About 300 members and chapter leaders attended the National Leadership Summit, Regional Leader Retreat (RLR) in Jersey City, New Jersey Nov. 9-10. UW-Whitewater’s National Society of Leadership and Success was represented by five members of the executive board at this conference.

RLR was the first summit that UW-Whitewater’s NSLS chapter has participated in since the establishment of the organization. 

President of UW-Whitewater NSLS, Theodore Krause, explained how impactful meeting with members and leaders from across the country was for the organization. 

“The energy at the conference was contagious and really made the information and messages we learned inspiring,” Krause said. “In returning to UW-W, I can proudly say that there are so many new concepts that we can start applying in our personal lives, organization and campus.”

The President of the entire NSLS organization, Charles Knippen, along with various leaders on the NSLS headquarter in Jersey City led participants through exercises and presentations focused on elevating personal development skills.

Over the two-day conference, the five UW-W NSLS leaders attended many breakout sessions on topics such as inclusivity and diversity, tips for managing conflict and stress reducing skills.

“We were able to give back to the local community by writing letters to veterans and to women who had experienced and survived domestic abuse, and prepared sandwiches for a local food pantry” said Katelyn Carey, UW-Whitewater NSLS public relations chairwoman. 

UW-Whitewater NSLS Secretary, Daniel Hanke, strongly encouraged others to seek opportunities like the RLR in the future. 

“I walked away with from the RLR with ways of improving output from group members as well understanding that there will be bumps and bruises on the way to greatness, but good leaders will be able to persevere to reap the benefits,” Hanke said.

The theme of this year’s RLR was “Community”, a concept that UW-W’s chapter is currently launching a campaign on. UW-W’s NSLS e-board hopes to emphasize the importance of the role of community as one of the most valuable resources a leader can have.

UW-Whitewater’s NSLS Project Manager Justina Zukauskaite shared NSLS’s motivation to attend this year’s conference.

“We wanted to outsource some strategic knowledge on how to lead teams of people that can teach all of us about the value of collaboration, inclusivity, and diverse perspective. As a campus and a student organization, we depend on these values to create good work” said Zukauskaite.

Each of the five executive board members recognized the effect that RLR had on UW-W’s NSLS chapter and hopes to continue to put the tips and practices they learned into practice for the organization.

“This year’s summit had a real impact in supporting our mission and values as leaders. Learning how to become a better leader is what the NSLS is all about and the summit proved that idea again and again all weekend long” said UW-W’s NSLS Treasurer Zachary Commons.