action network of cross-sector leaders in Fresno, CA.

David’s contributions include facilitating The New Generation Training Program and other national leadership programs, helping to launch the nation’s Americorps program, and in 1997 he led a community delegation to the Presidents' Summit for America's Future. He spent four years working with energy company BP, coaching senior leaders, designing the cultural integration of the BP/ARCO merger, and facilitating a conference on global climate change in Washington. He helped develop the Denali Initiative, a national fellowship program for social entrepreneurs, and served as executive-in-residence for the Kauffman Foundation, promoting citizen engagement and civic innovation. David served as the first Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Portland, as Chief Culture Officer for gDiapers and as a Senior Network Practitioner with the Monitor Institute.

David lives in Portland, Oregon.