FUTURE FORUM: SOWING SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE Just over a year ago, WT’s strategic vision was unveiled, highlighting four strategic priorities (Reimagine Learning, Rethink Time and Space, Strengthen Community, and Support Employees) rooted in a commitment to develop individuals of strong character and prepare them for the demands of a changing world. Now, the Board of Trustees builds on that commitment with the Future Forum Committee, a visionary approach for supporting and inspiring the school’s strategic work. “Future Forum is about taking the pulse of the changing discourse in fields across a wide spectrum—not just education—and understanding how the intersectional and multi-disciplinary nature of today’s world informs our mindset,” shares Trustee Illah Nourbakhsh, Future Forum Committee Chair. “It is a way for the Board to interrogate knowledge that is outside its own envelope of experience and wisdom.” Sipping from many wells of expertise Future Forum emphasizes breadth rather than depth, a structure allowing participants to “sip from the wells of many disciplinary experts,” says Nourbakhsh. Every few months, a rotating group of six Board members and employees convenes for reflection and conversation with thought leaders from multiple fields. “We hope to formulate a grammar for leading-edge practices and beliefs that are likely to influence WT into future years, on topics as diverse as physical plant, curriculum, parent engagement, and athletics.” The size of the group creates an intimacy intended to catalyze outstanding conversations, and the process invites a consistent flow of fresh ideas and forward thinking. The idea for Future Forum came from Board President Paul Rosenblatt’s desire to build on the work of the Board’s recently dissolved Generative Thinking Task Force. Rosenblatt characterizes generative thinking—a cognitive process utilized by boards to produce creative decision-making—as “important for identifying and exploring new ideas in the context of current and anticipated issues, and deciding whether and how to act upon them.” The Board had integrated this thinking so thoroughly into its meetings and operations that a standalone task force was no longer
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Thistletalk Winter 2020
