Lessons from an Executive Leadership Expedition

Alison Wright, founder of the The Cairn Project, an organization dedicated to getting young women outdoors, reflects on her NOLS Executive Leadership Expedition in Wyoming’s Wind River Range. She left the mountains ready to put expedition behavior to use in the frontcountry—and with an even deeper sense of commitment to her organization’s mission.

“A sucker for expansive views, I felt overcome with gratitude for the chance to be in this moment, with this group of people. It was a surprising sentiment for me – an introvert who tends to make friends slowly – and I continued in the sweeper position at the back of my group, partly to take some space to gather my emotions.

And then things got real. The afternoon was not going to be a smooth one. We reached the top of a snowfield that wasn’t supposed to be there – one that Rick and Lynn, our exceptional instructors, hadn’t expected…

We eventually reached our intended camp for the night, but what it took to arrive there perfectly encapsulates some of the key lessons of this trip. And for me, as founder of The Cairn Project, the day was one that reconnected me to all of the reasons my organization has the mission it does.”

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