August 2022’s Community Spotlight catches up with Veronique Le Melle, an alum of our 2014 Chief Executive Program and an NAS Coach! Veronique has a 30-year career as an executive in arts management, leading arts and cultural organizations and elevating opportunity for supporting artists in communities across the nation. She also recently sat on our Homecoming co-creation committee to design an invigorating retreat by and for the NAS alumni community. Read on to learn what this inspiring leader is up to and how they felt about the co-creation process.
Tell us about what you are currently working on
For the last few years, I’ve been dreaming of a residency program for nonprofit arts directors or senior team members to operate on my family property in rural Louisiana. I’m excited to finally be ready to pilot the program this fall! I envision this program, called the Cane River Residency, to be an offering of time and space. Time and space to do the thought work, the work that’s so hard to make room for with all the other responsibilities these positions hold, be it personal or professional. The aim is to provide an opportunity for people to check in with themselves: Am I in balance? Is my organization in balance? If not, how can I bring it back into balance? In addition to being offered the room to breathe, administrators-in-residence will have opportunities for guided meditation, daily yoga and coaching. The ideal participant for this residency is a nonprofit arts director or mid to senior team member who is excited by the idea of unplugging and disconnecting in a remote area located on the banks of the Cane River in Melrose, Louisiana.
How can the NAS community learn more about the work you do? I have not added the residency information to my website yet. However, they can contact me directly through my site, which is www.firststepwellness.net , and I can send them more information. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
Tell us about your experience co-designing Homecoming It was a really rewarding experience, the sessions were well facilitated, and each co-designer was encouraged to give voice to their ideas and experiences. There was a comfortable environment for sharing thoughts and perspectives with colleagues from a diverse backgrounds and communities.
What motivated you to join the co-design committee? I like getting to meet and work with new people and I care about the NAS community.
What do you see as the benefits to a co-design process? What were the challenges? When implemented well, it’s a great way to lend unbiased space to individual ideas and suggestions. My biggest challenges were time and learning to use Miro. At the time of the planning sessions, I had a fair amount of business travel so juggling time zones with the NAS team and the co-designers living in several different countries seemed daunting. But it worked out in the end and I think I only missed one session. As for the Miro board, Carla and my co-designers were quite patient and, eventually, I got up to speed navigating the system.
What are you most looking forward to at Homecoming? Seeing colleagues and friends that I lost touch with and gaining new insights through meeting new colleagues.