MILWAUKEE, WI October 16, 2009 -- The Dominican Leadership Conference gathered for its annual meeting at the Ramada Hotel here October 9-12, 2009, to reflect on the elements of leading with creativity, consider possibilities for its future, and hear the voices of Dominicans from around the world.

Dimensions of Leading Creatively was the theme of the meeting, which offered new insights into the strengths needed to lead religious women and men in today's Church and saw new directions begin to emerge for the conference itself. About 110 participants attended.

Keynote speaker, Carolyn Foster, led the group in a spirited conversation about the dynamics of lliving that offer leaders concrete pathways to creativity: spaciousness, (or the ability to find the space between our fears and trust), mindfulness (which links contemplation to action), positivity (which cultivates hope) and courage (which wides the circle of compassion). The group readily embraced her principles and engaged in an energetic conversation about leading in light of them.

LEFT: Sharon Casey, OP (Tacoma) Kathy Nolan, OP (Adrian) and Dominic Izzo, OP (St. Joseph) members of the Design Team with Toni Harris, OP (Sinsinawa) who facilitated the conversation.

Mary Hughes, OP (Amityville) preached at Eucharist

The participants identified some essential features of a new model that they wished to preserve and asked the DLC Executive Committee to provide the resources and personnel to begin fashioning a new organization.

It was noted that the work of this new organization will take a few years to realize and in the meantime, DLC will continue to promote its preaching mission and collaboration among leaders.

Several international guests attended the meeting, notably the leadership team of the Dominican Sisters of the Roman congregation, who visited from Rome, Sr. Maria Fabiola Valasquez Maya, OP (Presentation) International Coordinator of Dominican Sisters International, Prakash Lohale, OP (India) Socius for Apostolic Life, Yvon Pomerleau, OP (St. Dominic) Prior Povincial in Canada and Toni Harris, OP (Sinsinawa) International Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace.

The members received a warm welcome from the Dominican Sisters of Racine when they visited their motherhouse, enjoyed a gracious dinner and celebrated Eucharist in their beautiful chapel. During the visit to Racine the members gathered to express their appreciation to out-going Communications Coordinator Anne Lythgoe, OP (Catherine de' Ricci) who was recently elected President of her congregation and will be leaving the position at the end of November. Anne served the DLC in this position for seven years. The evening highlight was a fun loving romp with some of the OPCOMNET members and Mary Ellen O'Grady who used a DVD to locate "the rock star, Anne Lythgoe".

The tribute included a letter to Anne from fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, Master of the Order, expressing his appreciation for Anne's contribution to communications in the Dominican Family in the United States and in the Order.

The conference also affirmed and expressed its appreciattion for the work of the North American Justice promoters and their recent update to the Call to Justice document. Chuck Dahm, OP (St. Albert) offered some insights into the work of justice and encouraged leaders to engage iwth their local justice promoters on the issued outlined in the Call to Justice.



Photos of this year's meeting can be viewed in a slide presentation. CLICK HERE

You can also see web photos of the meeting on Shutterfly here.