¶ Purpose
The Board Leadership Summit is a mandatory weekend-long training attended by the members of the current and newly-elected boards. Located at the campgrounds of a state park, the serene environment and limited cell service is well suited for reflection about the essence of Islamic leadership and engaging in team-building activities. Through personal experience, board members have found that they learn more about one another and develop a stronger supportive team more effectively during this weekend summit than during an entire year's worth of board meetings. It is incredibly important that a team learns to be comfortable and accept other's leadership strengths and weaknesses before they are expected to perform cohesively in the service of our community.
¶ Organizers
The Board Leadership Summit will be organized by the MSA President with the help of any other board members. The President is the most aware of the status and challenges that the board faces and will therefore be sure to modify the suggested summit programming to reflect activities and topics that are most pertinent. The President is advised to present his or her drafted summit program (agenda, activities, and guest speaker topics) well in advance to collect feedback from other board members. With the help of this document, sorting out the logistics for this summit should be relatively straightforward.
¶ Time & Location
The Board Leadership Summit will take place during either the second (or third) weekend of April. Considering that Board Elections happen during the first two weeks of March and elected candidates are informed of their appointment to board after the third week of March, having the summit during the second weekend of April allows the board at least two weeks of instruction (not accounting for Spring Break) to complete their board. The summit should not be delayed further to allow a few weeks at the end of the spring semester for continued transitioning. For a more detailed timeline of the election process click here.
Traditionally, the Board Leadership Summit is held at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The park offers 4 cozy cabins that accommodate 6-8 people and each include a complete kitchen and bathroom. This is ideal to allow for separate brothers and sisters cabins within close proximity. The cabin area also includes a separate game room with a ping pong table and TV that comes complimentary with the cabin reservations. To reserve and check availability, visit this website (search for "Calaveras Big Trees SP" and check for availability of the "Residence Cabin Area"). In the case that cabin reservations at this park are not available, the President will be tasked with finding equivalent cabins at another state park or via airbnb.
In addition to the cabins, it may be helpful to reserve a wifi-equipped airbnb cabin to allow scholars to give a talk over video call. The owner of this cabin allowed us to rent her cabin during the day for a discounted price (mentioning that bedrooms and bathrooms will be kept clean allowed us to waive the cleaning fees).
The President should work with the Treasurer to reserve and pay for these cabins well before the beginning of the spring semester. Nominees must be informed of the date and location before elections because attendance is mandatory. To ensure a smooth experience, book early!
¶ Programming
¶ Example Agenda
The following agenda is copied from the spring 2019 iteration of the leadership summit. It may be modified to include topics and activities that are more relevant to the current year.
¶ Friday
| 2:30 PM | Begin packing cars |
| 3:00 PM | Depart from Berkeley |
| 5:00 PM | Asr |
| 7:00 PM | Dinner (at a restaurant), icebreaker #1 |
| 7:50 PM | Maghrib, Khaterah #1 |
| 8:30 PM | Arrive at Calaveras State Park cabins |
| 9:05 PM | Introduction & Purpose |
| 9:35 PM | Story of Self |
| 10:05 PM | Isha & Dhikr |
| 10:15 PM | Khaterah #2 |
| 10:20 PM | Curfew (everyone in cabins) |
| 10:59 PM | Lights Out |
¶ Saturday
| 5:30 AM | Wake Up |
| 6:00 AM | Fajr & Dhikr |
| 6:10 AM | Khaterah #3 |
| 6:25 AM | Icebreaker #2 |
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast |
| 7:45 AM | Drive to meeting house |
| 8:00 AM | Adab & Akhlaq: Gender Boundaries (Speaker: Mufti Abdullah Nana) |
| 9:00 AM | Break |
| 9:15 AM | Tazkiyyah: Purification of the Self (Speaker: Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi) |
| 10:15 AM | Break |
| 10:30 AM | Conflict resolution leadership training |
| 11:45 AM | Balancing Islamic Values and Allyship (Speaker: Imam Tahir Anwar) |
| 12:45 PM | Break |
| 1:00 PM | Story of Self |
| 2:00 PM | Dhuhr & Dhikr |
| 2:10 PM | Khaterah #4 |
| 2:15 PM | Lunch |
| 3:00 PM | Cancelled (could not confirm):
Replaced with: Addressing MSA Hot Topics |
| 4:00 PM | Drive to hike trail |
| 4:15 PM | Hike, Living a Balanced Lifestyle |
| 6:00 PM | Asr & Dhikr |
| 6:10 PM | Cancelled (not enough time): Tarbiya Plan |
| 6:35 | Drive to restaurant |
| 6:55 PM | Dinner (at a restaurant) |
| 7:40 PM | Drive back to cabins |
| 7:55 PM | Maghrib & Dhikr |
| 8:10 PM | Leadership Colors Training |
| 9:25 PM | Isha & Dhikr |
| 9:40 PM | Khaterah #5 |
| 9:45 PM | Icebreaker #3 |
| 10:00 PM | Curfew (everyone in cabins) |
| 10:30 PM | Lights Out |
¶ Sunday
| 5:30 AM | Wake Up |
| 6:00 AM | Fajr & Dhikr |
| 6:10 AM | Khaterah #6 |
| 6:30 AM | Personal Time, Pack bags, Check out |
| 8:30 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:15 AM | Board Servants of the Community |
| 10:00 AM | Vision Planning |
| 12:00 PM | Adab & Akhlaq: Conflict Resolution (Dealing with community concerns) |
| 1:00 PM | Lunch & Icebreaker #4 |
| 1:45 PM | Dhuhr & Dhikr |
| 1:55 PM | Khaterah #7 |
| 2:00 PM | Vision Planning |
| 3:45 PM | Conclusion |
| 4:15 PM | Depart from Calaveras State Park |
| 6:00 PM | Asr, Khaterah #8 |
| 7:00 PM | Dinner |
| 8:00 PM | Arrive at Berkeley |
¶ Activity Descriptions
¶ Islamic Development
Islamic development activities are important to center the weekend and the board's year of service around pure intentions and purpose. Board members lead by example and therefore must invest in their own spiritual health and understanding.
