The document summarizes survey findings from participants in the Creating Space 2013 conference. Key insights include that participants valued connecting with others, learning new tools and ideas, and opportunities for reflection. The most effective elements of the conference design were the mix of participants, space/location, and facilitation. Areas for improvement included more time for conversations, tangible tools, and better addressing equity issues. The majority of participants were new to the conference, Caucasian, aged 45-54, working in the nonprofit sector for 10-15 years, and focusing on social sector, network, and cross-sector leadership.

1. Creating Space 2013
Survey Findings
AUGUST| 2013

2. Content
• Key Insights
• What Worked/Didn’t Work?
– Value Proposition
– Insights and Tools
– Design Elements
– Next Steps For Participants
– Areas Of Improvement
• Who Are The Participants?
– Participation
– Age
– Ethnicity
– Sector
– Years Involved in Leadership
– Area of Leadership Work
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3. KEY INSIGHTS
3

4. Key Insights – About the Meeting
• Participants mostly valued the opportunity to:
– Connect with others who can be resources for their work (70%)
– Learn new tools and ideas (62%)
– Recharge and reflect (59%)
• Participants took back to their work ideas and tools around collective leadership, and also about some
meeting design elements from the meeting itself (i.e. open space).
• The most effective elements of the meeting design included:
– Mix of Participants (85%)
– Space/Location (80%)
– Milano’s Facilitation (72%)
– Mixed Team of Facilitators (72%)
– The design challenge was also mentioned as an interesting approach/tool
• In terms of next steps, participants indicated that they are mostly likely to:
– Visit the LLC site (80%),
– Participate in an LLC webinar (77%),
– Participate in learning circles (72%),
– Register for the newsletter (62%),
– Attend future Creating Space meetings (60%)
• Participants mentioned some key areas of improvement, including: more one-on-one conversations, more
tangible tools, better welcome to new participants, make sure meeting description matches the content,
and having a better strategy to discuss equity
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5. Key Insights – About the Participants
• Most of the participants (73%) were new to the conference
• Most of the participants were in the 45-54 age range (35%) and 35-44 age range (26%)
• Most of the participants were Caucasian (68%), followed by African American (19%)
• Most of the participants work in the nonprofit sector (53%).
• The second largest category was academia (19%)
• Most of the participants have been involved in leadership work for 10-15 years (36%) or
more than 15 years (25%)
• In terms of their leadership work, participants mentioned that the key areas include:
– Social sector leadership (65%)
– Network leadership (57%)
– Cross-sector leadership (49%)
– Community leadership (46%)
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6. WHAT WORKED/DIDN’T WORK?
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7. “I valued the diversity of people, perspective, and experiences. I
particularly valued their ‘on the front line’ view. There was a real richness
to grappling with issues and challenges from an experiential perspective
rather than a theoretical perspective.”
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8. Value Proposition
• Connections
– LLC creates the space for relationships to develop, and also provides the space for
conversation and learning. The conversation catalysts, as always, were catalyzing.
– Great opportunity to network and meet others who are thinking about leadership
growth through many different lenses.
– For me, relationship building and the conversations that occur both during Creating
Space and then offsite are invaluable. I learned a great deal over a dinner with a
group from Detroit.
• Diversity
– The wonderfully diverse mixture of researchers, consultants, programs, funders,
and community organizers present.
• Modeling Leadership
– The caliber of Milano and Alvin's contributions, the opportunity to hear from a mix
of regular contributors and new contributors to Creating Space, Deborah's
modeling her leadership transition and the time to focus intensively on leadership
as a set of issues.
– The conference models conscious self organizing and respect for learning.
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9. Value Proposition
9
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Share, test, and improve your approaches to leadership
development
Try some new things in your work
Get exposure to new ways of learning
Have difficult conversations that contribute to learning
about racial equity
Learn about the resources of the Leadership Learning
Community
Reflect and recharge
Learn about new tools, ideas or practices that could be
helpful to your work
Meet people who can be valuable resources for your work
Opportunities
Percent (Helpful or Very Helpful)
n=39

10. “I have a renewed sense of commitment to promoting equity through our
work. I feel that I have a much better sense of who makes up the
Leadership Learning Community, and how we might facilitate networking
and resource sharing among the community.”
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11. Insights and Tools Gained
• Collective Leadership
– I realize that what we're doing with the Community Learning Exchange is needed in
other collective leadership work. So, we're working on better ways to communicate and
connect with those who can benefit from this work.
– I came to Creating Space already convinced of the power of collection action/impact.
This experience reinforced that idea and I continue to integrate that into my thinking and
work.
– How we design for new approaches to leadership development that build on more of a
collective sense of leadership learning (rather than honoring individual approaches only).
• Meeting Design
– I convened a program staff meeting to share about the design/facilitation that I
experienced and brainstormed ideas of how to use these tools in our programs.
– I will use an open space format as part of conference design next week.
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12. “The people -- presenters, facilitators, and participants -- were
smart, warm, and fascinating. As were the unstructured conversations and
the group conversations where we could veer into our own stories and
uncharted places. As it turned out, that happened in my reflection group
around the white privilege conversation -- at the end of the second day. We
told our stories. That led to a breakthrough in our conversation.”

