There have been a lot of changes happening within the La Vida Center in the last year. Gordon College’s Vice President for Student Life, Jennifer Jukanovich, has been working with our team and with consultants from KME3 to assist us with a strategic plan and to help put new staffing structures in place. Please read the following update from her!
New Vision/Mission
As La Vida nears its 50th anniversary in 2020, we felt it was time to review where La Vida has been and what its vision should be for the future. Many people say La Vida is one of Gordon’s best kept secrets. In a time when studies show young people have increased anxiety and less resilience, we believe La Vida can speak into our culture in even greater ways. Below please find our new vision, motivation and mission statements.
Our VISION is to be the premier institute of outdoor experiential education that develops servant leaders who are equipped to transform their communities worldwide.
Our MOTIVATION; The gospel of Jesus Christ compels us to help individuals, groups, and organizations “take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:19)
Our MISSION is to catalyze character formation, cultivate community and develop servant-leadership skills in individuals, groups and organizations through outdoor experiential education.
Funding
As we have worked toward defining our vision, motivation and mission, we have been encouraged by several large gifts that will allow us to make some systemic changes in our staff structure, while also undergoing a strategic plan as we gear up for the 50th anniversary.
Staff Realignment
La Vida has been on very solid ground under Rich Obenschain’s leadership for over 40 years. La Vida has grown in its impact through the Adirondack and Discovery programs for our students, by adding the Adirondack Leadership Program, Adventure Pursuits, the Rock Gym and Adventure Camp, which serves 700 youth from our community each summer. In the last two years, we’ve also acquired the Compass Program from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and received funding in partnership with the Chapel office from the Lilly Foundation to create a new program called Theology Matters. As part of our discernment, we are working on a strategic plan for La Vida, but a common refrain is that we cannot pursue growth without empowering our staff. Thanks to a generous donor, we’ve not had to tap into Gordon operational dollars to pursue this realignment.
Rich Obenschain, Founder
Rich’s new title reflects his role as the Founder of La Vida at Gordon. His leadership is being redirected toward securing La Vida’s foundation and empowering its future. Practically this means Rich will be moving toward educating and empowering new leadership, representing Gordon and La Vida to alumni and donors, recruiting new donors, writing the history of La Vida, and making preparations for a 50th celebration.
Abby Stroven, Senior Director
Abby has stepped into a senior leadership role as Senior Director, where she will be overseeing daily operations and the strategic plan. Leading Adventure Pursuits the last five years, Abby doubled its revenue and expanded its impact to working with groups from Boston College, Harvard University, Veritas Forum, numerous local schools, the ROTC program and business corporations. She came to La Vida after spending seven years working with an adventure education retreat center called El Refugio located near Quito, Ecuador.
Nate Hausman, Director of Education and Program Development
Nate’s role has been expanded to Director of Education and Program Development, overseeing Discovery, looking for new opportunities to expand our educational opportunities at Gordon and abroad, such as a new partnership with Young Life. He will also be overseeing the leadership of several of our educational programs like Theology Matters. Nate has been directing the Adirondack Programs for 18 years and will be looking to hire someone to assist in the daily operations of base camp.
Sarah Shannon, Director of Adventure Pursuits
Sarah Shannon will replace Abby Stroven as the new Director of Adventure Pursuits in January, after serving as a part-time assistant director of Adventure Pursuits the last two years.
Bryn Clark, Director of Theology Matters
Bryn came to Gordon from the Seminary where he was directing the Compass Program. He now oversees the Theology Matters summer programs, consisting of Compass and Summit, while also working with the Chaplain on Equip.
Michael Hill, Director of Adventure Camp
Michael has served as Director of Adventure Camp since 2013 and will continue in his leadership of our summer program.
Kate McMillan, Office and Finance Manager
Kate will continue to serve as our Office and Finance Manager. Kate has been instrumental in managing our budgets and overseeing all purchasing and billing needs for our various programs.
Amber Hausman, Outdoor Education CORE and Marketing Coordinator
Amber has a new title that reflects some of the new responsibilities that have been added over the years. She oversees registration for our La Vida and Discovery courses and has taken on more with our social media and marketing needs.
We are excited for all that is in store for La Vida!