Our program has been leading experiential learning for 60-years
It started with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1956 with 300 men and women from across the globe coming together to discuss human challenges of industrial communities.Today, it continues under the presidency of HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne. Growing capable, ethical leaders is one of the most important and complicated responsibilities countries have. Being on the vanguard of leadership development, Emerging Leaders' Dialogue Canada recognizes that leadership does not come just from a textbook but rather from experiences that create dialogue and build the emotional and intellectual capacity of participants. And now, many leading corporations are also moving away from the leadership development programs of the past and towards experiential learning.
"We need to rethink how we're developing leaders for these ever-changing times and a lot of it isn't about what we've done in the past which is why we've moved away from the classroom. We are now putting much more emphasis on experiential learning. This involves initiatives such as taking those being trained in leadership out into organizations dealing with very difficult real world problems." Brian Glaser Director, Google
The Model for Commonwealth Leadership Development
ELD Canada provides the experiential training format and strategic direction to expand the scope and scale of programs to a larger number of young emerging leaders, in partnership with the country governments and leading academic institutions. The ELD Canada 6-day program model has been proven to be very successful; it involves 2 days of facilitated modules, in conjunction with a partner academic institution, and 3 days of experiential dialogue visits which present real challenges and strategies with multisectoral leaders.
On the final day the participants present their experiences and learnings with a panel of eminent leaders. HRH, The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, is often directly involved in these panels, providing a one-of-a-kind connection among program members to the leadership values, integrity and respect for the Commonwealth.
Core concepts of our program
The ELD Canada program template has been designed to work with a variety of partners, and in numerous geographic locations. We work with academic institutions to ensure that program content is relevant and ground breaking, and with regional alumni who provide access to established leaders via the experiential dialogue tours.
Regardless of location, the program components are designed around three core themes:
1. Leadership: This intensive program develops peer-to-peer critical leadership competencies, including cultural intelligence, collaboration, integration, and critical thinking. It also places great emphasis on trust, integrity and leadership with accountability. This creates connected leaders who can create partnerships across sectoral, cultural and geographic divides.
2. Multi sectoral approach: This approach is unique amongst leadership programs for offering cross sector opportunities and enabling emerging leaders to experience and understand what processes other sectors operate under. By working together these sectors can bring together the necessary experience, knowledge, investment, technologies and resources to address industry issues which may have been overlooked by a single-sector program.
3. Sustainable Community Development: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Balancing the need for sustainable development with economic growth is a challenge for all sectors of society. ELD Canada programs provide participants with an academic framework to understand sustainability and allows them to see first hand the way organizations are, or are not, incorporating sustainable practices into their operations.