¶ Khaterah
A khaterah is a short Islamic reminder. After every prayer it is helpful to have current board and new board members alternate reminding everyone of an Islamic teaching related to the weekend's theme: Islamic Leadership. Some prayers may be followed by more than one khaterah to ensure everyone has had the chance to share their reminder. All attendees will be instructed to prepare a khaterah beforehand once the itinerary is sent out.
¶ Guest Speaker Talks
Potential topics:
- Adab & Akhlaq: Gender Boundaries
- Adab & Akhlaq: Conflict Resolution
- Resolving conflict within the board and/or within the community
- Tazkiyyah: Purification of the Self
- Balancing Islamic Values and Allyship
- Allying with other ideological groups and communities without compromising values
- Embodying an Islamic Paradigm/Worldview
Potential scholars to reach out to:
- Ustadh Rami Nsour
- Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi (previous speaker)
- Ustadha Muslema Purmul (expressed interest)
- Shaykh Hashim Ahmad (expressed interest)
- Imam Tahir Anwar (previous speaker)
- Shaykh Alaeddin Albakri
- Bassim Elkara (expressed interest)
- Dr. Hatem Bazian
- Maryam Amir
- Ustedha Rania Awad
- Imam Zaid Shakir
To avoid confusion, share the Google Hangouts meeting link with the scholars beforehand and link it in the agenda (see example above).
¶ Team Building
The following are activities designed to help the team better understand the strengths, weaknesses and backgrounds of fellow board members.
- Icebreaker 1: Food: Think of a food related memory & share it with everyone (good to do over a meal)
- Icebreaker 2: Riddle: There are three boxes. One is labeled "APPLES" another is labeled "ORANGES". The last one is labeled "APPLES AND ORANGES". You know that each is labeled incorrectly. You may ask me to pick one fruit from one box which you choose. How can you label the boxes correctly?
- Icebreaker 3: Happiness: Spend a minute recalling the most profound/happiest times in your life. Then, choose one 30 second chunk of time that you would relive if you could & share it with the team
- Icebreaker 4: Meaningful Object: Share an object and why it's important to you
- Conflict Resolution (training): this activity was conducted by the Cal Facilitation Team over video call and explores... (include how to coordinate with CFT)
- Leadership Colors (training): this activity was borrowed from the Cal Facilitation Team over video call and explores... (include how to coordinate with CFT)
- Story of Self: description here..
- Hike: description here...
- Living a Balanced Lifestyle: Group discussion sharing ideas about the importance of balancing spirituality, academics, mental health, service, physical health. Current board members sharing advice.
¶ MSA Logistics
The following are discussions and activities that relate to the operation of the Berkeley MSA.
- Addressing MSA Hot Topics: description here.. (Zionism, LGBTQ+, Anti-Blackness)
- Board Servants of the Community: description here..
- Dealing with Community Concerns: description here..
- Vision Planning: description here..
¶ Food
¶ Breakfast Options
- list restaurants and grocery stores
¶ Lunch/Dinner Options
- list restaurants
¶ Budget
The standard budget limit for a weekend retreat (Friday-Sunday) per person is $150. This should cover housing, gas, and food. Assuming 16 attendees (8 current board, 8 new board) this results in a budget limit of $2,400 for the weekend. Expenses should not exceed this amount. See the expense reports below for a breakdown of this cost.
¶ Previous Expense Reports
¶ Logistics
Having everything run smoothly depends on attention to detail. Review this list of action items to make sure that all loose ends are addressed.
- Update all election materials (nomination acceptance form, nominee info night slides, etc) with the correct leadership summit information to ensure that newly-elected board members are aware that attendance is mandatory.
- Link a professional itinerary that lists safety and behavior expectations to the Nomination Acceptance Form so that candidates may seek approval from parents if necessary.
- Identify which board members will be able to drive ahead of time and ask distinguished alumni to fill in if there is a shortage (need about 3-4 cars).
- Check the weather to ensure that you won't have any complications driving in storms.
- Ask drivers to download offline maps before beginning as cell service is spotty near the state park.
- Instruct drivers to meet up at a checkpoint city on the outskirts of the state park (just before cell service cuts out). Once all cars have regrouped, proceed as a caravan (one car closely after the other) into the cabin grounds. Due to poor service it will be difficult to locate cars and guide them to the right location (especially after the sun sets!). The road to the cabins is hidden on the left (map) a couple hundred feet past the Calaveras State Park welcome sign. Let drivers know about these landmarks.
¶ Comprehension Quiz
If you were instructed to read this page as part of an online training curriculum, you must submit this quiz and answer all questions correctly. In the case that you do not answer a question correctly, you may view which questions were incorrect and take the quiz again.