13. Design Elements
• Design Challenge
– The most transformative experience for me was the final day's design challenge activity. I wish that this
activity had come earlier in the process. This exercise really challenged the groups to "dig deep" in
addressing an issue. It helped us get to know each other in a deeper way. I believe that had this happened
on the 2nd day (in the afternoon) it would have enhanced the remainder of the Creating Space experience.
• Diversity of Design Team
– The design team was wonderfully diverse and clearly worked really well together and had prepared and
been extremely thoughtful about the design. The poetry was a fantastic inclusion!
– The opportunities to hear from others in the room. The flexibility of the design team. It would have been
transformational had the facilitation been more observant of group dynamics and intervened in ways that
got the participants to engage with each other in real time.
• Time for Conversation
– I felt that the design allowed us to listen and absorb content through the 'Talk Shows,’ then I especially
appreciated the chance to discuss the content within the smaller table groups. The transformative learning
moments occurred most for me during the conversations in groups and pairs.
– I think the work in small groups was very powerful - participants in my groups shared
ideas, tools, strategies, and were also open to others. I think the overall design and approach allow that to
happen.
– As a person of color who has been involved in community work for most of my life, it was encouraging to see
the issue of white privilege get an examination with a diverse group of leadership professionals. I wish we'd
had even more time to unpack it because I think it is important for folks who don't quite understand how it
plays out in communities.
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14. Most Effective Elements
14
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Design challenge on the final day
Overall design of the event
Integration of art
Reflection groups
Opening reception
Open Space groups
Use of a mixed team of facilitators
Milano Harden's facilitation
Physical space and location
Mix of participants
CS Elements: 10 Most Effective Elements
Percent (Helpful/Very Helpful)
n=39

15. “I have connected with a number of people I met and am having follow-
up for different reasons...I even found a coach for myself!”

16. Next Steps
16
n=39
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Follow the conversation around CS through…
Partner with LLC to host webinars or write…
Learn more about LLC as a consulting partner
Recommend CS to other leadership…
Participate in self-organizing opportunities
Attend future CS meetings
Register for the LLC newsletter
Participate in LLC learning circles in my region
Attend a LLC webinar
Visit the LLC website
Next Steps
Percent (Likely/Very Likely)

17. “[We needed] more structure around the process for exploring equity and
race with conference participants. I felt with the varying levels of
understanding, relationships, and needs that it could have used
something other than open space.”
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18. Areas of Improvement
Meeting Design
• During the panel discussions, nothing was actually answered, everything was thrown back to
the group as a question from the panelists themselves.
• I do not think it did contribute to transformative learning--it was way too busy and so driven
by some participant individual agendas.
• The group, especially some repeat attendees, were re-processing stuff they are stuck in.
• More time for small group and one-on-one conversation.
• More tangible how-to's around program development/growth.
• Openness to the group's needs through self-organizing MIGHT have contributed
greatly, though I think those who came in (like myself) from groups that are not
political/activist in nature really struggled to find connections in the room.
• As a newcomer it felt like there was knowledge, familiarity, and understanding that those
who attended before had that I was not adequately invited into.
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19. Areas of Improvement
• Promotion
– Make sure that the conference description is accurate and matches the content. I was
surprised by the conversations on racial equity - a very important topic, but it's not what
I thought I was signing up for.
• Equity and Diversity
– I think the "equity" conversation was completely consumed by racial issues.
– More diversity--the group was mostly African American and Caucasian, and no
significant attention to LGBTQ.
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20. WHO ARE THE PARTICIPANTS?
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21. Participation
21
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Not Sure
Yes
No
Participated in CS Before
n=37

22. Age Range
22
35%
26%
24%
15%
Age Range
45-54 35-44 55 or older 25-34

23. Ethnicity
23
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Latino/ Hispanic
Asian American
Native American
African American/ Black/ African
Caucasian
Ethnicity
Percentn=37

24. Sector
24
53%
19%
17%
11%
Sector
Nonprofit Sector
Academia/ Education
Consulting Firm (or
Independent
Consultant)
Foundation
n=39

25. Years Involved in Leadership
25
36%
25%
22%
17%
Years Involved in Leadership
10-15 years
More than 15 years
6-10 years
2-5 years
n=39

26. Areas of Leadership Work
26
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Youth leadership
Advocacy and policy making leadership
Education leadership
Grassroots leadership
Movement-building leadership
Personal leadership sustainability
Community leadership
Cross-sector or multi-stakeholder leadership
Network leadership
Nonprofit or social sector leadership
Leadership Work: 10 with Highest Percent
n=37