Testimonials
"For me, the most transformative work that's happening is to reexamine my larger work in the world and drop down a few layers under the things that keep me busy—the team that I have to manage, the projects in motion. I really needed to stop, take a few breaths, and figure out what's the next phase of my career and what’s the next set of work that's going to come from an even deeper place. And it feels like we're all doing that in our own way. It's just like a community of support to take our shared work. And for many of us, we don't know each other, yet we quickly go from being strangers to figuring out the deeper river we want to swim in.
We're definitely taking things apart more than building new things at this stage. It's powerful to be in a group where everybody's willing to be vulnerable and re-examine things that maybe we're just on autopilot around. And for me, the uncertainty work is strategic—letting go of intellectual certainty to reach a deeper, more embodied knowing that can actually motivate the transformation that's required at this time. You have to practice uncertainty, practice discomfort, and practice being comfortable with not knowing what's around the corner, while still leaning into life and purpose."
— DANIEL ROTH, 2025 AVF Leadership Cohort General Partner & Co-Founder, Jumpscale Consultancy
“When I said that I don't look forward to coming, there's like a resistance. I have a resistance to it that I think is one layer. Anything that I resist, you know, the resistance is what becomes like the sort of the problem. And when I get myself here and just allow myself to be here and that resistance is dropped down, then I can actually see what's available. But I can forget that. I can easily forget that because part of me is just like, I just have to work. I just have to like plow through this stuff. And yeah, I'm always reminded that this has value. This is value that transcends just showing up. It's not just babying myself, which is what that voice is telling me. It does have value that I can take back to my life.
Here there's less of a desire to, like, I'm not interested in trying to seem more authentic. I'm really trying to just like understand why it is that I'm here. What can I get out of this experience? And if I truly do that, I have to just be here. I have to listen and I have to see what comes forward. And so there's not a ton of aspiration that is outside of myself. It's all sort of like, what is it that I need right now? And how can this space support that? I think that we get kind of hung up on authenticity now because it's like a marketing buzzword. But I meant like, actual authenticity. And here, I experienced that. It reminds me why this cohort is worth showing up for.”
— GREGG OSOFSKY, 2025 AVF Leadership Cohort Co-Founder, The Watershed Center
“As someone who was sent here by my organization, I felt like I needed to create some product to take back and show what I did here to prove that this was a valuable investment. So, I think our conversations have alleviated some of those fears that we're not necessarily here to create a project. We're creating a way of thinking about things that we can bring back to the work that we're already doing to make sure that we're being purposeful and doing meaningful work.
What I think is beautiful about this experience here is that I feel like something greater is happening. I feel that tangibly — that people have gotten into a rhythm with each other and are practicing being open. And in that openness, magic can happen.
This has also been a practice of vulnerability, being comfortable with not having all the answers, and getting comfortable collaborating with other people. Leadership here isn’t about telling everyone else what to do, but about asking questions, seeing where there are needs, and what we can all do together. And the foundation of it all was self-care. At first that felt indulgent, but I realized you really can’t pour from an empty cup. If we’re going to go out into the world and do good work, we need a solid foundation for ourselves. This program gave me both the permission and the structure to do that, and I’ll be taking that back into every part of my life and work.”
"There's something really remarkable about joining a group of people who have some common interest in the environment and in sustainability and long-term solutions for the climate crisis and all of that. And like all coming together but without a fixed agenda.
And then what was really surprising to me was the fact that the whole journey starts out with self-care. You know, it's like, no, no, no, no, you don't even have to think about that stuff right now. I was so worried, like, I have to super educate myself really quickly because I want to understand what people are talking about.
And instead, it's, you know, no, slow down, take care of yourself first. Recognizing in myself that just being so surprised by that. And then also seeing everyone else also being like, really, we can do that? Like, that's novel, you know. And then interestingly noticing that pretty much everywhere I was looking on social media, things would just pop up about rest. Like, in terms of resistance to what's going on in our country in the US right now, a lot of people are saying instead of resistance, rest. Just rest. We need the fuel. We need to be solid. We need to be filled. We need to be strong and resilient, but we can't do that empty and worn out. So that was just so beautiful."
— MELANIE WINTERS, 2025 AVF Leadership Cohort
Donor Relations Manager, Berkshire Natural Resources Council
“What I think is unique about this group is that there's no algorithm that would put this group together. We live in a society that's so funneled, you know, that we keep seeing ourselves being thrown back at us. This is a group of very disparate people. I don't know how I would ever pick to be in a room like this. But the commonality is that everybody really, really cares. And that's such a wonderful thing, you know? And it's unique. The value of a circle is that one person talks and it spirals around the room, you know, until a really great place is a hit.
I've never been part of anything that has this sort of non-focus, if you will. In other words, there's a collective spirit that we want to do something important and something community-minded and something beneficial to the earth. But it's not specified and we're not being lectured about it. We're being asked to look into ourselves, find ourselves in the moment, and then see what happens and how it's emerging…
There’s an ancient wisdom at play here that feels revolutionary just because we haven’t been exposed to it. And what a shame — because this is the stuff that’s supposed to help us solve problems together. That’s what this cohort gives: a collective way forward.”
— MARK FARRELL, 2025 AVF Leadership Cohort Professional Film Producer
“If you feel called to this work…it can help you to understand how you can use your voice, resources, time and energy to…shift the trajectory of how we're living on the planet right now.
If you are interested in being in a community of like minded people, like-hearted people, exploring ways to be in these times where we're being impacted [and] the land is being impacted, and as a result, our lives are being impacted…this could be really good for you…
It will awaken a sense of curiosity in you and provide resources that could lead the way to other tools, other resources, other opportunities, other conversations, other teachings where you can learn and dive deeper into your relationship to land, earth, and the climate…”