Our New Leadership Structure
Image: Unsplash
By Renkyo Heather Fehst
“Change is the basis of human life, so don’t attach yourself to birth or death, continuation or discontinuation.
Just live right in the middle of the flow of change, where there is nothing to hold on to.
How do you do this? Just be present and devote yourself to doing something.
This is the simple practice of Zen.”
2025 has been a big year for our country and for Clouds, and I know that inviting more change into our community can be both exciting and a little disorienting.
As most of you know, I'm exiting my role as your Executive Director, effective May 1st. The Board of Directors, Sosan, and myself have been hard at work designing a new form of organizational leadership for Clouds that will take good care of our staff and avoid the burnout we have seen so many of our Executivie Directors (including myself!) endure. I am so grateful they were willing to listen to my suggestions and the process we engaged in to get to where we are not at was beautiful, discerning, and productive. I'm proud to say we've come up with something I think will really support our organization as we move forward into times of deepening uncertainty in our world. We have had to make some tough decisions and please know that no decision was made lightly.
Please go to this webpage to view a chart I created for our visual folks, a video I made explaining the decisions we made and our thought process behind it, and to read a letter from our interim board chair.
We had to make some tough choices and we will need the support of our sangha now more than ever to continue to thrive with our limited budget. But Clouds can do it! We've been around for over 30 years and will continue to be a sanctuary for many more. We exceeded our goal for our Sit-A-Thon, we have experienced so much generosity, our community is growing, and the garden is blooming once again.
Please don't hesitate to email info@cloudsinwater.org if you have any questions.
We will be sharing gathering sessions for the sangha to have Q+A's soon. Stay tuned for updates in sangha news!
In the meantime, I hope to see many of you this weekend at Jinzu's shuso ceremony! It's my favorite Zen ceremony and I'm excited to celebrate them.
Deep bows,
Renkyo Heather Fehst
Your Outgoing Executive Director