Developing adaptive capacities in our communities

Programs

The Capacities We Need

What we’re really hurting for at this point in history are leaders with insight, foresight and wide-sight – the kinds of leaders that can help us identify and prepare for the most significant threats and opportunities coming our way (especially those challenges that most of us don’t see, understand, or care about yet). This is essentially the function of leadership. Systemic-adaptive learning is critical to helping groups and communities move forward in increasingly effective ways.

You can't lead if you don't know where you are going, and you can't lead with wisdom unless you understand what real human progress is, and what it isn't.
Ken Low

Leaders serve to guide, strengthen and extend a group’s capacity to effectively respond to existing and emerging opportunities and threats.

While systemic-adaptive capacities such as strategy, innovation, systems thinking, resilience, and ethical capacity are highly valued in our society, they are in limited supply. Human Venture Leadership helps participants to begin the process of developing these capacities, providing the maps, tools, and ongoing support for a life-long learning journey. By strengthening the capacity of leaders to learn, think, care and act in systemic-adaptive ways, we strengthen the capacity of organizations and communities to meet the most significant challenges and opportunities facing them.

The way that individuals, organizations, and societies define progress or success in smaller frames of action can be highly maladaptive in the greater scheme of things. We see this in any example where short term gains actually cause bigger, long-term setbacks, or when the strategy we use to solve one problem creates an even bigger set of problems. As humans, we are very good at positioning ourselves within smaller frames of action, but exceptionally bad within larger frames. Wise leadership is about understanding those larger frames of action.

2026-2027 Programming

We've put together a diverse offering of engagements for our program alumni starting this fall to deepen your understanding of the Human Venture meta framework. These sessions will introduce you to new explorations in the meta framework, provide insightful interpretations of historical and current events, create space to discuss practical applications of this work and expose you to helpful books and resources.

We're excited to continue to offer a place to discuss how we navigate and prepare for the challenges facing us as individuals, communities, institutions, a society and a species. We have much work to do and we sincerely hope you'll join us. To inquire more about any of these opportunities contact us.

Introduction to the Human Venture

Join Associates Dana Penrice and Chris Hsiung for an introduction to human learning ecology and examine how we think about problems, solutions, and what progress actually means at a deeper, more rigorous level for doing the work that matters

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HV Foundations Audio Course

The Human Venture Foundations audio course is now available for purchase! Get over 30 episodes of curated and edited content delivered to your favourite podcast app for a grounding in Human Learning Ecology.

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Online Book Club

The Human Venture book club is back in 2024/2025! The online book club is hosted by Lisa Amonson. Book clubs are open to all alumni of Human Venture Leadership programs and their guests.

Join the HV Book Club

Human Venture Foundations

Take this foundational course to Human Learning Ecology for transforming how we understand and tackle systemic challenges by learning about the human story across disciplines and cultures. Sign-up to get notified when we are holding this course next.

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Weekly Community Calls

Join us every Friday us for an online discussion on converging societal challenges. Share your insights and hear from others on how concepts from Human Learning Ecology help us to interpret what is going on and what we can do about it.

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Associates Program

Associates guide, develop and maintain quality standards in the ongoing exploration, and mapping of Human Learning Ecology. They are members of a pioneering mutual learning community, supporting each other, creating new initiatives and resources, and sharing their discoveries.

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