Team Building and Leadership Training - 2015 CABA Retreat

Reported by Jeannie Li

The 2nd Chinese American Biomedical Association (CABA) retreat was held on Saturday, August 29th, 2015 at the Golden Eagle Lodge in Waterville Valley, NH, and was attended by 25 CABA executive committee (EC) members and their families.  This year the theme of the retreat is “Team Building and Leadership training”. 

The retreat kicked off on Saturday morning when Organizing Committee Chair Jeannie Li welcomed all EC members followed by a brief introduction of the agenda. 

Jeannie Li introduced the first speaker, Shiwen Lin, who is Board chairman at CABA. Shiwen Lin gave an overview of CABA history and its rapid development over the past 9 years. The audience actively engaged in the discussion and shared ideas on how to effectively connect with other non-profit organizations as well as how to make CABA more visible. 

Next, Jeannie Li introduced the second speaker, Christopher Merill, who is an executive coach at Shift Coaching group. 

Christophe Merill first shared his insights on “Leadership for non-profit”. Then the attendees partnered with each other to establish shared values that would be used to create a purpose statement. Next, Christopher discussed top leadership skills for researchers, and the attendees participated in the Wheel self-assessment, identifying individual’s strength and weakness. The morning session concluded with a Q&A.

After lunch, the EC members along with their families enjoyed a relaxed hike in Waterville valley.  Afterwards many families teamed up participating in other activities, such as tennis, golf and etc. 

In the evening, all gathered back at the lodge to attend the dinner. Every EC member introduced his/her family and had an enjoyable time. 

Organizing committee chair: Jeannie Li

Organizing committee members: Zhi-yong Yang, Qingqing Cao, Youxin Zhang