Four teams. Three community initiatives. One shared commitment to making a difference.
Leadership is learned through experience. And at Roaring Fork Leadership, some of the most meaningful learning happens beyond the classroom.
On October 2, the RFL Academy 2027 cohort took an important step in their leadership journey during Decisive Leadership, evaluating project proposals, asking thoughtful questions, and collectively selecting the Civic Impact Projects they will work on throughout the program year.
The result? Four teams supporting three initiatives that address real challenges across our region, from preventing sexual violence and fostering belonging through recreation to strengthening collaboration among nonprofit and civic organizations.
And this year, something especially exciting happened: two Academy teams selected Response’s Safe Bars initiative, creating an opportunity to double the leadership capacity supporting this important work.
Safe Bars: Making Prevention Everyone’s Responsibility
Community Partner: Response
RFL Academy Teams 1 and 4
What would it look like if preventing sexual violence wasn’t viewed solely as the responsibility of victim service organizations, but became a shared commitment among local businesses and the broader community?
That’s the challenge at the heart of Response’s Safe Bars initiative.
Response is working to engage hospitality businesses in creating safer environments, strengthening awareness, and preventing sexual violence before it occurs.
The Academy teams will explore how to build meaningful partnerships with local bars, restaurants, and other hospitality establishments. Their work will include listening to stakeholders, understanding barriers to participation, identifying potential champions, and helping develop a sustainable approach to prevention that businesses can embrace.
The project aims to engage three to five establishments in an initial pilot, creating opportunities to test approaches and learn what works.
Two Teams. Double the Potential.
With both Team 1 and Team 4 selecting this initiative, Response has the benefit of two groups bringing different perspectives, relationships, and skills to the challenge.
The opportunity isn’t simply to accomplish more tasks. It’s to deepen community engagement, explore different aspects of the challenge, and strengthen the foundation for long-term impact.
Peace on the Courts: Building Belonging Through Pickleball
Community Partner: Roaring Fork Pickleball Association
RFL Academy Team 2
Pickleball is bringing people together across generations, backgrounds, and communities. But as the sport grows, so do questions about access, inclusion, fairness, and how people share community spaces.
The Roaring Fork Pickleball Association is looking beyond court availability and rules to explore something deeper: How do we create a culture where everyone feels welcome, respected, and included?
Through Peace on the Courts, the Academy team will listen to players, explore experiences of belonging and exclusion, and identify opportunities to strengthen the culture of the local pickleball community.
The work may include gathering feedback, examining informal norms and expectations, testing approaches to improve interactions, and developing recommendations that support a welcoming and respectful playing environment.
At its heart, this project is about more than pickleball.
It’s about how we navigate differences, share public spaces, and build community through the activities that bring us together.
Beyond Silos: Strengthening Our Regional Civic Ecosystem
Community Partner: Roaring Fork Leadership
RFL Academy Team 3
Our region is home to organizations and individuals doing extraordinary work. Yet even with shared goals, organizations often operate without a clear understanding of one another’s resources, relationships, and opportunities to collaborate.
Beyond Silos asks an important question:
What becomes possible when we better understand how our organizations are connected and work more intentionally together?
This initiative builds on the work of two previous RFL Academy teams that developed an interactive nonprofit ecosystem map and a Collaboration Field Guide focused on strengthening relationships and coordination.
Now, the work is moving into its next phase.
The Academy 2027 team will help advance a broader effort to understand the networks and relationships that shape our regional nonprofit and civic ecosystem.
By examining specific areas of community need, engaging stakeholders, and exploring where connections are strong or missing, the team will contribute to a growing body of knowledge that can help organizations identify gaps, reduce duplication, strengthen partnerships, and work toward shared outcomes.
Beyond Silos is part of a multiyear RFL initiative to strengthen regional collaboration and build the civic infrastructure our communities need to thrive.
Because sometimes the greatest opportunity for impact isn’t creating something new. It’s helping what already exists work better together.
Leadership Learning. Community Impact.
Civic Impact Projects are a cornerstone of the RFL Academy experience.
They provide participants with the opportunity to apply what they’re learning about self-awareness, communication, decision-making, team dynamics, and adaptive leadership to challenges that don’t come with simple answers.
Along the way, participants must navigate different perspectives, build trust, engage stakeholders, and learn when to lead, when to listen, and how to move people toward shared action.
For our community partners, the projects bring fresh perspectives, dedicated leadership capacity, and opportunities to explore challenges in new ways.
For participants, they provide something equally valuable: the experience of leading through complexity while contributing to the communities they call home.
Over the coming months, we’ll share updates on the teams’ progress, what they’re learning, and the impact of their work.
Four teams. Three initiatives. Countless opportunities to learn, connect, and contribute.
That’s leadership in action.
Better Leaders. Better Communities.
Learn more about RFL Academy and how Civic Impact Projects strengthen leadership and community capacity at rfleadership.org.
