Julian Crocker introduced our speaker Sandi Sigurdson by telling us she began her tenure as the executive
director of Leadership SLO in January 2010.
A graduate of Leadership SLO Class I, Sandi has twice served as a member of the SLO Chamber of Commerce board of directors, has served the City of San Luis Obispo as a planning commissioner, worked for the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo (ECOSLO), later serving on its board of directors and lead the San Luis Obispo Symphony for 15 years leading the orchestra on 2 world tours and 2 national tours that included performances at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Sandi is past president of the Central Coast Planned Giving Council. In 2004 she was honored by Cuesta College as a Woman of Distinction along with the much more distinctive Donna Crocker. Sandi served as president of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras. In recent years Sandi served on the board of Middlehouse, a men’s sober living home and returned to serve on the SLO Symphony board of directors
Sandi is married to Steve McGrath; they have three children and four grandchildren. “Turns out,” she notes, “grandchildren are waaaay more fun.” Before entering nonprofit work, Sandi spent 15 years in hotel and restaurant management, starting as a maid and dishwasher, including a stint at Cambria Pines Lodge.
Sandi explained that Leadership SLO’s mission is to grow passionate and effective leaders for SLO County. She had us participate in an exercise called 1-2-3-ALL, A Liberating Structure.
1 We were asked to each think of a great leader in our life. In 60 seconds silently write down what you’ve observed in that leader in the way of: values, characteristics, skill or qualities.
2 We were then told to turn to a person next to you. You have 2 minutes to discuss your leadership notes. Leave time for each of you to share.
4 Now we shared our leadership thoughts in groups of four. We had 4 minutes to do this. ALL We then “reported” our observations to everyone at the table.
Anyone can apply for a Leadership SLO class. Sandi told us that year after year we hear from class members and
graduates that their experience was eye-opening....exciting...thought-provoking...and even disturbing, in
revealing unique challenges facing unique populations in San Luis Obispo County. For more information, go to http://www.leadershipslo.org/applicants/directors-welcome/ .